Watch Nano : Singur (2-day) To Sanand

Tata bid to shield 'secret'

2008-12-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

Calcutta, Dec. 2: Tata Motors moved a writ petition in the high court today challenging the state information commissioner’s decision to read out the entire agreement between the company and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) for the Singur plant in an open court.

The company’s lawyer, Samaraditya Pal, told the court: “If the entire agreement is made public, the concept of trade secret will be hard hit.”

In mid-September, Tata Motors had moved court against the WBIDC’s decision to post parts of the agreement on its website following the commissioner’s order.

The court had then asked the commissioner to re-hear the case and allow Tata Motors to be a party to it.

The company had submitted the agreement to the commissioner in a sealed envelope for its hearing, but the official decided to read it out in its court, prompting the Tatas to move the high court. They also challenged the Right to Information Act while demanding a stay on the decision.

The case will be heard again on Friday.

Farmer suicide in Singur

2008-12-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Singur, Dec. 2: A sharecrop- per who had apparently lost work after nearly 1,000 acres were acquired for Tata Motors hanged himself today.

Bholanath Patra’s wife Shyamali said the family had six cottahs outside the factory site, but that was too little. “After he lost his job, we found it difficult to arrange two square meals a day. He started working in a cold storage unit but his health began to fail,” said Shyamali, a mother of two in Bajemelia.

Hooghly superintendent of police Rajeev Mishra said the 42-year-old farmer “was suffering from depression because of failing health”.

Bholanath was a Save Farmland Committee member during the height of the anti-Tata agitation. “Around noon, he locked himself in the bathroom. When he did not come out even after repeated knocking, I called villagers,” said Shyamali.

Mamata crop

Mamata Banerjee told a rally in Singur today that the Save Farmland Committee would cultivate paddy on the land acquired for the Tatas.

Sources : The Telegraph

Tatas told to disclose pact , but under seal

2008-11-20T17:06:00.000-08:00

KOLKATA, Nov. 19: The state information commissioner today asked Tata Motors to submit on 24 November, under sealed cover, a copy of its agreement containing the undisclosed portion of details of the aborted Singur small car project, it was learnt.

Mr Arun Bhattacharya, state information commissioner today heard Tata Motors officials, leader of the Opposition, Mr Partha Chatterjee, Mr Subrata Gupta, MD, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation in this connection.

While Mr Chatterjee again pleaded to the commissioner that Tata Motors and WBIDC should now make public the undisclosed parts of the pact between the state government and Tata Motors as the Tatas have abandoned the Singur small car project, Tata Motors lawyers submitted a letter stating that since Nano was designed to be marketed both within and outside the country, its drawing and design should not be disclosed.

The commissioner has fixed the final hearing on 28 November.

Tata Motors also moved court praying for a stay order so that the undisclosed portion of the agreement signed between WBIDC and Tata Motors stays confidential.

Mr Chatterjee had earlier met Mr Arun Bhattacharya demanding that Tata Motors should divulge the undisclosed information about the proposed small car project of Tata Motors in Singur. At that time Mr Chatterjee submitted to the commissioner a set of 15 questions on the agreement.

He had sought disclosure of the exact clauses in the contract between the Tata Group of Industries and the state government or its relevant offices, the extent of land acquisition, and how much money the Tatas would be paying for the land. What kind of tax or rebate benefits would be provided to the Tatas by the state government, and what would the share of investment by the Tata group, financial institutions, and state and Central government liabilities in the form of developing infrastructure, he had asked. He had also asked how many people were going to be employed in the short- or long-run and what their rate of income was to be.

Mr Chatterjee said today: "We did not ask about the design of the small car, nor for any information that may help their rival groups. We only asked about the basic information on behalf of the people whose land has been acquired." n SNS

Source : The Statesman

Rs. 60,000 subsidy for 1 lakh-car

2008-11-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

GANDHINAGAR, Nov. 11: Details of the “coup” executed by Gujarat chief minister, Mr Narendra Modi, in getting the Nano plant to Sanand are now coming out. The Congress has calculated that the "sops" given to Tata Motors mean that the Gujarat government's contribution to the one-lakh car will be Rs. 60,000 per car.Mr Siddharth Patel, state Congress president, said the soft-loans and other concessions given will "add upto Rs. 30,000 crores". This has to be paid back in 20 years. "By then 50 lakh cars, at 2.5 lakh cars a year, would have been produced... This means that the cash incentive given adds up to Rs. 60,000 per car." He was referring to media reports about the details of the accord signed between the government and Tata Motors. While government officials have refused to confirm or deny its authenticity, there’s a document circulating in the secretariat that says that a loan of Rs 9,570 crores at a simple interest of 0.1% has been given. The deal, according to the document, is that the Tatas would get Rs. 2900 crores loan for the plant, plus Rs 6,670 crores for infrastructure costs. The plant also gets concessional power tariff, and exemption from payment of stamp duty, registration and transfer charges.

Source: The Statesman

Suhrid Dutta and Debu Malik found guilty

2008-11-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

Statesman News Service

CHANDDERNAGORE, Nov 11: The CPI-M’s Hooghly district committee member, Suhrid Dutta, and his close aide, Debu Malik, were today found guilty in the Tapasi Malik murder case. The additional district and session judge of the Chanddernagore First Fast Track Court, Mr Amar Kanti Acharya, will pronounce the quantum of punishment tomorrow.The two accused were produced before the judge under tight security at 1 p.m. today. The judge declared Dutta and Malik guilty in a packed court room around 1.30 p.m. Dutta was convicted under Section 120 (B), read with Section 302, 201, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) while Debu was convicted under Sections 120 (B), 302, 34 and 201 IPC. Dutta's advocate, Mr Arindam Bhattacharjee, described the judgement as a miscarriage of justice. “We are not happy with the judgement. We will move a higher court after pronouncement of the quantum of punishment," he said. Malik's advocate, Mr Kishor Mondal said he would also challenge today's judgement in a higher court. Dutta's elder brother, Mr Saroj Dutta, who is the secretary of the CPI-M Bara local committee in Singur, said: “The conspiracy against my brother and our party is still on. We will unite the mass against the conspiracy. The legal battle will go on.” Earlier in the day, several thousand people, both from the CPI-M and Trinamul Congress, had gathered in the court premises to hear the judgement. They were, however, not allowed to enter the court. Some Trinamul Congress supporters tried to break down the police cordon when the accused were being taken inside the court, but they were chased away after a scuffle. Several CPI-M leaders, including two MPs, Mr Rupchand Paul and Mr Santashree Chatterjee, were present in the court. Welcoming the judgement, Tapasi's father, Mr Manoranjan Malik said: “We were confident that we would get justice. I am happy that my daughter's murderers were finally found guilty.” In Singur, several hundred locals joined in a rally that originated near Tapasi Malik's residence demanding capital punishment for Suhrid Dutta and Debu Malik“We want Dutta and Malik to be hanged. They were convicted by residents of Singur much before. Today they were convicted in a court,” said Ms Aparna Dhara, a friend of Tapasi.The Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee organised several other rallies in villages across Singur demanding death penalty for the Tapasi murder accused. Welcoming the court's verdict, Trinamul Congress chief, Miss Mamata Banerjee said the chief minister had no moral right to continue as home minister and demanded that he should step down from his post. The CPI-M, however, asserted the two accused were falsely implicated. Reacting to the verdict, Mr Benoy Konar, CPI-M central committee member said it only “confirmed the Bengali saying that whatever the master wishes is carried out.” Miss Banerjee asked Mr Konar to explain what he actually meant and whom he was insinuating at. The Trinamul Congress and the Singur Krishi Jomi Jiban Raksha Committee will organise a rally at Singur on 5 December “in memory of Tapasi Malik”.

Tapasi Malik murder case at a glance

The charred body of Tapasi, an 18-year-old Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee member, was found in a pit inside the Singur small car project area on 18 December 2006. A CID probe was ordered on that day The state government ordered a CBI probe on 12 Jaunuary 2007 Malik was arrested and taken to Delhi for a polygraph test on 24 June 2007 Dutta was arrested on 28 June 2007 on statement given to CBI sleuths by Malik CBI filed chargesheet in connection with the case on 15 September Trial began on 28 January 2008 and it continued till August A total 65 witnesses were examined during trial The accused were found guilty on 11 November.

Source: The Statesman

Singur tour

2008-11-06T01:54:00.000-08:00

Calcutta Nov. 5: Representatives of First Automobile Works, China’s largest automobile company, today went to Singur scouting for land to set up a car plant.
The team reached Singur this evening and surveyed the project area that had been leased out for the Tata Nano project for 45 minutes.
This morning, the team visited Kharagpur. The officials were taken to see land near Jakpur and a plot near Guptamoni by officials of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and Ural India. The company wants to set up the plant in collaboration with Ural India.
The team also surveyed a 230-acre plot belonging to the Haldia Development Authority adjacent to the Ural India factory that assembles dumpers. Ural India chairman J.K. Saraff said if land was not available in Haldia, the plant could come up in Kharagpur or Singur. “Search for land is on.”

Source : The Telegraph

Singur chat with China car maker

2008-11-05T02:03:00.000-08:00

Calcutta, Nov. 4: A cautious Bengal government has included Singur on a list of sites being weighed by communist China’s largest automobile maker for a car plant.

Representatives of First Automobile Works (FAW) today called on chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and industries minister Nirupam Sen at the Writers’ Buildings.

“FAW is China’s largest automobile manufacturing company and has shown interest in setting up an automobile unit in Bengal. It will make all kinds of cars, including heavy vehicles,” Sen said.

Asked if the Singur plot would be given to the company, he said: “We discussed all possible locations, including Singur. But don’t spoil the project’s prospects by mentioning Singur as a possible location.”

The plot in Singur was developed for Tata Motors’ Nano plant but the project moved to Gujarat after land agitation by the Opposition. Sites in Kalyani, Haldia and Kharagpur were also discussed with the FAW delegation.

FAW Corporation and Ural India want to set up a joint venture to manufacture small cars and buses. The plan is to make 5,000 small cars a month priced at Rs 1.6 lakh each, said J.K. Saraff, chairman of Ural India, which makes heavy trucks in Haldia especially for the defence sector. Tata’s Nano has captured the world’s imagination because of its price: Rs 1 lakh.

“We need 600 acres,” Saraff said. “Today’s discussion was a preliminary one.”

Asked if he wanted the land in Singur, Saraff said the state would have to decide that. “One advantage in Singur is that the land is developed. But at the same time, it is not vacant. It has been leased out to another company.”

He said the ancillary plants could come up elsewhere. The location of the Nano project’s ancillary units had become a bone of contention, with Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee demanding they be moved out of the main project area and their part of the land be returned to “unwilling” landlosers.

An official in the chief minister’s secretariat said FAW had an annual manufacturing capacity of 20 lakh cars. “It will be good if such a foreign auto giant comes to the state. The company’s officials may shortly visit some of the possible locations for a spot inspection,” he said.

The 15-member Chinese team, led by Li Xiansheng, executive governor of Hubei province in China, also met urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya and power minister Mrinal Banerjee.

“We discussed many things with the chief minister, including investment opportunities in Bengal. The purpose of our visit is to promote co-operation between the countries,” Xiansheng said.

Power minister Banerjee said the delegation had shown interest in investing in the power sector. The Chinese officials discussed investment in infrastructure with the urban development minister.

Source : The Telegraph

Singur turns battlefield again

2008-11-05T02:00:00.000-08:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Nov. 2: Clashes erupted in Singur today between Trinamul Congress supporters and the CPI-M backed Nano Banchao Committee during the procession organised by Trinamul and its allies over the Nano issue, leaving several injured and a number of vehicles ablaze.

The official car in which Mr Partha Chatterjee, the Leader of the Opposition, was travelling was attacked at Ghanashyampur near Singur. The windscreen and windows were smashed, forcing the car to turn back. Mr Chatterjee alleged that bricks had been thrown at his car and that the police used tear gas.

Trinamul supremo Miss Mamata Banerjee was stopped by the police near Dankuni crossing for about half an hour and told not go ahead.

The whole area turned into a battlefield with CPI-M cadres and processionists attacking one another. Several huts and vehicles were set on fire and many, including policemen, were injured.

Nano Banchao Committee activists had taken up positions at different entry points to Singur a couple of hours before the programme was to start. They shouted slogans protesting asking Miss Banerjee to go back and complained that the procession was an attempt to stir trouble in the area when efforts were on to set up a new industry there.

Miss Banerjee’s motorcade was stopped by police at Maitipara in Dankuni around 3 p.m. and a senior police officer asked her not to go ahead. She, however, insisted on continuing on her way to Singur. Police relented after about half an hour and she was allowed to proceed.

After reaching Singur, the Trinamul chief declared that the government should return “forcibly acquired” 400 acres of land to the unwilling farmers. “I’ll fight till the last; new industry can begin only after the unwilling farmers get back their lands.

“The CPI-M has become so politically bankrupt that when we wanted to organise a procession they resorted to violence and undemocratic behaviour,” Miss Banerjee said.

Trinamul Congress and its allies will organise a rally in the city to protest against today’s violence before the members of Krishi Jomi Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee (KJJJRC) meet to chalk out their next course of action.

She alleged that CPI-M cadres and the RAF tortured the villagers, including women, in Joymollah, Sanarapa and Bajemelia.

CPI-M state secretary Mr Biman Bose later said that those behind the landmine blast in Salboni and those who had driven out the Nano project were working together to thwart the state’s development.

Mr Bose said that the Trinamul and its allies were trying to hoodwink the people by claiming that they wanted both industry and agriculture to grow. He also alleged that Miss Banerjee was working in the interests of some other industrialists against the Tatas. ( Source: The Statesman )

Tata will return land: Buddha

2008-10-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

Calcutta, Oct. 30: Tata Motors will return the land leased out for the Nano project, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told his allies at a Left Front meeting today.
Bhattacharjee clarified that the Tatas had never insisted on retaining the land after shifting the small-car plant out of Singur. “Despite the fact that 85 per cent of the work had been completed, Ratan Tata expressed his desire to return the land the day he announced the pullout. But we have to follow the procedures of taking back the land,” a front leader quoted him as telling the closed-door meeting.
A section of leaders from the CPM and its partners has been insisting on taking the land back so that it can be used for another project.
“The land was acquired for setting up industry and the front today asked the government to take effective steps to ensure that alternative industry comes up in Singur,” Biman Bose, the front chairman and state CPM secretary, said.
Legal provisions allow a leaseholder to retain the land for three years, after which the government can take it back if it has not been used for the purpose cited in the agreement.
Front partners like the RSP criticised the Tatas for “flouting the agreement with the government as it did not have any provision for a pullout because of the Opposition’s agitation”.
Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata drew flak for calling Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi a “good M” as opposed to the “bad M”, an obvious reference to Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
Bhattacharjee, however, steered clear of the blame game and stressed that the company had not deserted Bengal.
“The Tatas still have many units here that employ 16,000 people. Their cancer hospital is expected to open next month. Another Tata unit is coming up in Kharagpur. We are expecting more investments from the company,’’ he said.
The chief minister told the meeting that the Tatas had not paid the lease money for the 997 acres acquired for the Nano project but had taken a soft loan of Rs 200 crore from the government.
Both Bhattacharjee and Bose ruled out returning the acquired land to “unwilling farmers” as Trinamul has demanded. “The government is looking at possibilities of alternative industries in Singur but no specific proposal was discussed today,’’ Bose said.
Bhattacharjee distanced himself from transport minister Subhas Chakraborty’s claim that a deal had almost been finalised for Singur.
“Maybe one of my over-enthusiastic colleagues has said so, but nothing has been finalised. We are considering various proposals, including clusters of several industries and an industrial park for small-scale industries,’’ he was quoted as saying.

Source: The Telegraph

Roadblock with request for Tata team

2008-10-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

Chinsurah, Oct. 29: Nearly 200 members of the Nano Banchao Committee today descended on three buses carrying Tata Motors employees, pleading with them not to remove any machinery from the project site.

The buses were allowed to move after half an hour, when the Tata officials and technical staff explained they had come only to inspect the machinery lying in the factory and not take them away.

Villagers on vigil at the project gates spotted the buses around 8.40 this morning and rushed towards them.

“We had no intention of stopping them from entering the plant. We only want to ensure no machinery is removed because we want the Nano to be brought out from Singur,” said Saday Kolay, secretary of the committee.

A Tata team on a similar recce had been blocked on October 22, but was allowed passage after villagers urged them with folded hands not to leave Singur.

The Nano committee has said it will not let Mamata Banerjee enter Singur, where she has lined up a rally on November 2. “We will mobilise 10,000 villagers in Singur on November 2…. We will block Durgapur Expressway at the approach to Singur,” Kolay said.

The Trinamul Congress chief, however, said this evening that she would hold the rally “at any cost”.

“I will go to Singur as planned on November 2. Let me see who can stop me. The CPM and the police are trying to create trouble ahead of my visit,” Mamata said.

The Nano committee is also planning to greet Mamata with black flags when she passes Durgapur Expressway on her way to Ausgram in Burdwan tomorrow.

Police said adequate arrangements had been made for Mamata’s rally. “We are prepared to handle any situation. We will not tolerate any trouble in Singur on November 2,” Hooghly superintendent of police Rajeev Mishra said.(END)

Source: The Telegraph

Singur land for industry, says govt

2008-10-23T05:37:00.000-07:00

Calcutta/Singur, Oct. 22: The Singur land leased out for the Nano project will be used only for industry, the state government said today.

"The nature of the land has been changed for setting up industry. So, in future, the state government will use the Singur land for setting up industry and increasing employment opportunities. For this, the government is taking specific steps,” a statement said.

Industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen said “one big project” need not necessarily come up there. “There could be small- or medium-scale enterprises, light engineering units, industrial parks or food processing parks that generate employment. Or, we may think of bringing projects that haven’t got land elsewhere.’’

He added that “as of now, we haven’t got any concrete proposal”.

First, the Tatas will have to inform the government whether they will vacate the land or hold on to it, Sen said. “We will ask them about their plans, probably in November. They are in the process of shifting machinery and have sought police help.”

Machinery ruckus

In Singur, the presence of about 50 engineers and officials of Tata Motors, who had come to remove machinery from the site, sparked an uproar among members of the Singur Banchao Committee that wants the plant there.

Nearly 30 members sitting on a dharna near the plant rushed towards three buses carrying the engineers. But a police contingent intervened.

