By SANJAY MANDAL
Singur, Sept. 3: Some feel cheated, some insecure, while some others cannot forget the “humiliation”.
Farmers across Singur have different reasons for resenting the acquisition of their land for the Tata Motors project and not collecting compensation.
Ranjit Kumar Das, 41, who owned seven bighas in Khasherbheri village under the Beraberi gram panchayat, feels he has been offered a pittance for his plot.
“They have a cheque of around Rs 20 lakh ready for me but I have refused to accept it. It is nothing. My land is worth much more than that. I have been cheated,” he said.
Ranjit has another five bighas on the roadside. “For this land, I am being offered at least four times the price that I got from the government, but I have refused to sell it,” the farmer said. “I am waiting for the price to go up further.”
Simantra Patra, a local land broker who has himself “lost” a little more than three acres to the Tata project, says government officials should have explained to the farmers that the land price rose only after the Tata plant came up.
“The cost of land is always escalating, but it shot up after the car project took off. But no one has cared to explain this to the villagers,” Patra said. “Besides, there is also a misinformation campaign that the farmers have got a pittance.”
Patra, however, was quick to point out that there was also some truth in the “misinformation campaign”.
“The government should have factored in that the plant would automatically push up prices,” he said. “So, it should have paid us more, even though what they gave us was the market price then.”
Patra is clinging to the hope that the Trinamul Congress agitation will bear fruit and he will get his land back.
“There are so many things I could have done with my land,” he said.
“My land is just off the Durgapur Expressway. My sons could have set up eateries, a cold storage or started any other project on this land. I have resolved to get back my land and that is why I have not collected the cheque.”
Pradyut Das of Beraberi shares Patra’s sentiments. He, too, has not collected the compensation for the four bighas he had to part with.
“Earlier, I had sold land for a cold storage to be set up because I was promised a job in the project,” Pradyut said.
“But after it came up, they forgot all about my job. Now that my land has been taken for the Tata project, I know I will not get a job because I don’t have any educational qualifications. So I have lost both my land and my security.”
If Pradyut is feeling insecure, Haripada Das, 64, feels humiliated. “I will not accept the cheque for my one bigha,” he said, adding that his plot had been “grabbed” by the government, not acquired.
Sarat Das, 52, echoes him. “We are the owners of the land. They did not even care to find out whether we are willing to part with our land,” he alleged. “On the contrary, the government had sent police to beat us up.” (END) Source: The Telegraph
CPM for Mamata in talks
Calcutta, Sept. 3: The CPM brass had wanted direct talks between Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee with the governor playing the peacemaker.
“We wanted her to join the talks since her representatives would not be able to take decisions on their own. They would have to shuttle between Singur and Raj Bhavan as Partha Chatterjee had done in the past few days. This will delay the negotiations,’’ said a CPM state secretariat member.
The party and the Left Front have empowered Bhattacharjee to finalise the “compromise formula” before placing it for discussion at the meeting chaired by the governor.
RSP leader Kshiti Goswami said his party had wanted “experts” to represent the front at the meeting. But the others ruled it out. “There’s no need for a CPM or front emissary. The government’s presence is enough,” said the CPM’s Benoy Konar. (END) Source: The Telegraph
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