By N. Ram
Package on offer “to protect the interests of… all sections”
Kolkata: “Time is running out and if we fail to come to an agreement, the Tatas will leave this State. That is the latest situation…[which is] very difficult,” West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told The Hindu in Kolkata on Sunday.
When I asked him for an update on the discussions to resolve the Singur dispute, he said he was doing his “level best to find a solution.” The Left Front government had come up with an attractive package the idea behind which was “to protect the interests of the farmers, all sections of the people, in Singur.”
As for the mood of the people, Mr. Bhattacharjee pointed out: “If you first take the situation in Singur, out of 12,000 landowners, 10,000 handed over the land. Two thousand have still not. But even these 2,000 are not totally opposing this project. At least half of them have no papers and are absentee landlords; they have no interest to come here and take money on that. But a small section is still opposing [the acquisition], no doubt about that. But the difference is between 10,000 and 2,000. In a democracy, it is the opinion of the majority that should be taken care of.”
A week ago the Government came out with a package, which was published in all newspapers. “For the landowners who have given their land for the project,” the Chief Minister noted, “we have increased the price of the land that we have already paid. We have proposed a package for unrecorded bargadars or sharecroppers, and for agricultural workers, a package to protect their interests. And there are proposals for the many boys and girls there who have studied in schools or polytechnics and have undergone training by the Tatas and also by government polytechnics. Almost 800 boys and girls are ready to join and we are going to recruit another 800 to 1000 who will get jobs in the main factory or in the ancillaries. And they wanted a portion of land from inside the factory area. I discussed this with the Tatas and finally we proposed that we could hand over 70 acres of land from inside the factory area.”
Mr. Bhattacharjee referred to his lengthy discussion with the Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerjee, before announcing the new package. “I tried to convince her: ‘Look, for the interest of the people of Singur and for the interest of the people of the whole State, you should accept this.’”
But she had still not accepted the package and there was “almost a situation where the Tatas are really thinking whether they will be able to continue in Singur.”
The Chief Minister said he contacted Ratan Tata and requested him to “just bear with us if we take some time to convince the opposition. They are waiting but they are seriously disturbed.”
Mr. Bhattacharjee commented that “if they leave the State, it will create a serious problem in our future industrialisation process.” (END) Source : The Hindu
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