Soon, about 200 more villagers — some who had given up their land and others members of supply syndicates — gathered and raised slogans demanding that the Nano be manufactured in Singur. Some villagers assaulted labourers heading to the plant to help dismantle the machinery. The police drove the villagers away. (END) Source: The Telegraph

CPM cries bias against governor

2008-10-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, Oct. 20: The CPM feels governor Goplalkrishna Gandhi, who had facilitated talks between Mamata Banerjee and the Bengal government during the Singur standoff, was “not impartial”.
In a document adopted by the central committee in Cal- cutta recently, the party attacks the Congress, too, saying it “played a dubious role” with state party chief Priya Ranjan Das Munshi “encouraging” disruption of the Nano project.
“The role of the governor, who acted as a facilitator between the two sides, was also not impartial. Finally, the Tata motor company decided to shift its plant out of Bengal and announced the shifting out on October 3,” the party paper says, adding that this happened when “public opinion in the state was veering around in support of the project”.
The report on political developments says Mamata’s adamance led to the deadlock despite all efforts for negotiations and settlement.
Mamata, who had refused to talk to the government repeatedly, had finally relented following Gandhi’s request. The talks at Raj Bhavan failed, though, with the Trinamul Congress chief insisting on the return of 400 acres from the 1,000-acre small-car plant.
The governor had earlier earned the CPM’s wrath on Nandigram, when he expressed “cold horror” after the party’s recapture of the area. His decision to switch off Raj Bhavan lights for two hours every day when the state was going through a power crisis” had also not gone down well. ( END ) Source : The Telegraph

Singur: A lesson learnt

2008-10-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Oct. 20: With the bitter taste of Singur and Nandigram over land acquisition lingering, the state government has finally decided to prepare a database for non-agricultural, vested land available for setting up of industrial projects in each district. In a bid to expedite the allotment of such vested land for industry the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has also set up a three member committee headed by the chief secretary. The chief minister seem to have taken a leaf out of Mr Narendra Modi's industrially “vibrant” Gujarat and took steps to expedite the process of allotment of land, ironically, on the day (3 October), Mr Ratan Tata broke the unfortunate news of pulling out from Singur. The meeting was attended by the state commerce and industries minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, the panchayat and rural development minister, Dr Suryakanta Mishra and the land and land reforms minister, Mr Abdur Rezzak Mollah. The committee headed by chief secretary, Mr AK Deb would also include the principal secretary to the chief minister as well as the land reforms commissioner. The committee would vet the proposals received from various department for setting up projects on non-agricultural, vested land which would then be sent to the land and land reforms department for final settlement. “This would expedite the process of allotment of land for major projects which have been facing unnecessary delay,” said an official in Writers’ Buildings. In case of competing departments vying for the same plot, the committee would also resolve the issue. The demand for forming a land bank has been a long standing demand of the Opposition led by the Trinamul Congress but the state government had backed out citing difficulties since most land is in private hands. This database on vested, non-agricultural land is at least a step towards the same direction. In addition, henceforth the land and land reforms department would also give exemptions from land ceiling to projects under recommendation from the commerce and industries department. Since the amendment to the West Bengal land Reforms Act, 1955 is still lying with the standing committee of Legislative Assembly after objections from Left Front partners, projects other than mill, factory, tea gardens and townships require exemption from the L&LR department. The decisions taken by the chief minister have also in a sense, clipped the wings of the land and land reforms department which use to deal with all these issues on its own. It has also been decided to fix timeframe for conversion and mutation of land since this is also causes considerable delay for industrial projects. The notification for this major shift in policy would be issued soon. (END) Source : The Statesman

CPM goes for Gandhi

2008-10-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI, Oct 20: Apart from the Trinamul Congress and its chief, Miss Mamata Banerjee, the CPI (M) has held the West Bengal Governor, Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi to be partly to blame for the shifting of the Nano plant from the state, saying he was "not partial" during the crisis. In a document adopted by the CPI(M) Central Committee, the party attacked, apart from the Governor, the Congress, saying it “played a dubious role” on the issue with its Bengal PCC chief Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi “encouraging” disruption of the project. The 'Report on Political Developments' said despite all efforts by the West Bengal government for negotiations and settlement, the adamant stand adopted by Miss Mamata Banerjee on the Singur issue led to a deadlock. “When public opinion in the state was veering around in support of the project going ahead ... the role of the Governor who acted as a facilitator between the two sides was also not impartial,” the report said, noting that the Tatas had shifted the plant from the state on 3 October. In a bid to end the crisis on the Nano project, Mr Gandhi had acted as a facilitator between the government and Miss Banerjee after the Tatas threatened to pull out from the state. The Governor has earlier earned the wrath of the CPI(M)-led government for taking “pro-active” measures and putting the dispensation on the backfoot. His earlier decision to put off the lights of Raj Bhavan when the state was facing “power shortage” had also been criticised by the CPI(M) saying he was exceeding his brief. n SNS ( Source : The Statesman)

Pro-Nano procession by Singur residents

2008-10-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

KOLKATA: A section of residents of Singur demanding that Tata Motors revoke its decision to relocate its Nano project took out a procession there on Sunday with some among them even threatening to prevent the shifting out of any equipment from the area.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee reiterated here later in the afternoon her decision to renew the agitation for the return of 400 acres acquired for the abandoned Tata Motors project (out of a total of 997.11 acres) after the Diwali festival later this month.

The decision to relocate the project was taken following the agitation led by the Trinamool Congress outside the project site launched there on August 24. The agitation was lifted following talks between Ms. Banerjee’s associates and the State government on the land issue on September 7, but as the former had then asserted, “not suspended.”

“The agitation will continue through continuous programmes,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists.

She also said her party was considering “what legal action can be taken” against Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group, for his “open letter” to the people of the State — one she condemned.

In his letter published in some newspapers here on October 17 Mr. Tata said it was up to the State’s people whether to support Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s government’s attempts to “to build a prosperous state with the rule of law…or would like to see the state consumed by a destructive political environment of confrontation, agitation, violence and lawlessness.”

The procession taken out by supporters of the “Singur Nano Bachao (Save Nano) Committee” comprising a section of Singur residents who have been demanding that the Tata Motors reconsider their decision to relocate the project and set it up there as originally planned wound their way through various villages shouting slogans in support of their demand.

Banners

They also demonstrated for a short while on the Durgapur Expressway outside the area that had been acquired for their project with banners that read: “Welcome Ratan Tata. We want industry, we do not want confrontation.”

The Trinamool Congress-led Krishijami, Jiban, Jibika Raksha (Save Farmland, Lives and Livelihood) Committee also staged a demonstration at Singur where an effigy of Mr. Tata was burnt. “This is in protest against his open letter (to people of the State) last week that was part of a conspiracy hatched by the Communist Party of India (Marxist),” Becharam Manna, a leader of the committee said. Source: The Hindu

Politically motivated, says Trinamool Congress

2008-10-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress leadership has described as “totally politically motivated” Ratan Tata’s “open letter.”

“We demand an unconditional apology from him failing which we will take judicial recourse,” Leader of the Opposition and senior Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee said here.

Mr. Tata should come out with evidence and establish that Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had acted for vested interests, Mr. Chatterjee added.

Mr. Tata’s letter was to malign the Trinamool Congress and its chief and it was politically motivated, Mr. Chatterjee said. .

Ashok Ghosh, general secretary of the State committee of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) said that it was for the people of the State to decide “whether they wish to stand still and let growth take place elsewhere or move forward with the present government’s progressive policy.” Source: The Hindu

Trinamul threat to Tata

2008-10-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

Calcutta, Oct. 17: The Trinamul Congress today threatened to move court against Ratan Tata for alleging that the party led by Mamata Banerjee had acted for vested interests.

“He (Tata) should come out with evidence and establish that Mamata had acted for vested interests. The onus lies with the Tatas. We demand an unconditional apology from him, failing which we will take judicial recourse,” said Partha Chatterjee, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

“Why is Tata holding the brief for the CPM and the chief minister?” he asked, adding: “His (Tata’s) statement is nothing but an attempt to malign the party and our chief.”

In an open letter, Tata had said: “Unfortunately, the confrontative actions by the Trinamool Congress led by Ms. Mamata Banerjee and supported by vested interests and certain political parties, opposing the acquisition of land by the state government, has caused serious disruption to the progress of the Nano plant.”

Praising the state government, Tata said: “Agitation and violence drove away many industries around 30 years ago, and it has only been in recent times that the present government has been able to rebuild the confidence of investors to invest in the state.”

“All our interactions with the chief minister and the industries minister in particular, as also with several other officers, have been exemplary.”

He asked the people of Bengal if they wanted “a destructive political environment of confrontation... and lawlessness” or “education and jobs”.

Trinamul MLA Saugata Ray said: “I’ve never heard of an industrialist giving a statement directly in favour of a state government and its chief minister and directly against the principal Opposition.”

Some Left leaders like the RSP’s Kshiti Goswami felt Tata had “not behaved like an industrialist”.

Party MP Manoj Bhattacharya said: “This is personal observation of an individual industrialist. Ratan Tata does not have all-pervasive influence on the people of Bengal. The letter is not going to help form public opinion.”

The Forward Bloc’s Ashok Ghosh felt the comment was “undesirable”. The CPI refused to comment.

Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee said: “It is not right for a businessman to speak in favour of a party.”

Left Front chief and CPM state secretary Biman Bose said Tata had issued the letter as an industrialist. “Since we are not industrialists, we will not comment on it.” Source: The Telegraph

Trinamul demands apology from Tata

2008-10-18T05:10:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

Kolkata, Oct 17 : The “open letter” written by the Tata group chief Mr Ratan Tata and published by a section of the media today triggered sharp political reactions with the Trinamul Congress threatening to sue him if he didn't tender an apology for “maligning” Miss Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamul-led Opposition, while Left Front junior partners ~ the RSP and the Forward Bloc ~ disapproved of the tenor and substance of the letter. The CPI-M gave tacit support to it.

Mr Partha Chatterjee, leader of the Opposition, said what appeared in the name of Mr Tata was “nothing but a slander campaign” against Mi]ss Banerjee and the Trinamul-led Opposition that spearheaded the agitation for return to the unwilling farmers the land forcibly acquired from them for the small car project at Singur.

The advertisement, he said, didn't bear the signature of Mr Tata, while the logo of the Tata group of companies was used.

Mr Tata blamed “vested interests” for his decision to relocate the project from Singur. "This is most libelous and intended to malign our party supremo and the Opposition combine fighting for the cause of the farmers who were forcibly dispossessed of their land,” he said.

The “so-called” open letter had been penned in a language as if the writer were a CPI-M politburo member, he asserted. Mr Tata openly canvassed for Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's industrialisation overdrive as if he were writing an election pamphlet for the CPI-M. "What else can one say when Mr Tata commands the youth of West Bengal to choose between Mr Bhattacharjee's policy and the Opposition-sponsored agitation,” Mr Chatterjee said.

“Mr Tata can join the CPI-M or he may take over Alimuddin Street replacing its state secretary Mr Biman Bose.Why is he holding brief for the state government ? Is it because he got land so cheap, soft loan at nominal interest, water and electricity at throwaway prices whereas he has to buy land in Gujarat at market prices ?” Mr Chatterjee said. Mr Kshiti Goswami, PWD minister and RSP leader, said the language used in the letter was uncalled for.

“Mr Tata as a citizen of a free country is free to hold his political views, but the dictating tone of the open letter is not proper. He seems to be offering lollipops to the youth. He is setting terms for the youth to exercise their political options which is not acceptable,” Mr Goswami said. Source: The Statesman

Ratan Tata asks Young Bengal: Jobs or lawlessness?

2008-10-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Calcutta, Oct. 16: Ratan Tata has warned Bengal of the consequences of letting history repeat itself and asked a series of searing questions in an open letter explaining why he was compelled to withdraw the Nano project from the state.

“The people of West Bengal — particularly the younger citizens — will need to express their views and aspirations as to what they would like to see West Bengal become in the years ahead. Would they like to support the present government of Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to build a prosperous state with the rule of law, modern infrastructure and industrial growth, supporting a harmonious investment in the agricultural sector to give the people in the state a better life?

“Or would they like to see the state consumed by a destructive political environment of confrontation, agitation, violence and lawlessness? Do they want education and jobs in the industrial and high-tech sectors or does the future generation see their future prosperity achieved on a ‘stay-as-we-are’ basis?” Tata asked in the open letter to the “citizens of West Bengal”.

An environment of “politically motivated agitation and hostility” compelled Tata Motors to withdraw the Nano project, he added.

Tata wrote the letter in response to statements by “vested interests” that the pullout decision was “hasty and politically motivated”.

In the letter, Tata named Mamata Banerjee and referred to “confrontative actions” taken by the Trinamul Congress and supported by “vested interests and certain political parties” that disrupted work at the plant.

Tata praised the Bengal government, saying “all our interactions with the chief minister and the industries minister in particular, as also with several other officers, have been exemplary”.

Trinamul has been claiming that the Tata pullout was a game plan to malign the party. A section of the CPM had described the Tata withdrawal as “unreasonable” — a view articulated by party mouthpiece People’s Democracy.

However, Tata said “the final and painful decision to move the project out” had not been taken in haste but with “great regret after a great deal of deliberation”.

Tata reminded Bengal of the situation 30 years ago. “Agitation and violence drove away many industries around 30 years ago, and it has only been in recent times that the present government has been able to rebuild the confidence of investors to invest in the state.”

Tata added: “It is therefore ironic that, at this crucial time and moment of hope for the state, history appears to be repeating itself. Agitation, violence and terror are overtaking the state in the name of the agricultural community, to serve political goals — stalling progress and destroying the new-found confidence in the state, while doing nothing for the rural poor, other than making promises.”

Source : The Telegraph

Nano Land: PIL against Gujarat govt

2008-10-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ahmedabad, Oct 15: A Public Interest Litigation was filed today challenging the Gujarat government's decision of giving agriculture land for Tata's dream car project Nano in Sanand taluka of the state.

The PIL filed by the Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Kisan Dal (RKD) contended that land of the Anand Agriculture University (AAU), which was meant for agriculture purpose, was converted into an industrial land and it was wrong to give the plot for the Nano Car Project.

The PIL also said that the farmers who are original landowners of the agriculture land have not been given adequate compensation by the state government.

It also demanded that the farmers be given adequate compensation.

A division bench of Chief Justice Mr RK Radhakrishnan and Justice Mr Aquil Qureshi, asked the petitioner to come back to the court within three days after the PIL was translated from Gujarati language.

The state government has given 1,100 acres of land near Charodi village in Sanand taluka on the outskirts of the city to Tata's for the relocation of their Nano Car Project from Singur in West Bengal.

An agreement was signed between the state government and the Tata's last week for setting the small car project in Gujarat.

Farmers of Bod, Khoda and Sanand village have said that the land given to Tata's belonged to their forefathers and was acquired on 99 years lease by British Government. They have demanded adequate compensation for the land, the RKD leaders said.

As reality prices soar in Sanand, the place where Tata Motors has decided to relocate the Nano plant, the Gujarat Cabinet today decided that the Company should pay Rs 400 crore and 65 lakhs for the 1100 acres on which the plant is to be set up.

Mr Narendra Modi’s Cabinet met here this morning, and the price of the land for Nano was decided at Rs 900 per sq mts. The chief minister had earlier announced that the land will be sold at “market price” to Tata Motors.

Source: The Statesman

Our fight will continue, says Mamata Banerjee

2008-10-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

By Gargi Parsai
PM briefed on farmers’ problems in Singur: Amar Singh

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, along with Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday met President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to apprise them of the situation at Singur in West Bengal. They demanded that the State government be asked to honour an agreement to return land to farmers who had not accepted compensation for their plots acquired for Tatas’ ancillary unit.
Seeking dismissal of the State government for the “breakdown of a constitutional agreement,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists here that she was not looking for the 600 acres earmarked for Tatas’ Nano project.
“There are many Tatas, anyone can come there. We want the 400 acres acquired for the adjoining ancillary unit returned to farmers who did not want to part with their land and who have not accepted any compensation. The government will have to implement it or go out of power.”
The Trinamool chief said nobody knew why Tatas withdrew from Singur. “They withdrew unilaterally and the government withdrew unilaterally. The Left parties withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance government over the nuclear agreement, while they themselves failed to honour the agreement on Singur. We will continue to fight this socially, legally and politically.”
Accompanied by leaders of the West Bengal SP and Janata Dal (United), among others, Mr. Amar Singh said at the joint press conference that they briefed the Prime Minister and the President on the Singur farmers facing tough time due to the policies of the State government. “No jan andolan can run for so long unless the people are with it.”
On Mr. Ratan Tata’s remarks after he shifted the Nano project to Gujarat, Mr. Amar Singh said: “To say Ms. Mamata, who was fighting for the poor, was the bad M and Mr. Modi [Gujarat Chief Minister] was the good M was a personal attack on Ms. Banerjee for which she should sue him. Mr. Tata should decide whether he wants to be an industrialist or politician.”
Mr. Singh said he would raise the issue of special economic zones with the Congress leadership when the UPA-SP Coordination Committee met here on Friday. ( END)

'Alternative car plant possible'

2008-10-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Oct. 14: CPI-M general secretary Mr Prakash Karat today said the state government was “exploring possibilities” for setting up an alternative car plant at Singur after the Tata Motors’ small car project “had to be abandoned”. Mr Karat said this while responding to the Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee's demand placed before the Prime Minister and the President today, for return of land to the farmers, acquired for the Tata project since the Tatas had relocated their project from Singur. Mr Karat didn't go into details of the plan about which the state transport minister and CPI-M state secretariat member, Mr Subhash Chakraborty, had been speaking for the past few days without any backing from the state industries department. “My response to the demand is that the state government is looking into the legal and technical aspects for working out plans for setting up an alternative car plant,” Mr Karat said. The CPI-M Central Committee, which ended its three-day session today, heard a report on the Singur fiasco and endorsed the state committee's plan to go on a propaganda offensive against the Trinamul-led "reactionary forces” that adopted “an obstructionist” strategy to “scuttle” the Nano project, the Left Front-government's development initiatives and the policy of industrialisation on the basis of agricultural growth. Mr Karat said the Tata group chief Mr Ratan Tata had also squarely blamed the Trinamul-led Opposition's “obstructionist” strategy for their decision to move out of Singur. The CPI-M will mobilise the people to foil such disruptive activities, since the Singur experience “doesn't mean a full stop to the industrialisation policy”, Mr Karat said adding that efforts would be made to “ensure that the LF-government can fulfil its goal for industrialisation and all round development of the state.” (END)

Protestors block Tata machinery shift from Singur
Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Oct. 14: Supporters of the Save Nano Committee (SNC) today prevented employees of a private company, engaged by Tata Motors Limited, from shifting some heavy machinery from the Singur plant.It was around noon when about 20 SNC supporters intercepted five vehicles in which a pay-loader machine and a few generator sets were being taken out of the Singur plant through gate number five, police said. Employees of the company ~ which was engaged by Tata's to dismantle the machines and shift them to other places ~ requested the agitators to let them go, but their request fell on deaf ears as the supporters sat on the factory gate demanding that Mr Ratan Tata change his decision to pull out from Singur. After waiting for a few minutes, the trucks were taken back to the project area. The factory gate remained blocked for several hours even after police intervened to remove the blockade. A senior district police officer said a team from Singur police station went to the spot after being informed of the incident. Policemen's request to withdraw the blockade was turned down by the SNC supporters, the officer added. “We want to make it clear that Tatas will not be allowed to shift machines from the project area. We will only allow entry of machines and not the exit of the same. Tatas will have to come back here since almost 90 per cent work on the project is complete,” said SNC convener Mr Sadai Koley. He added: “Those who were shifting the machines in trucks were requested to support our movement that was launched so that Tatas would stay at Singur." (END)

Source : The Statesman

CHANGING COURSE

2008-10-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

- After years of agitation, Bengal’s Left needs to use persuasion
By ANDRÉ BÉTEILLE

