A chief minister on trial

Thirteen of the 19 districts in West Bengal are now affected by the dreaded H5N1 bird flu virus. Given the rate at which it is spreading, the danger of the virus engulfing the remaining districts and, worse, affecting the adjoining states of Orissa and Jharkhand looks real. If reports are to be believed, the state government woke up to the crisis rather late. The state health ministry treated the matter so routinely that, instead of picking up the phone, it merely sent a letter to its counterpart at the Centre, informing it about the presence of bird flu in Birbhum district. In the last few days, though, the official machinery in the state has got its act together. Against the target of 2.2 million birds feared to be affected by the virus, already over 1.6 million birds have been culled. Each of the 500,000 families whose birds have been culled has been assured Rs 500 as one-time relief. But the initial lethargy in reacting to the outbreak has already taken its toll, and no one is sure if the virus has not already mutated itself into a new form.

Predictably enough, the blame game has already begun. A state government official has reportedly identified Bangladesh to be the source of the bird flu virus that has ravaged the state's poultry industry even though more than half the affected districts do not share any international border. In any case, the first reports of bird flu emanated from Birbhum district, which shares its border with an Indian state, Jharkhand, and not Bangladesh.

Thus, instead of looking for the proverbial "foreign hand" behind all the country's ills "" in this case, the bird flu "" the West Bengal government would do well to look within and reflect on how its own inefficient handling has allowed the crisis go out of control. State Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee cannot escape responsibility for his government's callousness and ineptitude in handling the crisis. Indeed, Mr Bhattacharjee's track record as an able administrator has been sullied by a spate of recent developments. His initial arrogance about popular protests in Nandigram against the proposed chemical complex and the brazen manner in which he allowed the police and the CPI-M supporters to use force and quell popular resentment raised serious doubts about his administrative skills. His image as chief minister took a beating with the killing of Rizwanur Rahman, a young computer graphics trainer who had married a Hindu girl. And in the whole episode the role of the police was questionable. Also, the manner in which the state government declined to offer necessary protection to controversial Bangladeshi writer, Taslima Nasreen, also dented Mr Bhattacharjee's reputation as a chief minister who would take all necessary steps to uphold the principles of law and justice in the country. There would be many reasons explaining how and why the state administration failed to deliver on so many counts in the last few months. But few can disagree that his standing as a competent administrator has taken a severe beating.