When so much is said about the threat to Indian enterprise from the multinationals, little is heard about the lack of social responsibility on the part of the domestic corporate sector. I was particularly disturbed by the corporate neglect of the local economy in which industries are assiduosly promoted, when on a visit recently to the southern most part -- though not quite the tip -- of India, Tuticorin. The town proper is as primitive as it was 30 years ago.

But, as for Spic, which has set up a massive petrochemical plant, it has what it calls its own Mahanagar -- in Tamil, Mahanagaram. This is sprawling, and in striking contrast to its affluence Tuticorin proper looks not only a poor cousin but a dirty one too. One can understand the problems of this particular corporate in promoting downstream industrial activity, given the limited scope for generation of such activity in the petrochemical sector. Still, no corporate can declare that it will only look after itself and will take no interest in the development of surrounding areas. It is no consolation that this is the story of regions where various industries have come up elsewhere in the country. A senior manager who has moved after long years from Durgapur to Tuticorin to work in a plant being set up by Sterlite that Durgapur was still quite as backward as it was in the early sixties when the Durgapur Steel Plant was beginning to take shape. I can hardly forget the Durgapur of the past when it was just a village and if 30 years later it still essentially remains one despite the steel complex and so many feeder industries, one cannot say too much about corporate involvement in regional development.

The idea is not to decry the corporate entities but only to emphasise the fact that whosoever has set up shop is only concerned about taking what all they can from the area where they have moved in. Here, one is not talking of ecology but of the development needs of the region. It is immaterial what the reason is. I am not suggesting that every industry should take upon the responsibilities that are ideally of the government but only impressing upon the need for corporates lending a helping hand to the region where they are doing business and making it a better one for people to live on. The local government should not expect industrial managements to do their job and also give them the credit. This is blatantly irresponsible. Still, given the resource constraints of state governments and local authorities, it is necessary for industrial plants to really adopt the areas where they have established themselves.

In respect of Tuticorin one would expect the management of Spic to make Tuticorin the true Mahanagar. This is not asking for too much when you consider the sharp contrast between the well laid out roads -- duly called no thorough fare -- in Spic Mahanagar and what pass for roads in Tuticorin proper. While the town suffers from a perpetual shortage of drinking water, this is not in evidence in the Spic Mahanagar.

There are other disturbing aspects of this town as well. The river Tamirabharani, the only source of drinking water, is allowed to flow into the sea and nobody has thought of building a lake by means of a pucca dam to take care of a critical need of the local population. There is more. Tuticorin is still known largely for its salt production. Indeed, it is salt which is providing assured employment to the locals. But the tragedy is that salt producers are in no position to bargain with the big processors for better terms for the input they supply. It is the monopsonist who calls the shots. This surely is the ideal tune of the market place, where the dominant will fleece the weak and the reformists cannot legitimately complain about this. But then, when we look at the imperative of economic uplift of Tuticorin, there is a definite case for giving the local salt producers a fairer deal, all the more when iodised salt prices are fast rising and there are several industrial houses in the fray at the national level. Regional development calls for an integrated effort and nobody is either too big or too small to participate in this effort. Every one must help.

Coming to Tuticorin port, given its locational and other advantages, with some support from government it can edge out Colombo. It has an efficiency level which compares with the better run ports elsewhere. Yet, there are vested interests determined to keep it as a minor port and let Colombo dominate. Even if Tuticorin cannot become a major industrial centre, it can surely boast of a port that can acquire international dimensions and threaten the future of Colombo. The local politicians may not bother, but the centre has to fight for the emergence of Tuticorin port as one among the world's best.

This article has no parochial overtones. It is simply an exercise at drawing the attention of national and state level policy makers to the failures of the past several years in regard to area development and the fact that these are perpetuating. Tuticorin, as I noted earlier, is not the only one to demonstrate to the world what prolonged neglect can do to a region deserving a serious developmental impetus. Obviously, a general case has to be made for an integrated strategy for development that would involve the government, the corporate sector and the NGOs.

The local authorities have to do a lot of pushing. They have to fight very hard for securing this involvement. They should no longer settle for crumbs and must ask for more. It is not enough to build new temples or expect existing ones to give a town or a city due recognition. Any place must be recognised more for its level of development and less for the fact that it attracts the most number of pilgrims, the economic fall out notwithstanding. Finally, a word about Spic. This company has put Tamil Nadu on the nation's petrochemical map and deserves kudos for that. But anyone who looks at the backwardness of Tuticorin may want to tone down the appreciation.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.