The withdrawal of the Nano project from Singur has caused both anguish and surprise in the country. My market-friendly acquaintances in Delhi are unable to understand how, when the project had the full support of the Left Front itself, it could be brought to a halt by political elements not known for their principled opposition to private capital.
The failure at Singur has been attributed variously to the intransigence of the Opposition and the ineptitude of the government. Ordinary people have come to accept inept responses to intransigent demands as a part of everyday political life in India. Some have drawn attention to the decay of public institutions through the sustained use of political patronage and thuggery. But this is not unique to West Bengal. The displacement of rules by persons in public institutions has taken place throughout the country and is probably due to forces that are deeply rooted in India’s social tradition. Perhaps because of the discipline of the Left cadres and the uninterrupted rule by the Left parties for more than 30 years, political thuggery has been better organized at the grassroots level in West Bengal.
Is there no singularity in the state of West Bengal that can help us explain either the intransigence of the Opposition or the ineptitude of the government? A part of the singularity of West Bengal lies in the very distinctive ideological climate that has been nurtured in the state. While all political parties find it convenient to speak against the rich and for the poor, no party has mounted such a sustained ideological assault on the capitalist system as the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The problem in West Bengal today is that an attempt is being made to act against the prevalent ideological climate by the very people who created that climate and sought to protect it zealously from reasoned criticism. An important factor behind the inept handling of the crisis by the CPI(M) is its failure to recognize the power that ideology and doctrine can acquire over minds that have been exposed to them continuously and with little room for dissent.
The Bengali intelligentsia has developed a distinctive language of public discourse. What is loosely described as the ‘class approach’ to society and politics has been made a part of the common sense of large sections of the Bengali-speaking population. This discourse is no longer confined to social analysts or political activists. It provides a set of unstated assumptions for the discussion of every kind of social and political issue. The fulcrum of the discourse is the ineluctable division of society into capitalists and workers, the relentless exploitation of workers by capitalists, and the need to resist that exploitation by every available means.
Uninterrupted rule for more than 30 years by the Left parties has not only created new structures of patronage, it has also led to shifts in the ways in which ordinary people speak and even think. I am impressed by the extent to which terms and phrases taken straight from the Marxist lexicon have now become a part of ordinary Bengali conversation through more than half-a-century of usage. I would venture to say that Bengali has gone further than any Indian language in appropriating the idiom of Marxism and giving it a vivid and distinctive colouring.
The evils inherent in private capital and the sinister designs of businessmen and entrepreneurs have been attacked single-mindedly, and sometimes mindlessly, at party meetings and in party literature for decades on end. One does not have to be a market fundamentalist to acknowledge that business and enterprise might contribute usefully to the wealth and well-being of a nation. But such acknowledgment was ruled out of court in the communist discourse on capitalism and socialism. There is no match for the vigour and sophistry with which Left intellectuals in Calcutta habitually assault any argument about the positive role of private capital in economic development.
Perhaps the powers that be in West Bengal no longer take very seriously the tirades they have themselves kept alive against liberalization, privatization and globalization. Some of them may have the delusion that they can do what the communist leadership has done in China to turn the economy around. But China is a different universe from West Bengal. It has a determined and unitary communist leadership that can move the people in a particular direction at one time and in a different direction at another. The leadership in West Bengal is too insecure and too divided to be able to do that. It has to make its way through the discord and disorder that is the staple of a multi-party democracy. After so many decades of agitation and propaganda, it has to devote a little more care and attention to persuasion. Persuasion may appear more tedious and time-consuming than propaganda, but it is the only path that is now open if development is to be given a chance in West Bengal.
Under present conditions of economic and social change, the communist leadership in West Bengal cannot take its followers and supporters for granted. It is not enough for the chief minister or the industries minister to engage with the politburo or with Ratan Tata. The leaders must explain to their own supporters and followers why private capital is sometimes beneficial for economic development. Changing the social perceptions of a whole population, or even a large segment of it, requires far more patience and care than a mere change in political strategy.
I cannot judge how clearly the communist leadership realizes that a more friendly attitude to private capital, including global capital, requires a change not only in the political climate of West Bengal, but also in its intellectual climate. Left intellectuals have played no small part in forging and supplying the ammunition for the critique of capitalism. This critique, which attracted some of the best minds of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, has lost much of its intellectual excitement with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the slump in the Cold War. But there is still no match for the zeal with which the Left intellectual can pounce on anyone who is so foolhardy as to even mention the common interest of capital and labour in the benefits of development.
The intellectual custodians of the social and economic theories of the Left have had an easier time in India than in the Soviet Union or China. The discipline of the party and the State never weighed as heavily on them as it did on their Soviet or Chinese counterparts. They could remain men of the Left without surrendering their liberal conscience. They have been increasingly critical of the high-handed acts of the leaders and the cadres of the Left parties. This does not go very far below the surface. They have a deeper responsibility to revise and re-examine a representation of the social and economic reality in whose propagation they have played no small part and that has now become obsolete and anachronistic. Their obligation is to keep under scrutiny not only the political practices of the Left parties but also the economic doctrines by which those practices have been sustained.
The author is Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, and National Research

Source: The Telegraph

Singur residents seek Governor's intervention

2008-10-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

By Staff Reporter
Seek his intervention in bringing back Tata Motors project
Agitation by the committee at Singur enters fourth day
Governor asks residents to meet Buddhadeb
KOLKATA: A delegation of Singur residents met Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi here on Monday and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention in bringing back the Tata Motors small car project to Singur.
“We told the Governor about the hardship faced by the 11,000 farmers who have lost their land as well as their means of livelihood following Tata Motors’ decision on relocation and urged him to take concrete steps to return back the project to the State,” said Manas Ghosh, secretary of the Singur-based Nano Bachao (Save Nano) Committee. Members of this committee were part of the delegation.
Mr. Ghosh said the Governor sympathised with their cause and assured them to take up the issue with both the State government and the Opposition.
He said: “The Governor asked us to meet Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and explain the situation to him.”
The Committee was trying to get an appointment with the Chief Minister. Agitation enters fourth day
The indefinite agitation started by the committee at Singur entered its fourth day on Monday.
Busloads of people from Singur came to the city and a gathering was held before the delegation met the Governor.
Kolkata Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya was present at the gathering to express solidarity with the Singur residents.
“The Opposition has duped the farmers by saying that the acquired land can be returned back, when the truth is that according to the country’s Constitution it is not possible,” Mr Bhattacharya said.(END) Source: The Hindu

Modi's open letter to Buddhadeb, Mamata

2008-10-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
The open letter was published in Ananda Bazaar Patrika
Dialogue with Opposition is a must on land acquisition issues
KOLKATA: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has, in an “open letter” to his counterpart in West Bengal, told Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee that given the work culture in the State, the situation is not yet one in which Tata Motors’ Nano project can come up, much that the latter would want it to.
Mr. Modi said that despite Mr Bhattacharjee’s efforts to usher in industrialization in West Bengal neither the party he belongs to nor his administration is yet totally by his side on the matter.
The letter that was published in Sunday’s edition of the Bengali daily Ananda Bazaar Patrika was being released through the newspaper with the intention that it reached the largest section of the State, Mr. Modi said.
It was written to clear any misunderstanding that might exist among the people of West Bengal that the Gujarat had snatched away the project from them, he added.
Tata Motors have decided to relocate their Nano project at Sanand in Gujarat that was to have come up at Singur.

Words of advice

Mr. Modi also had words of advice for Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee He has suggested that she shun negative agitation and not become ultra-left in attempts to counter the Left forces.
Instead, the right-wing path should be pursued in West Bengal to forge an alternative.
Citing the case of the Nano project, he told Ms. Banerjee, that in Gujarat even Opposition doesn’t engage in politics over industrialisation.
The task of creating something is difficult; but to destroy it takes a minute, he said.

‘Dialogue needed’

In his letter to Mr. Bhattacharjee he has admitted that in comparison to Gujarat the acreage of agricultural land in West Bengal is higher. It is necessary to have a dialogue with the Opposition on land acquisition issues as it was done in Gujarat.

Source: The Hindu

New plant: Subhas
Calcutta, Oct. 12: Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty has said an automobile company would set up a plant in Singur following the Tata pullout.
“Just wait for six months. You will find another car manufacturing factory coming up there for which we have already started preparations. It will take one or two months for us to sort out legal complications and administrative matters,” Chakraborty told a television channel.
However, chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb said from Delhi tonight that he had no knowledge of another car manufacturer setting up a plant in Singur.
State transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury, too, said he was not aware of “any such development”.
Source : The Telegraph

CPM cries Ma-Mo plot
The CPM today accused Mamata Banerjee of plotting with Narendra Modi to take the Nano project from Bengal to Gujarat, providing a preview of the campaign it plans to run ... Read..

Dial 'M' for Nano

2008-10-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Status of the land spells the difference

Gujarat’s incredibly fast handover of land for the Nano is in accord with its generally businesslike approach to development. To that extent, Ratan Tata’s verbal bouquet to Narendra Modi is richly deserved. That said, the investor must also acknowledge that the character of the land spells the difference between Sanand and Singur. It is government land that Gujarat will sell at the market price, indeed part of Anand agricultural university and currently an expansive grazing ground for cattle. Most critically, therefore, there is no question of acquisition of a tract ~ fallow or fertile ~ not to mention government compensation for land-losers, both unwilling and willing. In effect, it is the Gujarat government that will sell its own land. In terms of displacement, it is the cow and not the farmer who stands to be uprooted. Such factors doubtless make for an easy transaction. The ground realities are starkly different, and Mr Tata has not encountered the sort of problem that had appeared insurmountable in Bengal, indeed a crisis that became unmanageable. As in Singur, data pertaining to Sanand has been disseminated on the terms of Bombay House. For, there is precious little that has been disclosed save the basics. So much for transparency. The claim that the engagement was finalised within an astonishing span of five days ~ from the pullout from Singur to the choice of Gujarat ~ is less than convincing. It may not be farfetched to assume that the choice was firmed up before Mr Tata stepped into Writers’ to formalise the withdrawal. Indubitably, it is an achievement for Mr Modi; he has won convincingly after several of his counterparts had thrown their hat into the Nano ring. This is a testament to the state’s economic resilience, a confirmation ~ if confirmation were needed ~ that Gujarat tops the country’s development chart. His other advantage that must be conceded in the context of Bengal’s experience is that no fiascoes and foibles on the part of a bumbling establishment can conceivably impede Gujarat’s development agenda. Still less will Mr Modi and Mr Tata have to contend with what Amartya Sen calls “street activism”, often verging towards destructive nihilism. Its “attractions” are uniquely Bengal’s ~ historically for the Left, currently for the Right and generally confused.

Source: The Statesman

Editorial

Mamata ‘helped’ relocate Nano: CPM

Statesman News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct. 10: The Trinamul Congress leader, Miss Mamata Banerjee, not only succeeded in driving Tata’s Nano project out of West Bengal but “facilitated” its re-location in Gujarat, according to the CPI-M. An editorial in the forthcoming issue of the CPI-M mouthpiece, People’s Democracy, said “being the loyal steadfast ally of the BJP in the NDA, she (Mamata) facilitated the project’s re-location to Gujarat.” The write-up said, “Remember, she continued to remain with the NDA and, thus, in a way endorsed the communal carnage unleashed in the state by the BJP’s Narendra Modi government.” The party maintained the Mamata-led agitation had the support of less than 10 per cent of the owners of the acquired land who had not taken the compensation cheques. The agitation had adversely affected “the future prosperity and improved livelihood for a large number of people in the area as well as the process of industrialisation that would have generated greater employment opportunities”, it said. The editorial said the CPI-M had, in the last Assembly elections, “received a massive mandate to carry out rapid industrialisation on the basis of the consolidation of land reforms,” and the current opposition was in fact “a negation of the people’s mandate”. Answering criticism that the Left Front government failed to provide adequate security, forcing the Tatas to leave Singur, the party journal said, “That is not the reason, as Ratan Tata himself has stated as the reason for the Nano project to leave.” “Indeed, adequate protection was provided and the state government was discharging its responsibilities towards the maintenance of law and order. The Tatas, however, took a stand that unless everybody cooperates, they are not going to continue to remain in Singur,” the editorial said. “One can, surely, disagree with such a position. For, after all, no one can say that they shall build their house in a locality only when all others living there will give an assurance that their house will not be burgled. However, like Mamata Banerjee, the Tatas also have an equal right to take an unreasonable position,” the party journal said.

Singur residents demand Nano back

2008-10-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

By Staff Reporter
KOLKATA: A section of residents of Singur started an indefinite agitation there from Friday demanding that the Tata Motors small car project — which has now been relocated to Sanand in Gujarat — be set up in Singur as originally planned. The agitation is being held outside the site where the project had been coming up prior to the decision to relocate it.
“We want the small car project back in Singur at any cost. Our future depends on it,” said Manas Ghosh, Secretary of the ‘Nano Bachao (Save Nano) Committee,’ under whose banner the agitation is being held.(END) Source : The Hindu

From Nano dust rises a poll plank

2008-10-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

By BISWAJIT ROY

Calcutta, Oct. 10: The CPM will make Mamata Banerjee’s “destructive, anti-state politics” a key poll plank, hoping to reap some dividends from the debris of the Nano project in Singur.
CPM state secretariat member Benoy Konar said “Singur or the exit of Nano project from Bengal would be a major poll issue” for the party in Bengal. He hoped that the “people of the state would give Mamata and her allies a fitting reply for their destructive, anti-state politics”.
The party state secretariat met this morning and a three-day central committee meeting begins on Sunday. Today’s meeting discussed the “contours of the post-Singur political campaign” that will be finalised after the central committee gathers.
“We suspect the government would call elections in January or a little after that. So, we will take stock of the political scenario, both at the national and state levels, and discuss the preparations,” said Md Selim, deputy leader of the CPM parliamentary party.
Konar, a central committee member, hinted that a section of the CPM in the state that was opposed to early elections after the panchayat poll setback now doesn’t mind the prospect, hoping to ride the “anti-Mamata sentiment”, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas, after the Singur crisis.
But not everybody in the party seems as optimistic. Sources said some leaders felt Mamata may be able to offset her loss of the middle-class voters’ support by gaining in rural votes on the land issue.
As the Left has pulled out in Delhi over the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Congress, too, would be in the CPM’s gunsights, Selim indicated.
“The central committee will finalise a document on the demands for restructuring Centre-state relations before beginning talks with other parties for a broad-based movement,” the CPM MP said.
It is not clear, though, if BJP-ruled states would also be included in this “broad-based movement”.
The CPM would also highlight the Congress’s “tacit understanding with Trinamul” on Singur. “The meeting between the Mamata Banerjee and Sonia Gandhi at the height of the Singur crisis and the change in the Congress’s tune at the all-party meeting on the return of land confirms our apprehension,” a CPM secretariat member said.
According to some CPM leaders, the Congress may go for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in the coming session of Parliament beginning October 17.
The CPM is worried about the “rising attacks on minorities in NDA-ruled Orissa and Karnataka”, but the party would still go on the offensive against the Congress, keeping the “third front alternative” in mind. (END) Source : The Telegraph

CPM finally ‘disagrees’ with the Tatas

2008-10-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, Oct. 10: The CPM has criticised the Tatas for the first time since the company took the Nano project out of Bengal, saying “like Mamata Banerjee”, it had a right to be “unreasonable”.
“Adequate protection was provided (in Singur) and the state government was discharging its responsibilities towards the maintenance of law and order,” an editorial in the forthcoming issue of People’s Democracy says. “The Tatas, however, took a stand that unless everybody co-operates, they are not going to remain in Singur. One can surely disagree with such a position.”
According to the editorial titled ‘Defeat these anti-people policies’, the Tatas had been unduly worried. “After all, no one can say they shall build their house in a locality only when all others living there will give an assurance that their house will not be burgled.”
With a touch of sarcasm, it adds: “However, like Mamata Banerjee, the Tatas also have an equal right to take an unreasonable position.”
The editorial also accuses Mamata of facilitating the relocation of the plant to Narendra Modi’s Gujarat.
“Remember, she continued to remain with the NDA and, thus, in a way endorsed the communal carnage unleashed in the state by BJP’s Narendra Modi government,” it says.
“Mamata Banerjee has not merely ensured the exit of the Nano project from Bengal but being the loyal steadfast ally of the BJP in the NDA, she facilitated the project’s relocation to Gujarat.”
The editorial blames Mamata’s Trinamul Congress for putting the future of thousands in jeopardy. It says the party, “with the mere support of less than 10 per cent of the owners of the acquired land, who have not taken the compensation cheques, adversely affected the future prosperity and improved livelihood for a large number of people in the area”.
The article rounds off with a suggestion to prevent a rerun of Singur. “The politics that led to the relocation of the Nano project from Bengal also needs to be relocated elsewhere in the interests of greater prosperity of Bengal and its people.” Source : The Telegraph

Plea for Nano substitute

2008-10-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

- Willing farmers to meet governor with factory request
Singur, Oct. 8: Singur residents who had given up their land for the Nano plant or were earning their living from it will meet governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday with the request to ask the Tatas to set up a factory at the abandoned site.
The willing landlosers and representatives of the 22 syndicates that supplied construction materials to the project hurriedly called a meeting in a rented house near Singur station last evening after hearing that the Tatas had already decided on an alternative home for the Nano.
“We felt helpless yesterday. So we convened the meeting in a hurry and decided to go to the governor and the chief minister. We will request them to ask the Tatas to reconsider their decision on Singur. If that is not possible, they should ask Ratan Tata to set up some other industry here,” said Sheikh Babul, 32, of Joymollah, whose family had given up over half an acre for the project.
Debaprasad Das, 45, of Sahanapara, a syndicate member, said efforts were on to mobilise people to back their demand. “We have arranged buses for over 2,000 people. We want to prove to the governor and the chief minister that we are sincere,” said Debaprasad, who gave up over two acres for the project.
Many like Bikash Pakhira, 27, of Joymollah, who was a trainee at the Nano project in Singur, are waiting eagerly for a communication from the Tatas asking them to join Sanand, Gujarat, where the project is being relocated. Bikash had completed an ITI course and was trained at Tata Motors’ Pune plant.
“We have heard we will be absorbed but we have not heard from them so far. However, I have decided to join Friday’s programme,” said Bikash. Laltu Dey, 25, echoed Bikash.
The governor had made a vain attempt to end the Singur impasse that killed off the Nano project in Bengal.
The CPM will go door-to-door in Singur “to tell people how Mamata Banerjee’s agitation benefited the BJP (in power in Gujarat)”. “Mamata’s strong ties with the BJP are now clear,” said Hooghly secretariat member Balai Sabui.
The Hooghly CPM leadership will also request the Tatas to build a factory in Singur. “We will approach the people of Singur and ask them whether they would allow the Ta- tas to set up another factory at the Nano project site. If they agree, we will approach the Tatas,” said Anil Basu, the MP from nearby Arambagh.
The government had given the land on a 99-year lease and the Tatas have not made it clear if they want to return or retain it.
The Save Farmland Committee said it would intensify its agitation in Singur after Puja, demanding that the land acquired from unwilling farmers be returned.
The law, however, prevents the government from returning acquired land.(END)

Source: The Telegraph

Sanand rides Singur boom

2008-10-08T20:33:00.001-07:00

By BASANT RAWAT
Sanand, Oct. 8: From paddy land to a pot of gold, Nano’s new home is seeing what Singur saw two years ago — a real estate rush and skyrocketing prices.
Cars laden with brokers and property agents scouting for land lined the dusty roads of Sanand, 35km west of Ahmedabad, a day after Ratan Tata announced that the small-car plant would be relocated here. The government has handed over to the Tatas 1,100 acres of land, which was with the Anand Agricultural University and used for cattle grazing.
Govindbhai Dodar, a real estate agent who claims to have handled queries from dozens of people eager to buy plots near the site, said land prices had gone up 500 per cent in the past 24 hours.
“Until yesterday, the price of land in the seven villages surrounding the 2,250-acre university campus was around Rs 5 lakh per acre. Today, we are quoting Rs 25 lakh per acre. In the days to come, the price will go up further,” Dodar said.
Farmers owning land near National Highway 8 connecting Mumbai with Delhi have already hit a jackpot.
The government has acquired from them a little over 50 acres to construct an approach road from the plant site to the highway, a distance of around one-and-a-half kilometres. As compensation, the government has agreed to pay the farmers Rs 45 lakh an acre.
The road leading to the cattle farm resembled a real estate mela with scores of brokers negotiating prices over cups of tea and beedis, confident that Sanand will become Gujarat’s Gurgaon.
The scene was reminiscent of the one in Singur two years ago when the Tatas decided to set up Nano’s mother plant there.
From around Rs 5-8 lakh an acre, the price of land along the Durgapur Expressway had shot up to Rs 35-40 lakh. Since the pullout last Friday, brokers fear the prices, like the “Bengal’s Gurgaon” dream, will come crashing down.(END) Source: The Telegraph

Disaster, says Buddha

2008-10-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

Calcutta, Oct. 7: A grim Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today broke the news of “a disaster” to Jyoti Basu — Gujarat has bagged the Nano project.
The chief minister arrived at Indira Bhavan at 12.15 this afternoon and stayed for 20 minutes.
“They discussed at length the relocation of the Nano factory to Gujarat,” Joykrishna Ghosh, a close aide of Basu, told The Telegraph. “The chief minister told him that the government had done its best, but an irresponsible Opposition ensured that the Tatas left Bengal. The chief minister was dejected about the Nano’s move to Gujarat and he conveyed this to Jyoti Basu.”
Sources at Indira Bhavan said Basu told Bhattacharjee that he shared his sentiments. “There were also periods of long silences between the two leaders, which conveyed their mood after today’s developments,” the source said.
The chief minister went to the CPM’s Alimuddin Street office twice today, but cancelled plans to visit his friends in north Calcutta, a routine he strictly follows every Puja. Instead, he spent the rest of the day at home.
Mamata Banerjee soaked in the Puja spirit, pandal hopping in her Calcutta South Lok Sabha constituency — from Mudiali to Mad- dox Square.
“She doesn’t care about Ratan Tata’s decision to relocate the Nano project to Gujarat,” an aide said. “It is irrelevant for the Trinamul Congress where the Tatas want to relocate.”
He refused to comment when asked whether Mamata would write to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to congratulate him on bagging the Nano project, just the way she had done when he had swept to power in the last Assembly elections.
But a close aide quoted Mamata as saying: “You people may be wondering why I am not speaking much on Nano. I just want to see now whether the Gujarat government makes the agreement with the Tatas public. The CPM government didn’t do it. So, I am waiting to find out what Narendra Modi does.”

