Kolkata Marwaris Feel Threatened After Mamata's Reaction on AMRI Fire

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KOLKATA: The fire that devastated AMRI, an upmarket hospital, and claimed 90 lives on December 9 last year has resulted in collateral damage of an unusual kind.

(PressReleasePoint) Kolkata Marwaris feel threatened after Mamata's reaction on AMRI fire
KOLKATA: The fire that devastated AMRI, an upmarket hospital, and claimed 90 lives on December 9 last year has resulted in collateral damage of an unusual kind. For the first time in living memory, many among Kolkata's Marwaris, who dominate industry and commerce in the eastern metropolis, say they are feeling threatened and discriminated against.

The fallout: a spate of resignations from company directorships and charitable trusts because of the fear an accident may mean incarceration for directors. At least 10 members of the community, who spoke to this paper, said they had resigned from various positions after the incident.

The angst is acute enough for some members of the community, who migrated from Rajasthan to Bengal centuries ago, to aver that they are curtailing fresh investments. An industrialist on the verge of setting up a chemicals plant and a steel manufacturer both said their next investments would be in Gujarat.

The vitriolic reaction of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who appeared to equate those arrested after the AMRI tragedy with murderers and terrorists, has not soothed nerves. Banerjee's reaction was in response to remarks by industry body FICCI expressing concern at the arrest of seven AMRI directors not in charge of day-to-day affairs.

Of these, four are promoters of Emami, a Rs 3,700-crore group, while two are owners of Shrachi, a Rs 1,000-crore enterprise. Three directors are absconding.

Four of the 14-member AMRI board - Prof MK Chhetri, managing director; Dr Soumendra Nath Banerjee, chairman; and two directors Ashim Kumar Das and Dr Pronab Dasgupta - have not been charged.

The arrest of the seven non-executive directors is a sore point among almost all businessmen, cutting across community lines. A leading city industrialist said: "Under tremendous pressure, she has vented her fury on some of the directors of AMRI."

This feeling is shared by many in business. Mumbai-based Ankit Miglani, managing director of Uttam Galva Steel, in which LN Mittal's ArcelorMittal has a 30% stake, said: "Our system says you are innocent, until proven guilty. Hence a person is entitled to get bail."
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"Whatever action is taken against the AMRI directors should be according to laws. If it is contrary to law, then investment in Bengal is expected to take a beating," Jagdish Khattar, the former managing director of Maruti Suzuki, told ET. Khattar, who is now an entrepreneur, is chairman of Carnation Auto, a contract manufacturer.

State industry minister Partha Chatterjee declined comment. "Please do not ask me to say anything, because it is only chief minister Mamata Banerjee who has the authority to speak on AMRI-related issues," he said.

Communal prejudice, or even the perception of it, is virtually unknown to Kolkata unlike other Indian mega cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru where tension between communities has sometimes caused violence. In contrast, Bengalis have been welcoming of Marwaris and Gujaratis, who along with the British have built much of the city and employed locals in large numbers.

Many of India's storied Marwari families such as the Birlas, Singhanias and Goenkas trace their roots to the former capital of the British Empire.

A leading chartered accountant and a lawyer expressed puzzlement at the course of action pursued by the police as the law specified that only some directors and other officers in charge of day-to-day operations could be charged under criminal provisions in case of an accident.
 
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/kolkata-marwaris-feel-threatened-after-mamatas-reaction-on-amri-fire/articleshow/11381982.cms?curpg=1Your City, Your State, India., January 6, 2012 - (PressReleasePoint) -