By IANS,
Kolkata : The Tata Motors’ small car plant at Singur in West Bengal remained closed for the 11th day Tuesday as confusing signals continued to emerge over the so-called deal between the state government and the dissatisfied farmers over a part of the land acquired for the project.
A day after the Tata group sought more clarity in the deal and said the factory and its ancillary units cannot be separated, the state government also sought to make it clear that no land will be returned from the project area, some 40 km from the state capital.
But a farmers’ representative in the four-member committee appointed by the state government to recommend within a week how to compensate “unwilling” Singur farmers, said he had studied the project site and found some areas suitable for return.
“I’ve toured the entire 997.11-acre area of the project. And I’ve seen about 350 acres lying unused so far. That land can be returned to the unwilling farmers,” Becharam Manna, a farmer-leader and member of the committee. told IANS in Singur.
In a meeting with the West Bengal government officials Tuesday afternoon, Trinamool Congress – the spearhead of the farmers’ protests – demanded 300 acres of land inside the factory site.
“We told the government representatives to give back about 300 acres of land to the farmers inside the project area,” MLA from Singur Rabindranath Bhattacharjee told reporters after emerging out of the meeting.
The state government, however, said that an assurance had gone out to the Tata group – India’s largest industrial house with a turnover of $62.5 billion from 96 companies – that no land from the project site would be given away.
“I appeal to all to facilitate the Tatas to restart the operations at the Singur plant peacefully and smoothly,” said state Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, adding a pullout by the group would be a setback to the state.
Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, however, denied any confusion about the agreement, and hoped for proper implementation of the pact.
“We believe in the agreement that was signed with the state government in the presence of governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. We don’t have any confusion now,” Banerjee told reporters here.
But the conflicting signals that Tata Motors had referred to in their statement Monday, also left the villagers of Singur utterly confused, as they were also worried if their land remained cultivable since the acquisition in mid-2006.
“If we get back our land, will it remain as fertile as before? There is a major confusion. In what shape will the land be given back?” wondered Ranjit Das who once owned a small piece of land inside what is now part of the factory site.
The government had acquired 997.11 acres for the Tata project and its ancillary units to roll out the world’s cheapest car Nano, costing all of $2,500, which caught global attention when the prototype was unveiled last year.
But a section of the farmers, who are said to have owned some 400 areas out of the acquired land, did not want to part with the asset and started an agitation with the support of the Trinamool Congress.
Tuesday also saw a fresh political twist to the saga, when West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi wrote to Congress party’s state chief Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi that all the points raised by his party were considered in the deal.
Dasmunsi had criticised the governor for not inviting the representatives of his party while mediating the agreement between the state government and the Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee.
The comment came even as Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant said in a missive to the government Monday the company was “distressed over the limited clarity” in the so-called deal, adding there was also “a significant variant in the statement” that followed the pact with the protesters.
Meanwhile, Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers Ram Vilas Paswan said here that industrialization should not happen at the cost of farmers.
“Industrialisation of a state is important but not at the cost of farmers. We want the Singur project to happen but the benefits of the farmers should also be looked at,” the minister told reporters.