Tatas opt for ‘good M’
Moving from a “bad M to a good M”, Ratan Tata today dealt a knockout punch to the tottering image of Brand Bengal by deciding to relocate the Nano plant in Nare ... Read..
Ansari to car, tit for tat
Bengal had invited and given shelter to Qutubuddin Ansari, the face of the Gujarat riots, to shame Narendra Modi’s brand of politics. ... Read..
What Modi has shown
The Tatas’ abandonment of Singur inspired much reflection on the sins of Bengal and Bengalis; their flight to Gujarat should inspire similar thoughts on the virtues of G ... Read..

Source: The Telegraph

Mamata unflinching despite Tata's pullout

2008-10-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

By Marcus Dam
Trinamool chief bracing for a fresh round of agitation in Singur
KOLKATA: Tata Motors may have pulled out of Singur but Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee remains unflinching in her demands and is bracing for a fresh round of the very agitation that sounded the death knell for the Nano project there.
Ms. Banerjee says she will be renewing, after the Durga Puja festivities, her movement for the return of 400 acres acquired for the project (out of 997.11 acres) to farmers who have not accepted compensation.
Though her “satyagraha” was purportedly aimed at safeguarding the interests of a small minority of farmers who had not accepted compensation — a little more than 2,000 out of a total of more than 13,000 — it would be naïve to assume that the agitation is anything but one designed to serve an agenda governed by a compulsion to gain political leverage in rural West Bengal with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha elections, if not beyond.
Ms. Banerjee has been quick to seize on the political ramifications of the thorny issue of acquisition of farmland for industry — one that is all the more contentious in a State where land use is characterised by its intensiveness and where the government is committed to greater industrialisation as part of its development plans.
She has been claiming that her party is not against industry; yet Ms. Banerjee has described the departure of the Tatas from Singur as “a victory of the farmers.”
The mood in Singur following the withdrawal suggests otherwise. It is unmistakably downcast and has cast dark shadows on the festivities there.Industry upset
Industry circles have also expressed dismay over the pullout. The Confederation of Indian Industry has regretted that the Tatas had to withdraw the project and suggested that a review and consensus need to be reached on the process of land acquisition in future.
That it is important that a consensus be arrived at among leaders of different political parties on the issue of land acquisition cannot be overstated. But what if the principal Opposition party chooses not to be present at all-party meetings convened for this very purpose?
As Left Front Committee chairman Biman Bose has pointed out, several meetings had been called even before the land acquisition for the Singur project got under way but the Trinamool was conspicuous by its absence.
The first meeting was convened by the local district authorities way back on May 27, 2006. This was followed by meetings on June 17 and July 4.
Instead, Ms. Banerjee called for a movement later that year on the Singur issue — one that dragged on in fits and starts till August when she launched the “satyagraha” outside the Tata Motors project site and by when nearly 85 per cent of construction work had been completed. It took more than a month for the Tata Motors’ patience to run out. But the Trinamool chief remains in agitation mode, the reprieve provided by the puja festival notwithstanding.(END) Source : The Hindu

Tatas choose Gujarat as new home for Nano

2008-10-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

By Manas Dasgupta
We’ll try to roll out the car by the year-end: Ratan Tata
GANDHINAGAR: Forced to move out of Singur in West Bengal, Tata Motors will locate its small car project at Sanand in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad district.
An agreement between the Gujarat government and the Tata group for the Rs. 2,000-crore venture was signed here on Tuesday, ending speculation on the relocation of the project that had been marred by controversy since work began two years ago.
Tata has been allocated 1,100 acres at Chharodi and Charal villages, just 25 km from Ahmedabad.
Mr. Modi and Tata group chairman Ratan Tata, addressing journalists, described the agreement as “historic” and hoped that after the “unfortunate turmoil” the project underwent in Singur, it would now have a smooth sailing.”
Avoiding direct answers to questions about the “concessions” given by the government for relocating the project, Mr. Tata said the deal was “better” than what he was offered by the West Bengal government. He did not say when the first Nano car would roll out of the new factory and what would be its final price, but said he would try to “keep very close” to the promise he had made of putting the small car in the market by the end of the current year and keeping its price within Rs. 1 lakh.(END) Source: The Hindu

Nano parked in Gujarat

2008-10-07T21:27:00.001-07:00

Statesman News Service

GANDHINAGAR, Oct. 7: Tata Motors today announced that the mother plant for the Nano will be relocated to Sanand in Gujarat. A Rs 2,000 crore plant is to come up for the Nano on an 1100 acre plot at Chharodi village in Sanand, some 30 kms from Ahmedabad.This was announced in a joint press conference by Mr Ratan Tata, Tata Group chairman, and Mr Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat, here today. "The land has been handed over to Tata Motors and they will pay the market price", Mr Modi said.The signing of the "State Support Agreement between the Gujarat Government and Tata Motors Ltd for Nano Car Project", was done in the presence of Mr Modi and Mr Tata. Mr Modi described it as "another chapter in Gujarat's Vikas Yatra".Mr Tata said: "It is an extremely momentous and a happy day for us. It is a special day because we have been through a rather sad experience from a small quarter of West Bengal, despite efforts from the West Bengal government."But, like when details were sought from the Tatas of the Singur deal, when a query was made by The Statesman asking for details of the MoU with the Gujarat government, the company pleaded confidentiality. A Tata Motors spokesperson however said that the MoU with the Gujarat government was “slightly better” than the one it had with the West Bengal government. Promising to be "a good Corporate citizen of Gujarat", Mr Tata said that since they were in Gujarat they hoped to go beyond the Nano and produce other variants like the electric and LPG cars in the state also. Not only this, Mr Tata told the packed Press conference, that the company will also make investments in agriculture and marine............ (END) Source : The Statesman

What You Lost

2008-10-06T22:42:00.001-07:00

Taxpayers’ Singur bill: 300cr
The price of Mamata Banerjee’s agitation isn’t just future jobs for Bengal’s youth but also Rs 300 crore out of their taxpayer parents’ pockets. ... Read..

A battle has been lost, but not the war : Buddhadeb

2008-10-05T20:11:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
“Irresponsible Opposition is scuttling attempts for industrialisation”
Despite the setback we shall move ahead: Buddhadeb
Industrialisation a must, says Pranab
KOLKATA: A battle has been lost but not the war, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Sunday, two days after Tata Motors decided to pull out the small car project from Singur.
He regretted that a “very, very irresponsible Opposition” was creating problems in his government’s attempt to usher in greater industrialisation to ensure a better future for the coming generations.
Referring to the Tata Motors’ pullout for the first time in public, the Chief Minister said: “All right-thinking people in the State are not happy; just before our [Durga Puja] festival the Tatas decided to withdraw [from Singur].”
“Unfortunately, we are facing a very, very irresponsible Opposition that is creating a serious problem. But I believe one battle is lost; the war is not lost.”
Mr. Bhattacharjee was addressing a function after laying the foundation stone for Orion Techcity, an integrated information technology hub to come up here.
Despite the setback at Singur “we shall move ahead,” the Chief Minister asserted. “I believe that the majority of the people of our State are right-thinking and know what our future should be and that we want to raise our heads again. We must overcome the obstacles and go ahead.”

Tata’s assurance
Mr. Bhattacharjee said Mr. Tata had assured him that he was not leaving the State for good and would be making further investments here in the future.
The State had achieved considerable successes in the agriculture sector and his government was aiming to consolidate this success.
But this alone was not sufficient for progress.
“We are trying to industrialise the State for the obvious reason of greater development.”
“We must go forward — particularly for the sake of the young people who are coming out of colleges. They want industries, they want businesses,” Mr. Bhattacharjee reiterated.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee endorsed the Chief Minister’s views on the need for more industries.
He said the growth of industrialisation was a must along with progress in agriculture, otherwise it would not be possible to keep pace with the developed world.

(END) Source : The Hindu

Historic Blunder Two

2008-10-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

- Loss of a project that could have reversed exodus of 60s
By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

History repeats itself, apparently. In Bengal’s political life, historic blunders repeat themselves.
Mamata Banerjee might lack the articulation — and the depth of frustration — of Jyoti Basu who called his party’s decision not to permit him to be Prime Minister an “historic blunder” some years after the deed. But five, or more or less, years from now even she might have occasion to reflect on this October and ask herself if this was the month of another historic blunder.
Even if she does not — because voters may still treat her kindly and no one looks inwards for answers until crippled by despair — nothing stops Bengal from treating the death of its people’s hope for industrial rebirth as the consequence of an historic blunder.
The loss and dejection Ratan Tata’s pullout, caused by Mamata “pulling the trigger”, has left in its numbing wake cannot be measured by the Rs 1,500 crore he was to spend. Nor by the potential loss of investment other businessmen would now be scared to make.
It’s a loss an entire people have suffered that can compare with the individual disappointment of being stopped, by factors beyond one’s control, from fulfilling a lifelong ambition when within handshaking distance.
Such dejection leaves you without the strength to get up. Or, as the minister Nirupam Sen said in the statement defining this state’s moment of despair, “I don’t want to live in Bengal”.
Many, like possibly Sen, can’t afford not to live in Bengal. That includes the willing and unwilling landlosers of Singur who are at the bottom of the despair scale. No land, no work, only the predatory nothing thought.
The Nano had caught the world’s imagination with the halo, ironically, of cheapness, never a ticket to celebritydom. There was no reason for it not to do so in Bengal once Singur became the chosen land. Tata’s entry into Bengal with such a project was the defining moment in Bengal’s history that snapped the trend of industrial desertification.
Just as G.D. Birla packing up and leaving was in the sixties at the height of the Naxalite movement. “I can’t understand how people who worship Lakshmi in every home can do this,” he had said in Bengali with sadness to a young reporter who later worked for an ABP publication.
An exodus that started with a Birla — Philips, Britannia, Brooke Bond, Lipton and Union Carbide followed — would have been reversed by a Tata.
Such was the project’s symbolism. That’s why the emptiness-inducing sense of loss.
Ratan Tata is a businessman who left under duress to cut his losses. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Nirupam Sen are probably a dysfunctional duo at this point in time but will shortly have to pick themselves up by their bootstraps or the ends of their dhotis and get on with governance.
Mamata Banerjee may be feeling lost and sucking on the lollipop of a self-created conspiracy theory while she tries to fall asleep.
On her own she’s unlikely to light upon the realisation of having committed an historic blunder. The responsibility to make her realise lies elsewhere. (END)

Source: The Telegraph

Loss sinks in for Singur unwilling
Trinamul Congress leaders are celebrating a “people’s victory” but many among the “people” have suddenly realised they may have lost. ... Read..

Battle lost, Buddha soldiers on for war
A downcast Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today put up a brave face on the Singur shock, saying he didn’t believe that Tata Motors’ exit marked the end of his industr ... Read..

'A battle lost, not the war'

2008-10-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Oct. 5: Putting up a brave front after Tata Motors’ decision to pull out of Singur, chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Sunday that the state may have lost one battle, but not the war. Speaking out for the first time since Mr Ratan Tata's announcement of the decision to shift the Nano project out of the state, Mr Bhattacharjee said: “We have lost one battle, but the war is not over yet. We must fight.” He was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Orion Techcity, a 155-acre integrated IT SEZ at Rajarhat today. Dubbing the Opposition as ‘irresponsible’, the chief minister wondered why it had ‘failed to understand the need for industrialisation in the state'. “They give importance to agriculture. We also give importance to agriculture in which the state has been self-sufficient. But only agriculture will not help us in progressing further, we need industrialisation for total development. Why is the Opposition failing to understand (this)?” he asked. “No right-thinking person is happy with the withdrawal of the Nano project just ahead of the Durga Puja. However, Mr Ratan Tata had said that he was not leaving forever and he would invest in the state in future,” said Mr Bhattacharjee. He also expressed hope that despite the pull-out of Tata Motors, the industrialisation process will go ahead in the state. “We must fight and overcome the obstacles. We want to raise our head again,” said Mr Bhattacharjee. He, however, conceded that the automobile major's decision had sent a “serious message” about the state across the country. “A serious message has gone all over India - what is happening in West Bengal?” he asked. The chief minister reiterated that though the state ranked best in the country in agriculture, the state's economy needed industry for further growth. “After our success in agriculture, we are trying to bring in industrialisation in the state. Our economy cannot depend on agriculture only, and the youth of the state want industry and business,” he added. Orion Techcity, for which the foundation stone was laid, is expected to attract around $1.2 billion in investments over a 10-year period. The first phase of the SEZ is scheduled to be completed by 2011. External affairs minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who was also present at the function, said that India has set an export target of Rs 1,250 billion from SEZs this year. Earnings from SEZs stood at Rs 660 billion last year. (END) Source : The Statesman

Lessons of Singur

2008-10-05T06:18:00.000-07:00

Review Land Acquisition, Strive For Consensus

By RAVINDRA KUMAR

MR. Ratan Tata cannot be faulted for his decision to pull the Nano project out of Singur, and West Bengal. He must have got a measure of the intensity of local opposition, and of the state government's inability, or unwillingness, to deal with it. And Mr Tata came to the conclusion that the risks to his project, and his staff, were greater than the state’s ability to provide protection. After all, the Singur factory was constructed under police protection, and under the benevolent eye of the local unit of the ruling party. Mr Tata was entitled to conclude that this arrangement could not continue indefinitely, and certainly not once production commenced, for while one factory can conceivably be kept safe it is not possible to protect 100,000 or 250,000 cars when they roll out of the gate. Mr Tata would also have been aware that popular sentiment in the area was not with the project. Local body elections that saw the Trinamul Congress wrest power were a virtual referendum on the acquisition of land, and the verdict, while far from unanimous, was unambiguous. Mr Tata is also right in maintaining that Tata Motors’ agreement with the state government and indeed the acquisition of land were legal. Courts had said so, and Mr Tata only iterated this position. However, he may not have been entirely correct in stating that the transactions were transparent; had that been the case his company would not have been in court to oppose disclosure of the agreement under the Right to Information Act. Where Mr Tata, and indeed the government of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, may have got things wrong was in assessing the scale of opposition to the project. Because, let’s face it, this was a David vs Goliath confrontation. Arraigned on the side of Mr Tata were the power and influence of the state, an omnipresent political party, influential chambers of commerce, many television channels and newspapers that took sides fairly early on, a strong lobby of industrialists and a significant and vocal section of the urban middle class. Certainly in terms of the public space they occupied, Mr Tata’s supporters were an overwhelming presence. Mr Tata lost the battle because arraigned against him were the people of Singur, not all of them and perhaps not even most of them, but in significant enough numbers to make up a potent opposition. Miss Mamata Banerjee and her party would have been ineffectual without this support from the local people, a fact Mr Tata must acknowledge at least to himself. If he does so, he will begin to understand why things went so horribly wrong for his project. And if he does so, he will perhaps begin to appreciate just how much of a disservice he has done to his friend, the Chief Minister, with his words of unstinting praise, and how much he helped the cause of his most strident opponent with his unbridled attack on her. When industry embraces a politician in India, it is often the kiss of death as Mr Chandrababu Naidu and Mr SM Krishna learnt some years ago. A manifestly trading/industrial community such as the Gujaratis may be an exception to this rule. But India’s socialistic ethos, the innate distrust of its rural populace for big business, and the state’s inability to ensure inclusive growth come in the way of a Chief Minister or a government being so investor-friendly as to ignore societal realities. Mr Bhattacharjee is guilty of having overlooked this essential truth. The government he heads and the party he belongs to are guilty of having made the dangerous assumption that a mandate to rule allows the acquisition of land from many people without their unequivocal consent and its allotment to a few. Mr Bhattacharjee in particular is guilty of having failed to understand the basics of Indian democracy, curious because his party came to power using essentially the same tactics his opponents have now employed. Was Mr Tata justified in making such a violent attack on the Opposition? Perhaps he was. After all, he had seen a dream turn into a nightmare, suffered a significant dent in his prestige as an entrepreneur and endured a substantial loss. Neither Miss Banerjee nor her lieutenants ever chose to raise the standard of debate, and the venom spouted from the Trinamul platform was bound to provoke a reaction. There can be no prizes for guessing who, between them, would find a comparison between Mr. Tata and Haldiram Bhujiawala odious, indeed libelous. But was Mr Tata right? The answer to that question calls for greater circumspection. Mr Tata is free to invest in Browns Lane or Bromwich; to that extent he is a citizen of the world. But he is first a citizen of India, and it is as much his responsibility as anyone else's to create the circumstances essential for investment to flourish, in West Bengal and elsewhere. Resistance to the Singur plant hinged on the question of land acquisition. Unlike the Confederation of Indian Industry which has, quite reasonably, called for a review and a consensus on the manner in which land is acquired, Mr Tata and his company have chosen to say not a word on this vexed issue. This is a national problem, and while Mr Tata might have a slew of invitations from other states, it would require a very brave ~ or very foolish ~ Chief Minister to invite the Nano to his state with an iron-clad guarantee that there would be no opposition. Singur is inextricably now a part of India’s development agenda. It is in Mr Tata’s power to steer the debate on land acquisition; it is also in his interest. He may say politics is not his business. But land acquisition is a problem that society must address, not just government or politicians. Corporate Social Responsibility is not about planting trees alone. If society has to change its mores, companies will have to play a role. Is this then the end of the road for Bengal? If someone chooses ~ deliberately or maliciously ~ to be myopic, there can be no cure. But experience tells us that where humans exist, so will endeavour. People will continue to need goods and services, homes and infrastructure; investment will continue to be driven by geographical factors, and life will go on. If Bengal could survive its Partition, the Great Famine, the radical Left and militant trade unionism, it will survive the exit of the Nano. But as Mr Bhattacharjee puffs ruminatively on his cigarette, within or outside his office, he will have occasion to reflect on the irony of a party with 235 seats out of 294 having failed to impose its will. And if by the time he stubs his frustration out he has learnt the lesson of Singur, West Bengal’s Chief Minister will emerge a better man and a more credible leader. That is our hope, and misunderstood as the phrase might be in the context, where there is life, there is hope.

