Kolkata-India

A presentation by Lela and Paula

A city between communism, globalization and poverty

Structure

Facts about Kolkata / CalcuttaOld CalcuttaNew Kolkataglobalization / economydifferent aspects of globalization - politician - business man - rickshaw puller

Facts

about 4.5 million citizens capital of federal state of West

Bengal area: 187.33 km² population density: 24.452

citizens per km² mayor: Bhattacharjee religion: dominated by Kali,

the hindu goddess, or by catholics

politics: ruled by the Communist Party of India

40 % illiterate 1/5 underfed on the edge of AIDS epidemic barely half of the population is

supplied with clean drinking water and electricity

Old Calcutta

Calcutta has been dominated for 28 years by marxism

living conditions have been worse than today

clacutta was magnet for all this poverty

a very big part of the populatione lived in slums

quotations: - "They have 100 unlisted

deseases" (Woody Allen) - "It's a pile of crap dumped by

God" (Günther Grass) -"The home of everything in

the world worth hating” (Claude Lévi-Strauss)

fighting for participation in global market

did not play an important economical role in the world

New Kolkata

economical boom started in the early 1990's

Calcutta was renamed as Kolkata (2001)

contrasts between highest techonology and a lot of poverty/corruption mark the city

fewer slums and fewer homeless people but prostitution rate increases

still problems with transportation planning, bureaucracy, electricity

small indications of an emerging civil society

education removes the barrier between well paid jobs for the higher castes and low paid jobs for the lower castes

high tech elite changed the appearence of the city

one of the world's best technical universities is in Kolkata

the youth wants to stay in india instead of planning an IT-career in Germany or other countries

is supposed to become Indias silicon valley

Globalization / Economy

Kolkata is a symbol of globalization and progress and has a chance to become the next globalization powerhouse

India has a growth rate of nearly 8 percent a year

exports are rising at a double

Indias future will be shaped by IT and globalization

IT-growth of more than 70% brilliant international

software engineers

main growth at computer technology not at textiles

Bengalis governement hopes to draw traditional industries back to Kolkata as well

on the outskirts of the city industrial parks are build up

Politician - Bhattacharjee head of the Communist Party the Communist Party regrets that they tried to

stop the technological process and forbade unions

economical policy of the Cummunist Party is now extremly pro-business

the government declared all software and outsourcing firms to be essential services to prevent work stoppages

says: - alcutta needs to prevail in a world of global

competition - land and work are cheaper - because of globalization they have to

modernize and maybe cut down jobs /new jobs have to be created - he supports capitalism out of convinience

Businessman - Premji

benefitted from a gap in the market founded a company for low-quality

electronic goods established a foundation to finance

village schools says: - capitalism only has a chance to

improve living standarts when entrepreneurs do not boast about their richness - we are world leaders in high tech and train second most computer speacialist

s but fail to create hope for our rural residents - worse is over in Kolkata - flexible way of thinking is neccessary

Rickshaw puller - Badal

aproximately 30.000 rickshaw pullers in Kolkata

live in slums work is not a symbol of

globalozation but of the senselessness of the union politics

politicians tried to abolish the inhumane work

rickshaw union stopped that now pullers are only allowed on

side streets pullers who give up their rickshaw

get $ 260 does not profit from globalization

but knows that future lies in computers

Sources

Spiegel special - international edition Globaization the new world (No.7 2005)

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/kolkatawww.spiegel.de/international/spiegel