``The present Central Government is formulating policies to benefit a small section of the people to the detriment of the interest of a vast number of the country's population,'' the chief minster stated.

``The distortion brought about by such lop-sided policies needs to be corrected by following a pragmatic policy where due care is taken so that the fruits of development and economic growth heralded by the reform process are spread evenly,'' he stated.

In this context, the Chief Minister also expressed a different view than the one presented by the industrialists' body which urged the State Government to initiate ``second-generation reforms'' for economic development ofthe State. ``The economy, despite proclamations by the Central Government to usher in the so-called `second-generation reforms' has not been showing signs of sustainable recovery,'' he said. ``The policy direction should have been laid on expanding vastly the internal market by raising the purchasing power of the people,'' Basu added.

Emphasising the need for a the restructuring of the Centre-state relations and greater financial powers for the states, the veteran leader, who has been Chief Minister of the state for the past 23 years, said that successive Central Governments had been prejudiced against the West Bengal government and this hindered growth in the state. ``Our experience has been that prejudices and narrow political considerations have often influenced central policies towards the state. We feel this can be improved only if the prejudicial approach is spurned by the present Central Government,'' Basu stated.

Outlining the approach the West Bengal government is taking to improve the industrialscene in the State, Minister for Home (Police) Buddhadev Bhattacharya said that they supported the legitimate demands of the workers who have expressed their opposition to the reform process with a series of agitation programmes but the administration will deal firmly with irresponsible, and violent agitations which might have adverse impact on business.