The writer is Editor, The Statesman

Singur observes bandh

2008-10-05T03:48:00.000-07:00

By Raktima Bose

SINGUR: Residents observed a 10-hour bandh here on Saturday to protest the Opposition’s “political game,” which, they felt, forced the Tata Motors to pull out the small car project from Singur. Tyres were burnt on the Durgapur Expressway.Gloom, disgruntlement
It was gloom and disgruntlement all over. Agitated residents put up blockades on the expressway, halting traffic for most of the day. The blockade, which began within hours of the announcement by the company on Friday, has now been lifted.
“Can any of the Opposition leader tell us what we will do now? People of Singur have been the worst sufferers in this dirty political game,” said Srikanta Sahana, a farmer who had willingly given away an acre of land for the project.
Though Durga Puja festivities are slated to start from Sunday, the residents seem to be in no mood to celebrate. “I have taken a loan of Rs. 20 lakh, I don’t know how I will repay it. This is going to be the saddest Puja in my life,” said Ramchandra Ghosh, a building material supplier to the Nano plant.
Mr. Ghosh said the residents had expected that Tata Motors officials would be more patient before taking the extreme step.
A crowd burst out at the mention of Opposition leader Mamata Banerjee. “She has ruined our lives and we will make sure that she is not allowed to enter the place whose prospects have been throttled by her,” said Dilip Mondal, a local farmer leader. Scuffle
Earlier in the day, a brief scuffle occurred between Trinamool Congress and CPI (M) supporters when Trinamool workers allegedly forcibly tried to open shops, which were closed down for the bandh, at the nearby Kamarkundu station.
Discontented youth of Beraberi, who were employed at the Tata Motors project site as security guards, dug up roads leading to the village. Also, there were attempts by the protesters to dig up the Expressway. Sharecroppers not bothered
In villages like Dobandi, which are mostly inhabited by sharecroppers, the residents struck a different note. “It hardly matters to us that the Tatas are leaving as we had nothing to do with the project. Rather we lost our means of livelihood to the project,” said Sadananda Patra, a former sharecropper.
Related links: Source The Hindu
Tatas pull out of Singur
Karnataka’s offer to Tatas

Decision taken with sadness

2008-10-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

For Bengal, it's not just a Nano loss

4 Oct 2008, 0238 hrs IST, TNN
With the Nano pullout, West Bengal stands to lose much more than a small-car plant - its image as a business destination and potential investments.
Buddha: The man who dreamt big through the small car
Singur not OK, Tata reverses Nano out
Nano to remain Rs 1-lakh car: Tata
Source : Times of India

Bengal will have to decide what the future of young people will be: Tata
Metro gets five representatives of young Bengal to paint their frustrations & pen their fears
It is very sad to see a company like the Tatas leave Singur. As a boy who has grown up in Calcutta, I have always wanted to see the city develop into one of the foremost in the country, if not the world... Read..

Bullet into Bengal’s soul
Mamata Banerjee pulled the trigger, says Tata
Bengal’s symbol of industrial resurgence, the Nano, died a violent death today, the trigger pulled by Mamata Banerjee, Ratan Tata said. ... Read..

Decision taken with sadness
Not the best day to make such an announcement on eve of your Puja
Transcript of Ratan Tata’s media conference ... Read..

‘Wrong message’ worries Mamata
Bengal’s Opposition parties appeared to be running for cover tonight fearing a political backlash. ... Read..

CPM set to extract ‘best out of worst’
CPM leaders today rued losing the chance to grow “in strength” on the back of the Nano, but hoped Mamata Banerjee’s “destructive politics” would ... Read..

Scanner on Tata business rivals
Two years ago, Ratan Tata had accused “some of our competitors” of “fuelling” the Singur controversy. Today, he wondered aloud how Mamata Banerjee&# ... Read..

Pullout punctures brand Bengal
The Tata pullout will force companies to demand a review of the land acquisition policy and reassurances their investments don’t end up like the Singur fiasco, chamb ... Read..
Source : The Telegraph

Mamata pulled the trigger, says Ratan

2008-10-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Oct. 3: Tata Sons chairman Mr Ratan Tata today lashed out at the Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee, holding her solely responsible for pulling out the company's small car project from Singur. ”Miss Banerjee has pulled the trigger and we had no other choice but to pull out of West Bengal,” a visibly anguished Mr Tata told reporters at a press conference this evening. Earlier, he met the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and informed him of the decision. Levelling a personal attack on Miss Banerjee, he said Tata Motors would have to find out who had funded her agitation in Singur which continued for such a long period. “We will ponder to find out who has funded the agitation in Singur," Mr Tata said. Mr Tata told reporters that he had been watching the situation since August when he last met them in the city. “Believe me the situation had not improved and I do not see any change in the horizon,” he said adding “the agitation continued and things changed from bad to worse. The highway was blocked for several days, a portion of the boundary wall of the factory was pulled down, some employees of the contractors were beaten up, the employees were locked up inside the factory and under such situation no work can resume”. Mr Tata said Miss Banerjee had said several times that the Tatas are not wanted in the state. “She has repeated her statement several times that the Tatas are not wanted in the state.” Asked whether Tata Motors would reconsider its decision if Miss Banerjee decided to withdraw her agitation, Mr Tata said: “It is too late and we have no other choice but to shift the Nano project to some other state as talks are on with the chief ministers of three or four states.” Interestingly, Mr Tata did not utter a single word against the state government when asked whether he considered it to be a failure of the latter to combat the agitation led by the Opposition. Instead he said: “Had the state government tried to put an end to the agitation it would have been thought as an attack on the Opposition which is a minority”. Mr Tata asked a journalist who had asked in Hindi whether he had anticipated agitation in the state to repeat the question in English, and reserved his comment when it was translated for him. Mr Tata said he had to persuade the chief minister who requested him earnestly not to take the decision. “He looked visibly distressed but I had to convey this harsh decision to him as we have to meet the deadline. No factory can be run with police protection and work could be resumed only in a congenial environment.” He said it would be difficult for him to announce now when Nano would be launched and in which plant it would be manufactured and also its price. Announcements regarding the matter would be made soon. He said he would have to talk to the state government regarding the land that was given to them in Singur. Mr Tata pointed out that today's decision would not affect Tata Sons' future investment in the state. Projects would be diverted to this state as the people are intelligent and enterprising. “I have enormous faith in the chief minister and West Bengal is one of the most investment friendly states and our pulling out from the state would not affect its industrial growth,” he observed. (END)

Source : The Statesman

Tata steers Nano out of Bengal

KOLKATA, Oct. 3: True to apprehensions, the chairman of Tata Motors, Mr Ratan Tata, today formally announced the decision to move out the Nano project from the state, squarely

Singur bandh today

SINGUR, Oct. 3: The CPI-M has called a 10-hour Singur bandh tomorrow, following Ratan Tata’s decision to pull out of Singur. The CPI-M alleged that the Trinamul Congress is trying to destroy the prosp
Stepping on the gas...

KOLKATA, Oct 3: The decision of Tata Motors to close down its small-car factory at Singur is a regrettable one and is taken in a hurry, Mr Biman Bose, Left Front chairman and...

Text of Tata’s Press statement
When I'd addressed you in August, I mentioned that we have faced continuous agitation in the last two years and if the situation continues, we would have no option other than to move. At that time I had hoped that there would be some kind of understanding on the part of the Opposition headed by Miss Mamata Banerjee and we would see some reduction in agitation and we could go ahead with the project. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the agitation increased and it would move in front of the gate and the highway was barricaded for some period of time.And through the two years we (some of our people) have faced enormous destruction, assault and intimidation. By taking all things into account, mainly the well-being of our employees, the security of our contractors and, in fact, our vendors also, we have taken the very regretful decision to move the Nano project out of West Bengal. This is the decision that has been taken with a great deal of sadness because we came here two years ago, attracted by the investor-friendly policy of the government, led by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, for which we still have a great deal of respect. And all through the two years that we worked, while we are very appreciative of the support the government gave us and the facilitation that they provided, unfortunately we also faced great agitation and great aggression on the part of the Opposition parties, which have, in fact, been the sole reason for us to take the decision.Having said this, I just want to say that this decision has been prompted because many of you may ask why we should not give this more time. We have taken this decision today, which is perhaps not the best day to make such an announcement on the eve of the Pujas, but we felt we needed to because we do not see any change on the horizon. We continue to be very supportive of the vision of the government. And why we move the Nano project out of West Bengal, because we have a timeline to meet, we have made promises to the public in terms of the project coming on line, we do not believe that we, in any way, have lost our enthusiasm for investment in West Bengal. And I assure you that Tatas, in course of time, will include West Bengal in location of projects in future.Mr Tata replied to questions from reporters after concluding his statement.

Governor feels issue will be solved

2008-10-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Oct. 2: Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi today expressed hope that the Singur impasse would be resolved soon, ahead of the chief minister’s meeting with the chairman of the Tata Sons, Mr Ratan Tata, to be held tomorrow. The managing director of Tata Motors, Mr Ravi Kant, and the state commerce and industries minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, would be present in the meeting as well. The Governor, who spoke to newsmen after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Barrackpore Gandhi ghat, said the statement made by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh yesterday on the Singur impasse was a positive one. “The people desire and deserve a solution of the Singur problem and like the Prime Minister I am hopeful of a solution,” said the Governor who had mediated the talks between the state and the Trinamul Congress to resolve the impasse. Meanwhile, amidst fears that Tata Motors would withdraw the Nano project from Singur, formally declaring their intention to the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee tomorrow, the state government too is making preparations before sitting across the table with Tata Motors. Prior to his meeting with Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Bhattacharjee would chair a meeting with the commerce and industries minister, Mr Nirupam Sen and the land and land reforms minister, Mr Abdur Rezzak Mollah, apparently on vested land in North Bengal which can be taken up for tourism projects. However, the issue of the status of the land acquired by the Tatas is likely to come up as well, particularly in case Tata Motors decides to withdraw the project. The land has been leased out to the company for 99 years. The state government has maintained that the acquired land cannot be returned to the farmers even if the project is withdrawn. “In case the Tatas decide to back out from Singur it would lead to several legal complications between them and the state government,” said an official at Writers’ Buildings. (END) Source: The Statesman.
Sourav letter to Tata boss
Sourav Ganguly today wrote to Ratan Tata on the eve of his meeting with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, urging t ... Read..

Buddhadeb-Tata talks to be held on Friday

2008-09-30T18:36:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
KOLKATA: Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is scheduled to hold talks with Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group, here on Friday to discuss the future of the Tata Motors project at Singur.
“The project’s future does not depend only on the assurances of the State government for, there are various stakeholders involved. But there is no lacking in the sincerity of our efforts to ensure that work at the project site is resumed,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said here on Tuesday.
He was addressing a press conference at the end of an all-party meeting, where a resolution was adopted requesting the Tata Motors and the ancillary industries to resume work at Singur as soon as possible. It contained an appeal to all sections to create a congenial atmosphere.
The resolution also focussed on the need to implement rehabilitation and compensation packages for the affected farmers as well as take initiatives for the development of the area.
While the principal Opposition, the Trinamool Congress, and its ally, the Socialist Unity Centre of India, did not attend the meeting convened by the government, the Congress refused to endorse the resolution “for the present.”
The Tata Motors announced suspension of work on September 2 in view of continued confrontation and agitation at the site. This came in the wake of the “satyagraha” outside the project area by the Trinamool Congress from August 24 in support of its demand that 400 acres of land acquired for the project be returned to farmers who had not received compensation for their plots.
The agitation was lifted following a meeting between Chief Minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee held in the presence of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi here on September 7. Ms. Banerjee, however, subsequently threatened to resume the agitation unless the September 7 agreement between her associates and the government, pertaining to providing land to “unwilling” farmers, was “operationalised.”
Mr. Bhattacharjee refuted claims of the Trinamool and the Congress that his government failed to abide by the agreement.
The government offered 40 acres from within the project site area to be returned to the farmers who had not accepted compensation, but that was raised to 70 acres “as this, it was felt, was the maximum that could be provided [from within the site] without impacting the integrated nature of the mother plant and ancillary units,” he said.
“In no way had the government moved away from the agreement; there was no talk of agreeing to provide 200 to 300 acres [as is being claimed by the Trinamool Congress]. What was agreed on was providing [to the farmers] 70 acres,” he said.
Mr. Bhattacharjee hoped that good sense would prevail on the Congress leadership that declined to endorse the resolution.
“It is unfortunate that it is not realising the integrated character of the project and is arguing for shifting of some ancillary units. It is not just Tata Motors; we too feel that such a move will affect the very viability of the project,” he asserted.(END) Source The Hindu

All-party talks sans solution

2008-09-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept. 30: The state government’s bid to salvage the Nano project hit another roadblock with the Congress turning its back on the chief minister, refusing to support the resolution moved by him at the all-party meeting which appealed to Tata Motors to resume work at Singur. A furious chief minister found “reflection of the Trinamul Congress’ stand” in this overnight change of stance by the Congress leadership which came after Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee met Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. The all-party meeting was called by the government at the behest of the Congress ahead of Mr Bhattacharjee’s meeting with Mr Ratan Tata slated for 3 October. The outcome of the all-party meeting was particularly embarrassing for the state government as it failed to muster support from any Opposition party save the BJP, which again does not have any representative in the Assembly. The Trinamul Congress, along with the SUCI, boycotted the meeting, demanding implementation of the Raj Bhavan accord.Mr Subrata Mukherjee, who represented the Congress at the meeting, said: “When the state government has agreed to part with 70 acres, why can't the quantum of land be increased to 170 or 270 acres. The Tatas should be asked to move out a part of the ancillaries ... We are not supporting the resolution for the time being.” Congress president, Mr PR Dasmunshi's letter to the chief minister echoed the same arguments put forward by Miss Banerjee, although last week he had said that the government had erred in entering into the Raj Bhavan accord. Referring to the letter, Mr Bhattacharjee said: “I do not know if this is an unanimous stand of their party leaders. However, the Congress said it is not supporting the resolution at present. Hopefully, good sense would prevail.” The resolution read that the participants were expressing concern over the suspension of work at Singur and appealed to Tata Motors and ancillaries to resume work, as well as to the people in general to ensure a congenial atmosphere for construction of the plant. The government once again clarified that it was not possible to provide more than 70 acres within the project site or to provide alternative land to the land losers. Industries minister Mr Nirupam Sen said the package offered by the state government was better than the provisions of a new Bill moved by the Centre. Trinamul chief Miss Banerjee met Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi today on the Singur issue and demanded Central intervention in West Bengal under Article 355 of the Constitution to “protect” the interests of farmers there, PTI adds from New Delhi.

Priya criticises Mamata for demanding invocation of Art 355
Statesman News Service

MALDA, Sept. 30: The West Bengal PCC chief Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi today criticised the Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee for demanding invocation of Article 355 in West Bengal.“We support some points raised by Miss Mamta Banerjee on the Singur issue but not her demand for the invocation of Article 355 in the state,” Mr Das Munshi said here today. Downplaying Miss Banerjee's criticism against the Congress for agreeing to attend the all-party meeting convened by the state government in Kolkata today, the Congress leader said: “Those who were in the Congress but siding with the CPI-M are now with Miss Banerjee.”The PCC chief, however, added that he did not mind Miss Banerjee meeting Mrs Sonia Gandhi. “Any person can meet Mrs Gandhi,” he said. Supporting Miss Banerjee's demands on Singur, the Union minister said that the state government should have to execute the accord signed in presence of the Governor Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi to resolve the Singur crisis.“The state government hurriedly published the package but failed to manage the overall situation,” he said adding: “Still 21 ancillary industries have not set up their units in the Nano project site. There is sufficient land left to be returned to the farmers unwilling to offer land for the project,” he claimed. The Union minister also said the Tata Motors should respond to the farmers’ demand and plight to resolve the Singur impasse. “I shall write a letter to Mr Ratan Tata soon pointing out the problems and offering proposals to resolve the crisis,” the minister, said. (END) Source : The Statesman

All-party meeting on Singur today

2008-09-30T04:37:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
Kolkata: The West Bengal government has convened an all-party meeting here on Tuesday to find ways torestore normality in Singur so that Tatas can resume work on the car project there.
The meeting, however, will not be attended by the State’s principal Opposition party, the Trinamool Congress, that has been spearheading an agitation demanding return of 400 acres of land [300 acres from within the site] acquired for the project to farmers who have not accepted compensation for their plots.

Call for consensus
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is keen that the major political parties in the State reach a consensus in support of the project at Singur prior to his meeting with Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group, the date for which is yet to be finalised.
There have been apprehensions of Tata Motors pulling out of Singur ever since work was suspended at the site on September 2 in view of continued confrontation and agitation by the Trinamool Congress and its allies.
The agitation was lifted after a meeting between the Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on September 7. But the latter has threatened to resume the agitation unless an agreement between her associates and the State government on the land issue is implemented.
On Monday, Ms. Banerjee ruled out her party’s participation in any all-party meeting that the government convenes till the latter decides to implement the agreement signed on September 7.
“If the agreement is operationalised, we have no problems sitting for talks on any technical matter but not on the question of the package [proposed by the State government for the rehabilitation of the affected farmers of Singur],” she said.

Congress to attend meet
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said the Congress had decided to attend the meeting. It would have been better had the meeting been called before the process of land acquisition for the project started, Mr. Dasmunsi said.

(END) Source : The Hindu

Mamata sets out for Sonia

2008-09-30T04:23:00.000-07:00

- Cong refuses to confirm Janpath meeting
Sept. 29: Mamata Banerjee left for Delhi today to meet Sonia Gandhi and complain about how the Bengal government was “going against the agreement” it had signed with her on September 7 to end the Singur impasse.
“As the Prime Minister is abroad, I have decided to call on Soniaji…. I shall submit to her all the papers concerning the pact signed between the government and us in front of the governor to show her how the CPM is going back on its own decision to arrange land for unwilling farmers from within the project area,” Mamata said.
The Trinamul Congress said the meeting at Sonia’s 10 Janpath residence was scheduled for Tuesday evening.
Congress sources in Delhi, however, refused to confirm the meeting. Sources privy to Sonia’s daily engagements initially said they had heard of such a report and “perhaps” a time for the meeting was being worked out. When a confirmation was sought later, they said “no meeting was on”.
The Congress president is slated to address a rally at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh at 1pm tomorrow.
Asked why she was going to the Congress chief, Mamata said: “Soniaji is at the helm of the UPA, which runs the government at the Centre. My objective is to draw the Centre’s attention to the manner in which the state has gone against its own decision on resolving the standoff.”
She had called on governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi last week and requested him to recommend President’s rule in Bengal because the government had “disobeyed the constitutional head of the state”.
After the Left’s withdrawal of support to the Centre and with the Lok Sabha elections months away, Mamata’s move is significant, political observers in the state said. Sources in Trinamul and the state Congress felt it might pave the way for a pre-poll pact.
“Mamata had spoken to Soniaji before she decided to back the late Ghani Khan Chowdhury’s brother in the byelection to the Malda parliament-ary seat in 2006. The Congress had supported Trinamul’s Saugata Ray in an Assembly bypoll to reciprocate the gesture,” a Trinamul leader said.
Eight months ago, Mamata had met both Sonia and BJP leader L.K. Advani on Nandigram. “This time, she is not calling on Advani,” an aide said.
In the past, Sonia’s meetings, especially with prospective allies, have been kept under wraps. Mohsina Kidwai, the Congress general secretary in charge of Bengal, said she had no idea whether the meeting would take place. “Alliances and other such matters have been left to the state leaders. There are heavyweights like Pranab Mukherjee and Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.”
Mukherjee is in the US and Das Munshi in Calcutta.
Without naming state Congress chief Das Munshi, Mamata today said some “upstart leaders” are “acting as CPM stooges”. “They are speaking for the CPM and advocating its compensation package (for landlosers),” Mamata said.
Das Munshi said: “I don’t know who she is referring to. I must say that those cornered in the CPM once are now by her side all the time.”
Mamata’s reluctance to officially snap ties with the BJP-led NDA had earlier stood in the way of a formal alliance with the Congress.
Congress sources in Delhi said an alliance with Trinamul had not been discussed at any “serious” level.
Tata trip
Calcutta, Sept. 29: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is learnt to have informed the CPM that Ratan Tata could visit Calcutta on Friday.
Bhattacharjee had said on Saturday that Tata had agreed to a meeting on Singur. The CPM state committee today asked the government why it was not being firm in tackling protesters and why it appeared “apologetic” while dealing with them.
The government has called an all-party meeting on Singur tomorrow but Mamata Banerjee left for Delhi, saying she would meet Sonia Gandhi. (END) Source: The Telegraph

