INTRODUCTION 7 forces which would disequilibrate the existing property and power relations in the West Bengal countryside. Here the Central government can try to impede progress but cannot altogether smother it without getting rid of the State government in the first place. It can of course indulge in pin-pricks. But the nature of the pin-pricks too will be a function of the degree of coherence the peasantry is able to attain and the fighting strength it can accumulate within a given space of time. The mere fact that the Central government tried to stall such an important piece of legislation as the Land Reforms Amendment Bill has acted as a major catalyst for peasant mobilisation in the current season; thejanata Party, by this single act of indiscretion, has forfeited to a great extent whatever residual respect West Bengal's rural poor had in it. Possible Linkages The reconstruction albeit partial, of the income structure in the villages should lead to an enlargement in the demand for goods and services, which could immediately give rise to the possibility of a planned expansion of cottage and small industries. This is an area where the Left Front government would have to apply itself with drive, skill and imagination. The prospect of a linkage between the demand newly emerging in the countryside and some urban industries, supplying either inputs for agriculture or finished commodities for rural consumption, would be equally relevant. True, this series of additional demands by themselves could have but a marginal impact on the overall industrial situation. But even were there to be a slight shift in demand for the products of the organised industrial sector, to that extent a few thousands could be additionally absorbed in jobs. This additional employment might in turn lead to a further strengthening of demand across-the-board, thereby contributing, howsoever modestly, to general industrial growth. Without a total overhaul of the economic and political system, there can of course be no resolution of the Indian economic impasse. It would be nonetheless a great gain if the organised working cUss could be made to realise that in their fight against the monopolists and the multinational corporations, they could not only now fall back on the unstinted support of an aroused, mobilised, well-integrated peasantry^ but that the strength of the latter is pivotal even for industrial growth itself. It should at the same time be possible to demonstrate that given the political will, the new agricultural technology need not be a matter of exclusive prerogative for certain privileged groups in agricultuie. Filling in the Vacuum These are the ingredients of policies, thought, and actions the Left Front government in the State is by and large trying to put into shape. What it is contemplating is not exactly a blueprint for a socialist