32 SOCIAL SCIENTIST alized banks also advanced loans to small numbers of sharecroppers in West Bengal. However, in the kbarif season of 1978 some 12000 sharecroppers in 23 selected blocks (out of a total of over 330 blocks in the state) are said to have availed themselves of such loans thanks to the combined efforts of government and bank officials and cadres of peasant organisations. "Panchayats cannot Borrow Money on their Own", Statesman, August 19,1978. 11 Sec in this connection C Bettclheim, Studies in the Theory of Planning, Bombay, 1959 pp 344-50; and A K Sea Choice of Techniques, Bombay, 1968, pp 106-110.- 12 M Kalec^i, Selected Essays in the Economic Growth of the Socialist and the Mixed Economy, Cambridge, 1972, cb 10. ^ 18 J Bhagwati and P Desai, India: Planning for Industrialisation, London, 1970, tables 16.4 and 16.5. u S Rakshit, The Cost of Protection—A Study of Some Selected Manufacturing fndust' rUs, (unpublished Ph.D dissertation). Presidency College, Calcutta, 1975," See Tables IV 7, IV 9, IV 11, V 6, V 7, VI I and VI 10. 14 Since the first draft of this paper was completed we are happy to note that the Draft Five Tear Plan 1976-63 has preferred OPS khandsari plants to VPS crystal sugar plants for further expansion of capacity. Although the latter *s costs of production are about 17 percent lower, the former's employment potential is 4.3 times larger and investments per unit of output are barely one-half that of the latter. It is proposed to put a differential excise on white sugar (consumed mainly by the more affluent sections) so that khandsari becomes competitive* (See pp 104-5). 16 Report of the Committee on Taxation of Agricultural Wealth and Income, Government of India, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi, 1972. 17 "Britannia may take over Lily Biscuits", economic Timef^ September 17, 1977. 18 For thervcry interesting experience of a Nigerian joint sector project in cement ^ manufacturing where the government had as its partner a well-known British firm, see 0 0 Solcyc, "The politico-economic position of multinational corporations: \ Nigerian example", in C Widstrand (ed). Multinational Firms in Africa^ African Institute for Economic Development and Planning, Dakar and Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, 1975. 19 A large proportion of such goods are exported to Third World countries so that with the help of transnationals the USSR is able to solve her hard currency problems at the expense of the Third World. 20 See in this connection "BHEL to Tie-up with MNC", Economic Times, September 30, 1977, where the Philips project is also discussed at length. al Basis for the estimates: (1) the gains are taken from WBIDC Report, p 115; (2) labour-productivity in jute textiles, 4 tons per worker; (3) yield of jute 1*2 tons per hectare and of paddy 1.5tons per hectare; (4) the same number of man-hours is required in transporting and bailing of 2.5 tons of jute as ordinary threshing, dehusking, transporting and selling of 1 ton of rice. Only the last assumption represents our crude guesstimate; the rest are taken from official publications or farm management studies. 22 Information in this paragraph has been collected from knowledgeable sources in Calcutta. 28 Eduardo White, Control of Restrictive Business Practices in Latin America, UNCt*AD/ ST/MD/4, New York, 1975, pp C ffl 24 For Ray's open espousal of MFC sec "More CMs for Big House Licensing", Econ- ^ omic Times, December 27, 1972; "Hind Lever Project: Bengal for Monopoly Curb Relaxation", Financial Express, October 20, 1973^'RayLays Stress on the Role of Big Business Houses", Statesman, February 22,^1975; and "Ray Defends Statement", Economic Times^ February 28, 1975.