If Tata pulls out, Trinamool will be solely responsible: CM

2008-09-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Ratan Tata has written to CM expressing willingness to hold talks
“All I am concerned about is the scope of employment for youth”
“People’s willingness will decide industrialisation process”
KOLKATA: “We are trying our best to convince Tata Motors not to pull out of the State, but if the violence by the Trinamool Congress continues in its present form, the company may leave soon,” West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Saturday.
He had received a letter, earlier in the day, from Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, expressing a willingness to hold talks with him, Mr. Bhattacharjee said, addressing the 13th All-India Conference of the Students’ Federation of India, student wing of the CPI(Marxist) here. “The Trinamool Congress will be solely responsible if the Tata Motors decide to pullout from the Singur small car project and it will be a betrayal on the part of the Opposition to the people of West Bengal.”
The Chief Minister’s remarks came a day after Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee threatened to resume the party’s agitation at the Singur project site if the agreement reached between the government and the Opposition on September 7 was not made operational immediately.
“I am not concerned about the name of the company or the price of the cars they will manufacture, all that I am concerned about is the scope of employment for youth and the change in the economy of the State that such projects will usher in,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said.
“It is the willingness of the people of the State, and not any Trinamool Congress resistance, which will decide the fate of the State’s industrialisation process.”
Ms. Banerjee is demanding return of 300 acres of land from within the project site to farmers who have not taken compensation for their plots acquired.
Work has been suspended at the project site for nearly a month.
On Friday, the corridors of power were agog with rumours of a meeting between the Tata Motors top brass and Mr. Bhattacharjee on Sunday and that senior company officials were also in preparedness. However, the meeting was called off late in the night. It was learnt that the meeting was postponed.
Major component manufacturers (51 in all) have said they are awaiting a communication from the Tata Motors before they take any decision. Some of the smaller component manufacturers pulled out their equipment on safety and security grounds. Construction contractors are moving their equipment out of the project site. Source : The Hindu

Buddhadeb writes to Tata Motors to resume work at Singur; assures assistance

2008-09-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
KOLKATA: Faced with the likelihood of the Tata Motors pulling out of Singur, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has written to Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group, requesting him to consider resumption of work by the company at the project site for which his government will be providing all necessary assistance.
Mr. Bhattacharjee has assured Mr. Tata that the safety and security of the personnel of the Tata Motors would be ensured by his administration once the company resumed work at the project site, State’s Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said. The future of the Singur project is in peril following suspension of construction and commissioning work there by the Tata Motors since September 2 in view of the continuing confrontation and agitation outside the site. The decision to stop work was taken to ensure the safety of the company’s employees and contract labour in the wake of an agitation on the issue of land acquisition for the project.
Mamata Banerjee, chief of the Trinamool Congress that has been spearheading a movement in support of its demand for the return of 300 acres of land from within the project site to farmers who have not taken compensation for their plots acquired, threatened at a rally at Singur that she could resume her agitation. The agitation launched outside the project site on August 24 was lifted following talks between its leaders and the State government in the presence of the Governor, Gopalkrishna Gandhi on September 7. Ms. Banerjee later cautioned that the agitation was only “suspended and not withdrawn.”
The State government has told the Tata Motors that it hoped that the project at Singur would come up as a large majority of the farmers (nearly 11,000 out of the 13,000) whose land had been acquired for it wanted it so, Mr Sen told journalists after a meeting of the State Secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Only a small section of the farmers were engaged in the agitation for return of land from within the project site and “we feel the verdict of a majority of people in a democratic society should be honoured,” Mr. Sen said.
“The Tata Motors, we feel, should consider the opinion of the large majority of the people at Singur,” he said.
It was this section of the people “whether they belong to Singur or elsewhere in the State which is keenly waiting for the project to come up in West Bengal,” he added.Mr. Sen said that the government had not received any communication of a “final decision” on the future of the project from the Tata Motors but it was keen to provide all the necessary security to the company’s personnel.“Since the start of work the State government has taken all steps to ensure the security of all the company’s workers and will continue to do so in the future,” he asserted.(END) Source: The Hindu

CM asks Tatas to restart work

2008-09-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA/SINGUR, Sept. 26: Talks between the state government and Tata Motors slated for Sunday have been cancelled apparently because company officials would not be available for the meeting.

The meeting is likely to be held after a few days. Chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has asked Tatas to restart work in Singur, said industries minister Mr Nirupam Sen today, according to PTI.

Significantly, the decision to cancel the meeting came after Trinamul chief Miss Mamata Banerjee stuck to her stand of demanding 300 acres from within the project site. Miss Banerjee said at Singur that “industry cannot thrive on police protection” while adding that industrialists willing to set up factories are making a beeline for Singur.

The Tatas faced mild criticism from CPI-M state secretary for exploring options to relocate their plant. Earlier in the day, the chief minister in his letter, according to the decision of the state Cabinet, appealed to Tata Motors against relocating the Nano plant from Singur.

“The chief minister has invited them (Tata Motors) to a discussion but there has been no confirmation from the other side. There is a possibility that there would be a meeting on Sunday,” said Mr Nirupam Sen.

Earlier in the day, Mr Sen said: "Tata Motors are yet to communicate their final decision about relocating the plant. But they would not face any problem in resuming work as they are being provided appropriate security.”

However, there was confusion at Writers’ Buildings over the proposed meeting between the state government and the Tatas. Chief secretary Mr AK Deb initially said that there would be a meeting between Tata Motors and the state government but later denied his earlier statement.

Meanwhile, Mr Biman Bose, CPI-M state secretary said: “Though their production will suffer a little delay the Tatas should consider the extent of help that the state government is willing to extend to them for the plant.” However, the US consul general, Ms Beth Payne warned that US investors were wary after Singur. (END) Source: The Statesman

Chances slim, still Buddhadeb asks Tatas not to leave Singur

2008-09-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
KOLKATA: The West Bengal government appears gradually reconciling itself to the eventuality of Tata Motors pulling out of Singur.
The Cabinet, in a last-ditch effort on Thursday, appealed to the company not to withdraw from Singur and assured it all help and cooperation in implementing the small car project.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee reportedly told the Cabinet meeting that given the present circumstances, he did not have much reason to be very hopeful of the project taking off from Singur. The chances were, indeed, very slim.
(It is learnt that Tata Motors is actively considering plans to shift from Singur in view of the continuing uncertainty and is examining various options.) Though Singur was not on the agenda of the Cabinet meeting, Mr. Bhattacharjee spoke of the events that led to the present situation on being asked by his colleagues about the fate of the project.

Mamata firm
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, at a rally here to mark the second anniversary of its movement at Singur, reiterated that the government should operationalise its “agreement” — with her party and its allies formalised on September 7 in the presence of the Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi — that land be provided to farmers who had not accepted compensation for their land acquired for the project.
Mr. Bhattacharjee is reported to have told his ministers that Tata Motors authorities were considering taking the project out of the State though he was still trying to persuade them to stay on.

Flexibility
The government had shown flexibility in its dealings with the Opposition.
But the Opposition remained firm on return of 300 acres from within the project site and another 100 acres from outside to farmers who, it was being claimed, had not consented to to the acquisition of their plots, the Chief Minister pointed out.
Mr. Bhattacharjee said he was willing to sit for further talks with the Opposition with a greater degree of flexibility to end the Singur impasse. (N) Source: The Hindu
Related Stories:
Tatas yet to decide on manufacturing Nano from Pantnagar
People of West Bengal want a solution to Singur: Governor
Tatas may pull out of Singur
West Bengal extends deadline for compensation
Buddhadeb voices concern over future of industrialisation

Buddha gives up Nano hope

2008-09-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept. 25: With chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee admitting to his Cabinet colleagues there is not even a ghost of a chance of the Tata Motors’ small car project at Singur taking off, the state government today make a desperate last minute effort to save the project. The state Cabinet, which met today, issued a rather unusual statement urging the Tatas to stay back.

“The chances of the Tata Motors continuing with the project are now nil. In view of the current situation they have refused to work with police protection,” Mr Bhattacharjee reportedly told the Cabinet when the fisheries minister, Mr Kironmoy Nanda, asked the chief minister about the latest developments in Singur towards the end of the customary monthly meeting.

The chief minister's statement prompted intense deliberations among the Cabinet members on what can be done to save the project. The higher education minister, Prof. Sudarshan Raichaudhuri, proposed that the state government should reach out to the people on the issue. Later, a statement was drafted which said: “The members of state Cabinet appealed to the Tata Motors not to shift their project from West Bengal, assuring them of full support and cooperation.”

They also urged the Opposition to accept the special package announced by the state government and help in implementing it. The Cabinet expressed its concern to the people of Singur and the state as well.

On the other hand, the Governor Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi today said the state's people wanted a solution to the Singur land acquisition problem. He was addressing the annual general meeting of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “People of the state want a solution to the Singur issue. They desire and deserve a solution. Moreover, people have confidence in those who are dealing with the issue,” Mr Gandhi said.

He added that “change in every field of life is essential for growth and development of the country.” The Governor's comments came a day after his veiled criticism of the Left Front government for its handling of the Singur issue.

Though there was still no word from the Tatas, their intentions, with machinery being moved out of the Singur plant, seem pretty obvious now, barring, of course, a last-minute deal.

While Mr Ratan Tata has written to the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh stating that TML is looking for alternatives to Singur, and a 1000-acre lease, the company is yet to decide on manufacturing the Nano from Pantnagar.

Uttarakhand chief secretary Mr IK Pande said today “We asked, but company officials said no decision has yet been taken.”

Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, has countered the CPI-M contention that the Raj Bhavan accord was but an announcement of intent of the state government.

She said the prolonged talks at Raj Bhavan on 7 September had culminated in an agreement, though the state government went back on its word and scuttled the small car project.

Miss Banerjee said: “We don’t want the Tatas to move out. It's the CPI-M which doesn't want that both industry and agriculture should flourish in the state.”

She was speaking at a rally organised by Trinamul Congress-led Progressive Secular Democratic Front (PSDF) to observe Singur Day.

“We have proposed that Singur should be a model village where both industry and agriculture would thrive together. But the state government by unilaterally declaring the package has violated the Raj Bhavan accord which was duly signed by the state industries minister and the Leader of the Opposition,'' Miss Banerjee said.

She appealed to the government to “operationalise'' the Raj Bhavan accord as early as possible if “they are serious about industrialisation in the state”.

Mr Samir Patutundu, PDS leader and member of Krishi Jomi Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee, said the Tatas won't move out and that the pull out threat was but “a political gimmick” by the CPI-M to pressure the Opposition.

“Nano will roll out from Pantnagar to meet the deadline. The Tatas are just biding their time as there are legal complications on Singur land,” he said.

Mr Biman Bose, CPI-M state secretary said it would be a great loss for the state, including the people of Singur, if the Tatas move out.

He said the “unholy forces that are directly and indirectly creating obstacles for the project don’t want the state’s development.” “The real intent of these forces”, he said, would have to be exposed and a movement launched “without being provoked by the forces of chaos.” (END) Source : The Statesman

2008-09-25T05:08:00.000-07:00

"People of the state want a solution to the Singur issue. People of the state desire and deserve a solution," said Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

Tatas may pull out of Singur

2008-09-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

Vendors moving equipment , Time running out, says Nirupam Sen

By Marcus Dam

Kolkata: The spectre of Tata Motors pulling out of Singur loomed large even as there were reports on Wednesday of certain vendors moving out their equipment over the past few days from the project site, where work has remained suspended for more than three weeks.

Tata Motors, however, refused to comment.

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said here that he did not think the project would take off if there were further delays.

Time was running out and the company was suffering losses, State Industries Minister Nirupam Sen observed.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who is demanding return of land “forcibly” acquired from farmers, has meanwhile placed fresh demands before Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

Ms. Banerjee, who has rejected a package offered by the State government that envisages sustained economic rehabilitation for all farmers whose land has been acquired, demanded that Article 355 be invoked if the government failed to abide by the September 7 “agreement” on the return of land.

Mamata meets Governor

She, along with leaders of parties who have joined ranks with her on the Singur issue, met the Governor.

Ms. Banerjee later told journalists that her impression was that “the Governor is very saddened” by the turn of events.

“He too wanted a solution to the problem and ensure a farm-factory balance.”

She remained firm on her demand that 300 acres from within the project site be handed back to farmers who had not accepted compensation for their plots.

The government made it clear that this was not possible, if the integral nature of the auto-cluster critical to the project was to be maintained as demanded by Tata Motors.

The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda, who described the package offered by the government as a model for other States, appealed to all political parties to cooperate and solve the Singur problem.

“Opponents of the project are resisting it to fulfil their own political agenda,” he said.

Ms. Banerjee said: “I am willing to sit for a thousand discussions with the government if they are aimed at operationalising the agreement.”

She also demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the new compensation package being offered by the government to Singur farmers – one that she described as a “political, not government package.” Source : The Hindu

"Land is limited. Land is precious"

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept 24: In a veiled criticism of the Left Front government for its handling of the Singur issue, Governor Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi said today a dialogue should have been held much earlier and not when a crisis was at hand.

“The first imperative is that of a dialogue, not when a crisis hangs overhead, but well in advance,” said Mr Gandhi, who had mediated the talks between chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee on September 7 on Singur but which has failed to lead to a solution.

He said: " Policy makers should keep in mind that farming community has a mind of its own and they should think carefully before providing arable land for industrial ventures.”

“The way in which agriculture and industry are seen juxtaposed is not right. There is scope and need for both”, he said. He said “empirical evidence has shown that options other than compulsory land acquisition are possible.”

Citing examples, he said farmers' cooperatives had established their own SEZs and industrial estates successfully in Maharashtra. He said: “The cooperative movement in Gujarat and Maharashtra holds an example of what can be done when small farmers pool their resources together.

“Land is limited. Land is precious. Land holds a special value to farmers and their families. It is not impersonal, dematerialised share certificate that you buy and sell with every swing of the Sensex,” Gandhi said.

“We have to be sensitive to the responses of those who lose land and livelihood to projects for industry, housing and infrastructure,” he added.

The Governor was speaking at the inauguration of the Second Green Revolution Summit and Expo, organised jointly by the state government and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, this morning. Source: The Statesman

Tata guards attacked

2008-09-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept. 23: Two private security personnel guarding the Tata Motors small car project area were badly beaten up by some unidentified men inside the paint shop of the factory last night.

Police said the assailants may have been thieves, but some locals have alleged that they belonged to the Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee.

The injured guards ~ Ajit Kumar, a resident of Patna and SN Sarkar from Birbhum ~ were rushed to Serampore Walsh Hospital in a critical condition early today. No one has been arrested in connection with the incident till the time of going to press.

According to reports, the security guards were on duty at the paint shop of the factory last night. Around 10.30 p.m., a group of eight youths intruded into the project site after scaling the boundary wall, and attacked them with rods and daggers.

The attackers fled after the security guards raised an outcry, and their colleagues came to their assistance. A team from the Singur police station later reached the spot after being informed of the incident. The victims were taken to Singur rural hospital with severe head injuries. Later they were shifted to Serampore Walsh Hospital in the wee hours today.

“We are investigating the incident. We suspect that the attackers had entered the project site to commit a theft,” said a senior district police officer.

Tension prevailed in the area after some local people alleged that the attackers belonged to Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee. Committee members denied the allegation, and police said that there is no evidence to support the charge. “We haven't been able to identify the goons. A probe has been initiated. We have no evidence to say that the attack was carried out by supporters of the Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee,” said a police officer.

The Left Front chairman, Mr Biman Bose, condemned the attack last night and alleged that it was the handiwork of Trinamul Congress-backed goons. The “dastardly act”, Mr Bose said, was intended to scuttle the project as “the Trinamul doesn't want that more jobs are created through industrialisation and the interests of the future generations are protected.”

Mr Mukul Roy, Trinamul general secretary, rubbished the LF chairman's charge as a blatant lie aimed at maligning the agitation the Trinamul and its allies were spearheading against the forcible acquisition of land from unwilling farmers for the project.

Meanwhile, Calcutta HC extended the interim order restraining the Chief Information Commissioner from disclosing the portion of the agreement between Tata Motors and the WBIDC which was not included in the corporation's website till 30 September.(END) Source: The Statesman

Nano to Noida

2008-09-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

Season of strife Mamata miffed with governor

By INDRANIL GHOSH

Calcutta, Sept. 22: A chill appears to be creeping into the relationship between governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.
“The governor got us to withdraw our agitation (siege of Nano factory) on false promises. He is now unable to see things our way,” a Trinamul functionary today quoted Mamata as telling a few party colleagues on Sunday.
“He (Gandhi) is a nice man but it looks like he is not in a position to appreciate the Singur issue in its entirety,” the aide quoted Mamata as saying.
The Trinamul leader’s disenchantment with Gandhi began on September 19 when she called on the governor to brief him on the Singur developments, especially on the compensation package announced by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Although the governor, who was in Delhi, had kept himself abreast of the events related to Singur, he chose to hear her out and promised to apprise the chief minister of her concerns. “What sort of disturbed her was the fact that the governor would not get judgmental on the package,” a Trinamul source said.
Mamata’s oft-professed faith in the governor was dented when in the course of another interaction, Gandhi asked her to “try and find” merits in the chief minister’s initiative, one of the sources said. The source claimed that Gandhi conveyed to Mamata that she would not find it difficult to support the package as it was “truly beneficial to the farmers”.
In subsequent meetings or interactions over the phone with Mamata or her representatives, the governor promised to request the chief minister to “improve the package as far as possible” to make it easier for her to accept it.
“If you have the right sankalp (resolve), you will see there is no dearth of bikalp (alternatives),” the governor reportedly told Mamata and her aides.
Such suggestions have apparently not gone down well with Mamata. “Ei bhadralok aamader aandolan bhenge dilo (this gentleman broke up our movement),” she told a few party faithful.
Despite the frost, Mamata has scheduled a meeting with the governor on Wednesday to inform him of her seven-day deadline for the government to implement the agreement reached at Raj Bhavan.
The state government is watching the clock with growing trepidation as several states — the latest is said to be Gujarat — are wooing the Tatas. The industry minister of Karnataka, which had offered land for the Nano project, today said he was trying to arrange a meeting with Ratan Tata.(END) Source: The Telegraph

West Bengal extends deadline for compensation

2008-09-22T19:17:00.001-07:00

KOLKATA: With the number of farmers reconsidering their earlier decision to refuse monetary compensation for their plots acquired for the Tata Motors project at Singur rising, the West Bengal government extended by two days its deadline — previously set for Monday — for the acceptance of applications. But, the Trinamool Congress leadership has reiterated its threat to renew the agitation for the return of land from within the project area to “unwilling farmers.”

Seventy applications seeking compensation have been made to the authorities concerned — an indication of a change in the mind of the farmers who have so far been averse to accepting compensation. Forty-five cheques have been issued so far.

The Trinamool leadership, however, alleged that these farmers were under pressure from CPI(M) activists to accept the compensation cheques.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee reasserted that the agitation for the handing back of 300 acres from within the project site would be resumed unless the State government “operationalised” within seven days (beginning September 21) the understanding it had reached with her associates in the presence of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on September 7 on the issue of returning land to farmers who had not received compensation.

She accused the State government of “violating” the “agreement” arrived at in the presence of the Governor — an act that was “unconstitutional” for which she would be demanding the invocation of Article 355 of the Constitution. (END) Source : The Hindu

2008-09-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

‘Singur can become another Jamshedpur’
By N. Ram
KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told The Hindu here on Sunday that he was appealing to all opposition parties in West Bengal to “accept the package proposed by the State government in regard to the acquisition of land in Singur” and to withdraw their agitation.

Saying that he was doing his best to find an amicable solution to the Singur dispute, the Chief Minister referred to his discussion with Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee and the government’s talks with the opposition in the presence of the Governor.

The Chief Minister cited “a very important point” made by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan in an interview published in the Ananda Bazar Patrika of September 21: “He has said the entire situation of Singur will be changed. And he has given the example of the Tatas’ Jamshedpur factory. The per capita income has gone up and the human development index is almost like Kerala’s. Singur will be another Jamshedpur and all sections will be benefited from this. If the Tatas withdraw, you will understand what will happen in Singur. The boys and girls who have undergone training, those who have voluntarily handed over their land — there will be a serious crisis. Finally in the State, after many years, here is a very important automobile factory. Automobile as a manufacturing sector is very important all over the world. This Nano technology is a unique innovative technology. The Tatas have done it, defeating their competitors, even the Germans and Japanese. It is a unique project.” (END) Source The Hindu

Buddhadeb voices concern over future of industrialisation

2008-09-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

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

Tatas put govt. on alert

2008-09-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

- Mamata ultimatum greets CM’s warning of pullout
BY INDRANIL GHOSH
Calcutta, Sept. 21: The Tatas have formally notified the government that they would shortly begin looking at the option of withdrawal from Singur if a clear signal on the possibility of peace did not emerge in the next few days.
However, Mamata Banerjee this evening served a seven-day ultimatum to the government to implement an agreement that she said promised “maximum” land within the project site to landlosers.
She also threatened to resume her “satyagraha” — a euphemism for the siege that is suspended now — but not during “festival time”. Mamata, who kept the talks door open and left room for manoeuvre by announcing a staggered plan of action if her ultimatum was ignored, did not specify whether her season of goodwill would extend till Christmas.
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, too, indirectly signalled that the Tatas were considering a pullout. “The project will be out of Bengal if it is delayed further,” Bhattacharjee said in what looked like a last-ditch public appeal to the Opposition to accept the package offered by the government and withdraw the agitation.
“Please make it possible for Tata Motors and its component producers to resume work without further delay,” the chief minister said.
Senior officials said Tata Motors had informed the government a few days ago that it would be forced to decide on a pullout if there was no immediate cessation of political bickering caused by Mamata’s opposition. “Instead of considering resuming the residual construction of the factory, the Tatas have said, they will soon start looking at the withdrawal option if things do not improve in the next few days,” an official told The Telegraph.
The chief minister is understood to have briefed the CPM leadership. “He told us that the Tatas have notified the government they would quit soon if the situation does not improve,” a CPM central committee member said.
No official response was available from Tata Motors. But Tata Motors sources said the company was yet to see any sign of normality returning to Singur. “On severe test is the Tatas’ long-term faith in Bengal as an investment destination. Street-side politics is stopping Bengal from passing the test,” an executive said.
“What the Tatas will do is their matter, we are no way connected with it,” Mamata said in response to a question at a news conference.
Having failed so far to turn Mamata around, the Bhattacharjee government was considering a proposal to provide intense security to enable Tata Motors to resume operations.
But, according to a senior minister, the Tatas have declined to return to Singur under such cover. “They have indicated to us that they look forward to resume working in a congenial environment. That sort of a solution (tight security) is of no relevance. You can say we are ready (to do our bit), but the Tatas are not,” the minister said.
However, sections of the government, the CPM and the Trinamul Congress still harbour the hope that attempts to rescue the project might pay off in view of what they perceive as subtle shifts in Mamata’s stand.
Under pressure from the ground to accept the compensation package that guarantees jobs, Mamata is believed to be pinning hopes on another round of talks with the government. Mediators on either side confirmed that feelers were going back and forth.
“We are still hoping for a last-minute breakthrough,” said a negotiator on the government side.
But he added that if and when another meeting took place, it would have to be held within the framework of the compensation package. The chief minister has also conveyed this to the governor.
WITH INPUTS FROM BISWAJIT ROY AND BARUN GHOSH

Source: The Telegraph

CM fears Nano relocation, Mamata sets pact deadline

2008-09-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

KOLKATA, Sept. 21: While the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, today warned that Tatas may relocate their small car factory if the agitation in Singur continued, Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee set a week's deadline for the government to implement the Raj Bhavan accord.

She said the Trinamul-led Opposition will go in for an indefinite agitation and siege in Singur if the government failed to implement it.

Miss Banerjee said: “We will meet the President and the PM at the end of this week and the Governor on Tuesday and appeal to them to invoke Article 355 and show cause the state government for violating the Raj Bhavan agreement between the state government and the leader of the Opposition.”

In a volte-face, the government the next day announced a package different from the Raj Bhavan accord in the Governor’s absence, she alleged.

Miss Banerjee said the Centre should invoke Article 356 and dismiss the government if Article 355 failed to serve its purpose. Mr D Bandopadhyay, former land reforms commissioner, discussed the Singur land issue with the Governor. (END) Source: The Statesman

Huge price of street politics

2008-09-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

AMARTYA SEN ON THE SINGUR SITUATION

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, in a letter emailed to The Telegraph editor Aveek Sarkar, assesses the Singur situation and warns of the consequences if the “attraction of street activism” persists and the Tatas pull out.

Thank you for asking me about my assessment of the Singur situation. I have, in fact, been trying to follow the events as closely as possible, and I must confess I am greatly concerned about what is going on. It is a complex subject, and we have to consider many different issues together.

First, as I argued in my two Telegraph essays on December 29 and 30 last year, unlike the Nandigram decision, which was (I believe) significantly mistaken, the Singur project with the Tatas was basically sound. West Bengal badly needs industries and new employment and income earning opportunities, and Tatas with the ancillary enterprises would help in that greatly, and also encourage a new image of West Bengal as being no longer hostile to industrial investment.

Second, it is a pity that the plot that the Tatas wanted for the factory, based on their concerns (including closeness to Kolkata), is not only well suited for their project but also fertile for agriculture. It would have been easier if the location were different, but that is no longer a possibility. I am not concerned here so much about the aggregate loss of agricultural land, since that is relatively small, and the income and employment gain from economic expansion in the Singur region would be incomparably larger. What is not, however, small is the loss for those owners of land who did not want to part with their plots, and that is a serious issue.

Third, I argued in my Telegraph essays that (1) it would have been much better to buy the land involved without any compulsion, rather than acquiring it (acquirement has to be the last resort, not the first move), and (2) even with acquirement, giving a 40% higher price than the existing market price was not adequate, since with the entry of industries the land prices would rise much more than that. Of course, if Tatas move out now (as seems likely), the land prices in and around Singur would drop dramatically as Singur returns to its old economic state. That should be a big concern right now for the political protesters, but on the part of the Government of West Bengal, there was a strong case for offering a higher price originally as part of the Singur project, since — with the Tatas there — land price in Singur would be much higher than what the government initially offered and paid.

Fourth, the new compensation offer made by the government is much more reasonable. The higher land prices now offered (combined with the other facilities that have also been offered, including employment arrangements) make it a good compromise.

Fifth, the protesters might be persuaded by their political leadership that their interests would be best served by getting back their old piece of land. Attachment to particular plots is certainly an understandable desire. But the world in which all this will happen will be very different. The Tatas have made clear that they will move out if they get less land than they have been given (they judge that they need that land for the viability of their project). Not just Maharashtra, but also Karnataka and Uttaranchal, among other states, seem to be ready with alternative offers much more favourable to the Tatas. Indeed, there is good reason to expect that the Tatas are very much in the process of relocating, unless there is a fairly immediate breakthrough (which now seems unlikely). With their departure from West Bengal will come a huge fall in land prices all around Singur, and also loss of job opportunities that will affect the local population. I am not sure how much the leaders of the protest movements have thought through these issues.

Sixth, for West Bengal as a whole, it would be a huge economic setback, if the Tatas do move out. Its impact would not be confined only to the economic loss from the withdrawal of investments of the Tatas and the ancillary producers, but also from the general sense across India that the politics of West Bengal makes it nearly impossible to base any new economic move in the state, and that the single-minded politics of the street can drive out any new enterprise.

That politics might change over time once the terrible consequences of industrial and economic stagnation are more widely appreciated and understood. But for the moment the political attraction of street activism seems dominant, supplemented intellectually by the old physiocratic illusion of prosperity grounded only on agriculture. The latter piece of romantic thought cannot but fade over time with the influence of realism (no country has ever achieved much prosperity on the basis of agriculture alone). But at this moment realism looks like a distant dream.(END)

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Package best possible: CM
Tata Motors will drive out of Singur if the government tries to make room for any further demand from Mamata Banerjee, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said tonight. ... Read..

CM explains ‘best’ package to Governor

Statesman News Service KOLKATA, Sept. 20: The chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, today met the Governor, Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, and explained the government's latest stand on Singur along

Package of discord

2008-09-18T19:51:00.005-07:00

Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee met Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi last evening and complained to him that while he was away in Delhi the state government announced, “in flagrant breach of the accord reached at Raj Bhavan on 7 September,” a fresh rehabilitation package for farmers whose land had been acquired for the Tata Motors' small car project at Singur.

Minutes after Mamata Banerjee’s meeting with the Governor, the chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said the Singur stalemate could be resolved if the Opposition accepted the new rehabilitation package advertised in all newspapers by the state government.

Jyoti Basu has also appealed to agitators to accept the state government's fresh rehabilitation package for the land-losers and help resumption of work at the project site. “To enable the small car project to materialise, the state government recently announced a compensation package for the farmers who have given land. I appeal to all concerned to accept the package and allow the project to come up,” Basu said. “I also appeal to those who are opposing the project to rise above politics and cooperate with the state government in allowing the project to come up in the interest of the people of the state,” he stated. Basu said once the project came up, it would increase employment opportunities and bring about economic development.

Following pleas from ailing CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu and governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi for a resolution “for the sake of Bengal and its people”, Mamata said in the evening: “I believe the Singur problem will be resolved soon.” She said: “I seriously want a solution to the Singur problem in the interest of Bengal, industrialisation, agriculture and, above all, its people…. I have requested the governor to talk to the government to find a solution.”

Leader of the Opposition and senior Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee called on Mr. Gandhi separately at the Raj Bhavan earlier in the day.Emerging from the meeting, Mr. Chatterjee told journalists that he had apprised the Governor of the “lawlessness let loose by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)” at Singur. “If such a situation persists we will demand invoking of Article 355 of the Constitution,” he added.

11 farmers who were earlier unwilling to take the compensation collected their cheques yesterday. “About 20 to 25 of them submitted applications,” said Hooghly district magistrate Neelam Meena.

The Calcutta High Court yesterday refused to hear a PIL moved by a Delhi-based NGO demanding its intervention to ensure the Tata Motors project stayed in Singur. “How can the court interfere in the matter?” the division bench of Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice S. Banerjee said and dismissed the plea.

Sources : The Statesman , The Telegraph and The Hindu

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PIL for Nano

2008-09-18T19:51:00.004-07:00

Calcutta, Sept. 18: A PIL was today filed in Calcutta High Court demanding its intervention to ensure the Tatas stayed in Singur.
“The court should ask the Bengal government to take measures so that the Tatas do not abandon the Nano project or shift it to any other state,” Srirupa Mitra Chowdhury said in her petition filed on behalf of a Delhi-based NGO.
The petition said if Bengal lost out on the project, it would be detrimental to development of industry and job generation in the state.
Supriya also asked the court to direct the state government to take steps to ensure a “conducive atmosphere” for Tata Motors.
The case will come up for hearing on September 19.(END) Source: The Telegraph

Talks door ajar, minus 300 acres

2008-09-18T19:51:00.003-07:00

By INDRANIL GHOSH
Calcutta Sept. 18: The state government today said it was ready to talk to Mamata Banerjee again on the Singur stand-off but only if she promised not to press for 300 acres within the project site.
The offer came on a day governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who last week brokered the first meeting between the Trinamul boss and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, cancelled a meeting with leaders of the Opposition party.
The government’s talks overture came during back-channel negotiations between CPM leaders and ministers and key Trinamul functionaries. “It seems even at this stage they (Trinamul) want talks (with us) for, let us say, clarification of certain aspects of the compensation package announced last Friday,” a senior CPM leader said.
“We said we don’t mind, but the meeting should be substantial, not a tea session.”
The CPM negotiators told the Trinamul functionaries Mamata would have to realise that the government had offered her the best deal possible. Now it was up to her to respond in a positive manner by endorsing the compensation package the government had announced for farmers whose lands were taken over for the Nano small car project.
The behind-the-scenes talks coincided with three developments.
Seventeen Trinamul-controlled farmers, who two years ago had refused to accept compensation, registered with the Hooghly district administration for the new package, taking the number overnight to 22. “Several farmers have taken the cheques,” a district official said.
Sources familiar with developments in Singur said a large number of farmers loyal to Mamata were expected to register with the authorities for compensation cheques under the new package.
The second development was the governor’s decision to cancel the 7.30pm meeting at Raj Bhavan with Partha Chatterjee and other Trinamul leaders. Trinamul had requested the meeting to review the situation in Singur.
The decision to call off the meeting came a day after the chief minister said the governor wouldn’t be requested to again mediate in the Singur impasse and Mamata should deal directly with the government.
Mamata had bristled at Bhattacharjee’s comments and said the chief minister had “defamed” the governor.
Trinamul sources, however, said they expected Mamata to call on the governor tomorrow as scheduled, though no confirmation was available from Raj Bhavan.
The third was reports that Tata Motors had begun exploring the possibility of setting up an alternative plant for the Nano in either Karnataka or Haryana. The mood at Writers’ Buildings as well as in the CPM headquarters on Alimuddin Street turned grim when the reports came in.
“Mamata’s utterances yesterday did not inspire confidence,” said a CPM minister. “But we are still hoping she would see reason.”
A CPM central committee member said: “We have made it clear to Trinamul leaders they are free to meet the governor as many times as they wish, but they would do well to discuss a possible settlement through direct discussions with the government. They must stop taking refuge in the office of the governor.”
The CPM state secretariat will tomorrow discuss the Singur issue.
Mamata and her aides will review the post-package Singur situation on September 21 and 22. Sources said the party would decide over the two meetings whether to re-launch the suspended siege of the Nano factory in a festival season. (END) Source: The Telegraph

Bangalore striks, Bengal sleeps- Two 1000-acre baits for Tatas

2008-09-18T19:51:00.002-07:00

By ANIL BUDUR LULLA
Bangalore, Sept. 18: Karnataka today offered the Tatas the best possible inducement to drive the Nano project out of Singur.
Chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa laid on the table for Tata Motors boss Ravi Kant not one, but two plots of land — each as big as the one in Singur — which could easily house a plant to produce the world’s cheapest car and 60 ancillaries that the company believes are critical to the success of the project.
Several states, including Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, have offered to host the Nano since the Singur stalemate but none has presented such a concrete and attractive proposal.
Uttarakhand, a possible alternative, has said it could give Tata Motors about 300-400 acres in Pantnagar where the group has a plant that manufactures small commercial vehicles.
Sources said Yeddyurappa and his industry minister, Murugesh Nirani, offered the Tatas 1,000 acres of contiguous land — the minimum needed for the Nano plant — in two locations. The land has already been acquired by the Karnataka State Infrastructure Development Corporation, which is in the process of establishing industrial parks and allotting them to companies.
Sources said one plot was offered in Hubli, 430km from Bangalore, where the Tatas have two projects running. Another 1,000 acres was offered in the Bidadi industrial estate second phase project, 30km from the state capital, on the Bangalore-Mysore highway.
“We also offered them sops in terms of waiver of stamp duty and registration fee which may run into crores of rupees. As the Nano is a highly cost-driven venture, we were open to other incentives like state sales tax and excise benefits for a period of three to five years,” an official said on condition of anonymity.
Asked if the Karnataka government had offered 1,000 acres, Ravi Kant said: “Yes. If we have to have the project, it requires 1,000 acres. It is an integrated project.”
“He (Yeddyurappa) said he will give all support, assistance and required incentives if we want it,” the Tata Motors ma
naging director added.
Ravi Kant said the company was yet to take a decision on relocating the project from Singur.
“We are considering alternatives if required. We are actively looking at alternatives too,” he said.
Yeddyurappa said the Tatas were “very receptive”. “We hope for a positive outcome in view of our excellent relationship,” he said.

Governor Meet
Gopalkrishna Gandhi cancelled a scheduled meeting with a Trinamul Congress team on Thursday, a day after the chief minister said the governor had done his job. The government has said it is open to talks with Mamata Banerjee, but only if she drops her demand for 300 acres inside the project. ( END) Source: The Telegraph

New twist to Singur

2008-09-18T19:51:00.001-07:00

By Rajib Chatterjee

KOLKATA, Sept. 18: In an interesting development, more than 150 farmers of Singur who had given their land voluntarily for the Nano project have submitted applications to the block development officer expressing their willingness to return their compensation cheques and get their land back.Mr Prasenjit Chakraborty, BDO, Singur confirmed to The Statesman: "I have received their applications. They want to get their land back by submitting (returning) their compensation cheques."The applications have been forwarded to the district magistrate Hooghly, Mrs Neelam Meena, and authorities of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC). The applicants have not given any reasons in their applications as to what prompted them to ask for their land back from the state government. Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee members alleged that these farmers had been forced to part with their plots for the project by CPI-M cadres two years ago. The CPI-M, on the other hand, came up with a counter allegation, that Trinamul Congress cadres are pressuring willing farmers to submit applications to block authorities demanding return of land. Meanwhile, the state government's initiatives to end the Singur deadlock by offering a lucrative package to unwilling farmers suffered a setback after a majority of farmers refused to accept the government's new offer.Reports available to Singur block office states that only six out of more than 2,000 unwilling farmers of Singur have accepted the fresh rehabilitation package which the state government had announced on 14 September. The package was announced to pacify unwilling farmers who have been waging a war to reoccupy their plots.According to Mr Chakraborty, only six unwilling farmers have submitted application to the district magistrate stating that they don't have any objection to part with their land for the Nano project if compensation, as stated in the fresh package, is provided to them. "The package was expected to attract agitating farmers who have been spearheading a movement against the state government for the last three years for 'forcibly' taking away their land. But it has failed to convince agitating farmers," said another block official. Having realised that the fresh package has failed to attract agitating farmers, local CPI-M leaders have been mobilising cadres to convince unwilling farmers.

Tata claim

A statement by Tata Motors today said 17 farmers who lost their lands in Singur to make way for its car plant have applied for the new rehabilitation package announced by the West Bengal government. (END) Source : The Statesman

West Bengal doing everything to solve Singur issue: Karat

2008-09-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government is “doing everything” to settle the Singur problem, Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said here on Thursday.
On the protests being planned by the Left parties and some other parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party, against the Parliament session not being convened by the United Progressive Alliance government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the United States on September 25 to finalise the nuclear deal, Mr. Karat said the matter would be taken up at a meeting in New Delhi on Friday. He also blamed the Centre for failing to control terrorism.
Mr. Karat called on veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu at his Salt Lake residence here.
Mr. Basu was discharged from a city hospital on Tuesday after he was admitted there on September 7, three days after suffering a fall in his home.(END) Source: The Hindu

" Tatas waiting to return"

2008-09-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
Kolkata: The Tata Motors authorities “are anxiously waiting to come back” but still think the situation in Singur is not congenial to resume work on the Nano project, according to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
“They are closely observing the situation and when they feel the situation is normal they will come back,” he said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
Mr. Bhattacharjee is in regular touch with the Tata group and spoke to its chairman Ratan Tata on Tuesday.
The company had not set a time limit to wait for normality to return to Singur but “time is a very important factor. We have already lost more than a month.”
The Chief Minister appealed to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee “to understand the realities, try to see reason and please allow us to set up the factory.”
He said: “I am ready to discuss issues with her if she responds to my appeal to accept the package [of the State government providing economic rehabilitation and additional monetary compensation to all farmers whose land has been acquired for the project].”
Mr. Bhattacharjee: “I do not want confrontation and I am still confident that if the Opposition responds to our appeal and the situation improves further — no doubt there has been some improvement from what it was ten days ago — the atmosphere [at Singur] will be conducive to restart work at the plant.” He urged those farmers who had not accepted compensation for their land acquired to do so by September 22.
The Tata Motors announced suspension of work at the Nano plant on September 2 in view of the continued confrontation and agitation at the site.

Mamata’s threat
Ms. Banerjee has threatened to resume the agitation. “The stir has not been called off but only suspended.” It could be resumed after meeting Governor Gopalakrishna Gandhi on his return to the city [later this week], she said.
“We had brought back normality to Singur but after this if the situation there turns bad, it will be the government that will be wholly responsible,” Ms. Banerjee said.(END)

Source: The Hindu

Releated Stories:
People betrayed, alleges Mamata
Singur a lesson, not a deterrent for investment
Discord over return of Singur land
Trinamool Congress proposal unacceptable to government
Singur is an exception: Buddhadeb
Tatas against disturbing arrangement
Respite in Singur
Singur stalemate ends

People betrayed , alleges Mamata

2008-09-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

" State government went back on gentleman's agreement"
By Raktima Bose
SINGUR: “We will throw the rehabilitation package [for farmers whose land was acquired for the Tata Motors project] of the Left Front government into the dustbin,” declared Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at a rally here on Tuesday.
The rally was held a day after the Left Front organised a procession here in support of the new package.
Ms. Banerjee accused the government of “betraying” the people by going back on the “gentleman’s agreement” arrived at with the Opposition in Kolkata on September 7 in the presence of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. She reiterated her demand for the return of 300 acres within the project area to farmers from whom the land was “forcibly acquired.”
“We do not support the package and will decide on our future course of action after discussion with the Governor on September 19,” Ms. Banerjee said. Her next move could lead to a resumption of the agitation that was suspended following the consensus reached at the September 7 meeting.
The Trinamool leader pointed out that the package was a “unilateral decision,” which was made without consulting her party or the Governor.
She said: “We agreed to discuss the matter with the government because the Governor requested us to do so; it is the first time in 30 years of the Left Front rule that the government entered into a deal with the Opposition in the presence of the Governor and that has been dishonoured by it.”
The scene at the rally venue, by the side of the Durgapur Expressway opposite the Tata Motors small car factory site, was reminiscent of the one of the Trinamool “siege” of the project area.
“I am not opposed to the Tata plant. The main plant can be set up on 600 acres and the ancillary units on 100 acres, but we want the rest 300 acres back at any cost,” Ms. Banerjee asserted.
Her statement, “If the government cannot solve the problem, it should quit,” drew loud cheers.
Ms. Banerjee presented three ‘unwilling’ farmers on the dais in response to the claims of the Left Front leaders here on Monday that most such farmers are willing to accept the new package. However, five farmers who had not yet received compensation, filed petitions at the district magistrate’s office to avail themselves of the new package. (END) Source: The Hindu

Unwilling turn willing

2008-09-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

Landlosers warm to new offer
By IMRAN AHMED SIDDIQUI

Singur, Sept. 16: A trickle of consent letters from “unwilling farmers” has started in Singur.
Five of them wrote to district magistrate Neelam Meena today, saying they were ready to give up their land for the Tata Motors project and collect their cheques.
“We made up our mind after considering the government’s revised package,” Sambhu Ghosh of Madhapara in Beraberi told The Telegraph.
The Ghoshes had been part of the Singur agitation since their half an acre was acquired for the Nano plant two years ago. The family used to grow three crops on the plot.
“We didn’t have any land except the 1.5 bighas and felt outraged when it was acqui- red. So, we joined the anti-acquisition movement. Our intention was only to get a better deal. Now we feel it is unwise to drag on with the agitation,” Sambhu said.
Sambhu, his mother and three brothers jointly owned the plot. One of his sisters-in-law and his mother sent their consent today. “My other brother is not here but he will also do so,” said Sambhu.
His 70-year-old mother Monibala said: “We were weighing the pros and cons after reading about the new package in the papers. We had wanted a rise in compensation and are very happy now.”
Sambhu works in a sweet shop in Liluah. His son Gopal studies in Class VIII at Beraberi High School.
“I want to join the Tata factory after doing an ITI course. The factory will create jobs for those like me and we want the Tatas to resume work as soon as possible,” the boy said.
Sambhu plans to build a house with his share. “My dream will be realised soon. Hopefully, my son will get employment in the factory. Then we will marry him off,” he said.
The new package promises 50 per cent more cash and preference in jobs.
Haradhan Chowdhury and Bidyut Das of Khasherbheri have also decided to collect their cheques.
“I like the new package,” said Haradhan. “I had joined the agitation as I wasn’t happy with the earlier amount.”
District magistrate Meena confirmed having received the letters.
An official at the block office said the administration was hopeful that more landlosers would collect their cheques in the next few days. They will get an additional 10 per cent for doing so by September 22.
Mamata show
Mamata Banerjee today presented three willing landlosers — Radheshyam Maity, 65, Shibram Panja, 60, and Aditya Panja, 55 — who had apparently accepted their compensation cheques.
“Now they want their land back by returning the cheques. I present them before you to counter the CPM’s move of bringing in an unwilling farmer to its rally yesterday,” she told her Singur rally. (END) Source: The Telegraph

State pressure on unwilling farmers

2008-09-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept. 16: In a bid to put pressure on unwilling farmers, the state government would first disburse the compensation cheques still lying with the district collector and then place funds for disbursement of the additional fifty per cent compensation offered in the new rehabilitation package. The state government is yet to place the funds for paying enhanced compensation price of land with the district administration although unwilling farmers seeking to take compensation cheques before 22 September can do so as the funds are still lying with the collector. The industries secretary, Mr Sabyasachi Sen, said: ”The finance department is yet to release funds for the additional 50 per cent compensation but those who have not collected the cheques can do so as the fund is still with the district collector. WBIDC which would pay the additional 10 per cent has also given the funds at its disposal to the BDO for disbursement’’. However, another official of the same department clarified they would not place the additional amount till the district collector disburses the Rs 22 crore lying with it as unwilling farmers have not collected even the original amount of compensation since 2006. The wages for 300 days for landless labourers and unrecorded bargadars are kept with the BDO for disbursement. The state government would issue a separate government order to decide on the modalities of the package. The state commerce and industries minister, Mr Nirupam Sen along with secretary held a one and half hour long discussion with the chief minister right after the massive public rally at Singur held by the Trinamul Congress chief, Miss Mamata Banerjee. Mr Sabyasachi Sen said they were yet to receive any communication from Tata Motors. Incidentally, the state government is yet to communicate to the ancillaries about resuming work after they were asked to stop construction for a week according to the agreement between the state government and Trinamul chief. (END) Source: The Statesman

Tata Motors hails initiative

2008-09-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
KOLKATA: The Tata Motors authorities have supported the initiatives announced by the West Bengal government for the residents of the Singur area, where it has acquired land for its small car-manufacturing project.
The State government on Sunday, through advertisements in newspapers, made an “Offer of Rehabilitation Package for Project Affected Persons in Singur” to provide a sustainable economic alternative and additional monetary compensation to farmers whose land was acquired for the Nano project site that spans 997.11 acres.
This comes in the wake of discord between the government and the Trinamool Congress and its allies who have been demanding that 300 acres, allegedly acquired without consent from farmers who have not accepted compensation, be returned to the farmers.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, at a meeting with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee here on September 12, expressed his government’s inability to provide more than 70 acres from the site as it did not want to disturb the integrated nature of the auto-cluster comprising the mother plant and the vendor park.
Besides the 70 acres, Mr. Bhattacharjee proposed a slew of measures incorporated in a package aimed at providing sustainable economic rehabilitation and attractive monetary compensation to all farmers whose land had been acquired. The meeting fell through.
At a public meeting in Burdwan on Sunday, he renewed his appeal to the Trinamool Congress and its allies to accept the package and sit for talks. “We do not want war. We want industry,” he said.
Tata Motors, in a statement, hoped that the government initiative “would evoke a positive response from the residents of Singur and that all stakeholders will contribute to create a congenial environment...” (END) Source : The Hindu

Trinamool calls for 'march to Singur'

2008-09-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
KOLKATA: The future of the Tata Motors project at Singur continues to remain under a cloud with leaders of both the ruling Left Front and the Trinamool Congress announcing here on Saturday programmes in support of their respective agendas in the area.
The Trinamool Congress has called for a “march to Singur” on September 16 and will wait till three days later (after Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who left the city, returns) to announce whether or not it will revive its agitation if the government fails to “abide by the gentleman’s agreement” to respond to demands of farmers who have not accepted compensation for their land acquired for the project.
The party and its allies had called off its 15-day siege of the project area on the night of September 7.
The Left Front has decided to launch a statewide campaign in support of the project from Sunday and to organise a rally at Singur on Monday in which senior Left leaders will be present.
A day after talks between Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee fell through, the Governor, in a statement, said that “given the will a solution can still be found in a manner that accords with the law.”
Mr. Gandhi said the solution could be arrived at in a manner that “safeguards the interests of farmers, of the small car factory and, going beyond, help in establishing the farm-factory balance that we so vitally need.”
“Through the Singur discussions on September 5, 6 and 7, I saw earnest participants showing a rare spirit of accommodation. That spirit needs to be operationalised,” the Governor said.
At an emergency meeting of Left Front leaders it was decided that not more than the 70 acres of land from within the project site area could be provided to farmers who have not taken compensation as had been suggested by the Chief Minister at his meeting with Ms. Banerjee on Friday.
An attractive monetary package had also been placed by Mr. Bhattacharjee at the meeting that included an extra 50 per cent of the compensation price to be given to all land-losers — both willing and unwilling.
Proposals for 300 days wage for unrecorded bargadars (share croppers) and wage labourers, government jobs to a member of each of the families who have given away land, with those who have taken training getting priority, are also among those incorporated in the package.
Ms. Banerjee described the proposals as “one-sided and unilateral” and reiterated her demand that the understanding arrived at between the two sides in the presence of the Governor on September 7 be “honoured by the State government.” (END) Source : The Hindu

Governor says

2008-09-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

"Through the Singur discussions on September 5, 6 and 7, I saw earnest participants showing a rare spirit of accommodation. That spirit needs to be operationalised," a Raj Bhavan release said.Gandhi said, "Reason can be reasonable; passion dispassionate. I believe, given the will, a solution can still be found in a manner that accords with the law, safeguards the interests of farmers, of the small car factory and, going beyond, help in establishing the farm-factory balance that we vitally need." Invoking Rabindranath Tagore, the Governor said, "Jiban jakhan shukai jai karuna dharai esho”.

What a letdown!

2008-09-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

Mamata rejects Buddha’s ‘best’ deal
By INDRANIL GHOSH
Calcutta, Sept. 12: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee this evening took to Mamata Banerjee a package offering more land inside the complex, higher compensation for landlosers, jobs and development projects.
All to no avail as Mamata played the same old record: 300 acres inside or nothing.
Efforts to save the Singur project are expected to continue tomorrow. However, unless both sides pull off a breakthrough soon, the Tatas are expected to make up their mind by Monday. Some equipment has already been shifted out of the factory, sources said.
“As far as I know, the Tatas have informed Nirupam (Sen) that they would decide whether to stay here or not by 14-15 September,’’ CPM state secretariat member Benoy Konar told The Telegraph.
A deal had looked tantalisingly close when Bhattacharjee and Mamata met at Calcutta Information Centre in the Nandan complex, the Trinamul leader carrying a jhola that made an ideal companion at the poet-chief minister’s favourite hangout.
However, one hour and five minutes later, an agitated Mamata marched out, followed sometime later by an ashen-faced Bhattacharjee.
In between, Bhattacharjee offered Mamata 67 acres inside the Nano complex — 47 belonging to the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and 20 from space reserved for a pond meant to meet environment rules. The Tatas agreed to spare the patch after officials got in touch with them.

The chief minister also put on the table what officials described as “India’s best rehabilitation” package .
However, her gaze fixed on the coming elections, Mamata said she would not settle for anything less than 300 acres inside the project and another 100 acres outside.
When Mamata kept repeating “300 acres”, one of the government representatives asked: “What is the point in dragging the negotiations?”
Realising on her way out that she might have pushed the government a little too far this time, Mamata said: “We can always meet and talk again.”
After the meeting, the chief minister conveyed to governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi the outcome and Mamata’s intransigence.
Gandhi and Bhattacharjee are expected to meet tomorrow, after which a delegation from Trinamul will call on the governor with whom Mamata spoke before setting out for the session with the chief minister. The Left Front will also meet tomorrow to review the situation.
The meeting between Bhattacharjee and Mamata — the third since the maiden one this Sunday and the first without a minder like governor Gandhi — came about without notice.
The groundwork for the evening meeting was laid by housing minister Gautam Deb and Trinamul legislature wing leader Partha Chatterjee who met for close to two hours at Deb’s office in Salt Lake. Industries minister Nirupam Sen, Trinamul’s pet hate, did not attend any meeting today, apparently because he was “unwell”.

Once their session on how best the two sides could advance towards an agreement came to an end, Deb and Chatterjee informed their respective leaders of the need for a discussion on plausible areas of consensus.
Before calling the chief minister, Deb, according to CPM sources, had a long talk with Mamata during which she showed enthusiasm for the package.
A source quoted Mamata as telling a Trinamul leader present in the room: “It seems they have formulated a workable solution. If they are able to accommodate my main demand (land-based rehabilitation inside the project) in some way, I should not be having any problem in extending my co-operation.”
Caught by surprise by the “about-turn” at the meeting, Trinamul sources offered two explanations.
One, Mamata assumed that she could extract more from Bhattacharjee. Two, they blamed some associates and fringe groups who apparently told Mamata she stood to reap dividends if the issue was kept alive till the Lok Sabha elections.
The CPM reacted with dismay. “I was informed by Buddhababu that the meeting collapsed,” said state CPM secretary Biman Bose. “It’s an unfortunate development. I do not want to give up hope, but it is evident they (Trinamul) do not want to co-operate.”
Another senior CPM leader said: “It’s better if she realises soon that the government does not have infinite patience.”
WITH INPUTS FROM BISWAJIT ROY AND SAMBIT SAHA

Source : The Telegraph

Tatas get court gag on car agreement

2008-09-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

Calcutta, Sept. 12: Calcutta High Court today restrained the state government and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation from making public the agreement signed with Tata Motors on the Singur project.
“The stay will be operative for 15 days and the case will come up for hearing on September 19,” Justice Dipankar Dutta said in an interim order on a Tata Motors petition.
The company demanded the stay after the WBIDC posted the text of the agreement on its website on a direction from the state information commission, which had received a Right to Information (RTI) Act plea for such disclosure.
Section 11(1) of the act, however, says that when a third party — other than the RTI petitioner and the government — is involved, a submission from it is needed before any information can be revealed, said legal expert Satadal Chatterjee, who specialises on the RTI Act.
The legal action by the Tatas, the third party in this instance, suggests they were not consulted before the text was made public. There was, however, no confirmation from either side.
Tata Motors lawyer Samaraditya Pal argued before the court that the state information commission had violated the RTI Act by asking the state to display the agreement.
“According to the act, my client has the right to keep the agreement secret because it is related with its trade,” Pal said. Other than the state information commissioner, the state government and the WBIDC have been made respondents in the case.
Pal said: “The agreement was signed on March 9, 2007. It was decided the copy of the agreement would not be made public. But the state information commission, in an order dated September 8, asked the government to display the agreement.”
The court asked the lawyer what good it would do to have the text withdrawn now, since it had already been on display. Pal replied that the WBIDC had not displayed the “secret part” of the agreement yet.
“But it is our apprehension that this part of the agreement will be displayed, too.”
Industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen said he was not aware of the court order.
The government had read out the agreement to a House standing committee on August 27. Industries minister Nirupam Sen had then said a copy could not be handed over without the Tatas’ consent.
“According to the RTI Act, a document where a third party is involved can’t be made public without their consent,” Sen had said.
The RTI petition was moved by Amitava Chowdhury, a Calcutta resident.(END) Source: The Telegraph

Stage set for Siege II in factory demand

2008-09-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

Singur, Sept. 12: Singur residents owing allegiance to the CPM have decided to launch an indefinite dharna outside the Tata site from tomorrow seeking immediate resumption of work at the plant.
Their camps, however, will not block Durgapur Expressway as Mamata Banerjee’s 15-day siege had.
About 200 villagers, including young Tata trainees, day labourers engaged in the project and those supplying construction materials, today gathered around 50m from the highway for a public meeting addressed by local CPM leaders.
“At least 5,000 people were earning their livelihood from the project. That is why we want work to start immediately,” said Balai Sabui, the party’s Hooghly secretariat member.
“We want the plant to work normally from Monday. We will launch our dharna tomorrow and continue until work resumes. But we will not block the highway,” Sabui added.
The camps will be set up at Ratanpur and Joymollah, at the two ends of the plant along the expressway.
The CPM MLA from Arambagh, Benoy Dutta, led a procession of about 200 villagers that went around Joymollah before converging at the rally site.
Srimanta Pakhira, 36, of Joymollah, who used to earn about Rs 100 a day working as a labourer at the project, said: “We are in dire straits. That is why we have decided to sit on a dharna until the resumption of work.”
Rabin Santra, 44, member of a syndicate that supplied bricks, sand and stone chips to the project, said: “The contractor owes me about Rs 10 lakh. The suspension of work was declared before my payment was cleared. Without the project, our future is bleak.”
Bikash Pakhira, 30, a trainee at the Nano plant, said: “We have a social commitment. We are fighting for the economic uplift of Singur.”
On Wednesday, Joymollah farmers who had willingly given their plots for the project had said they would not allow redistribution of their land among the unwilling farmers. (END) Source : The Telegraph

Now, Singur row over 100 acres

2008-09-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept. 11: The state government is prepared to provide to the unwilling farmers of Singur 100 acres of land ~ 40 acres from within the project area and the rest from outside. But the Trinamul Congress wants all the 100 acres within the project area, an official of the state industries department said today. “In order to save the project we are willing to buy around 50-60 acres outside the project area. We are ready to part with the 40 acres within the project site still with the WBIDC. But the Opposition members are seeking 100 acres within the project site,” the official said. However, the Trinamul Congress representatives on the committee set up for locating land within Tatas small car project area and outside claimed they could identify 300 acres within the project area that could be returned to the unwilling farmers. The two other members of the committee ~ Mr Subrata Gupta, managing director, WBIDC and Ms Neelam Meena, district magistrate, Hooghly, weren't convinced by the Trinamul's position. After a three-hour long meeting, the Trinamul MLA, Mr Rabindranath Bhattacharjee, said: ”We visited the project area yesterday and have identified about 300 acres of land from the project area that could be returned to the unwilling farmers. Today we showed to the DM and MD these areas with the help of a map. ‘’ Later in the evening, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Partha Chatterjee, met the Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi to apprise him of the progress of the committee's work in locating land. Mr Chatterjee complained to the Governor that the industries minister had adopted an inflexible attitude since the accord between the state government and the Trinamul-led Opposition was reached at Raj Bhavan. “Such an attitude is becoming a stumbling block in resolving the dispute,” he said. The Trinamul MLA, however, said the committee’s session during the day was held in a cordial atmosphere. If necessary, time would be extended and an interim report would be submitted to the Governor, he said. The Trinamul representatives gave some proposals to the state government, he added.The CPI-M Politburo member, Mr Sitaram Yechury, who visited Mr Jyoti Basu at a city nursing home, said a way out of the Singur impasse would definitely be found after the committee set up for determining the modalities for locating land from within the project site and adjacent areas completed its work. He hoped the committee would reach a satisfactory conclusion. Another Politburo member, Mrs Brinda Karat, said the Trinamul’s insistence that 300 acres would have to be given from within the project area to the unwilling farmers was “not in keeping with the spirit of the discussion at Raj Bhavan.” (END) Source: The Statesman

Trinamool Congress proposal unacceptable to government

2008-09-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

By Marcus Dam
However, it will consider returning some land from within the car project area
KOLKATA: The West Bengal government has reportedly not accepted the proposal of the Trinamool Congress to provide 300 acres from the Tata Motors’ project area at Singur to farmers who have not received compensation.
It is, however, looking into the possibility of arranging for returning some land from within the project area as well as from outside.
“The government has not accepted our demand [return of 300 acres from within the site area],” Rabindranath Bhattacharya said. He is a representative of the Trinamool Congress in the committee set up to ascertain the scope and settle the modalities for returning land to farmers from both within and outside the site area.
Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee, who has been representing the party in talks over the past few days with Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi called on the latter at Raj Bhavan in the evening.
“We still believe that 300 acres can be identified for handing back to farmers from within the project site area”, Mr Bhattacharya told journalists after the committee met for the second time in three days. Further talks will take place on Friday.
The government spoke of the difficulties in returning the land from within the project area as that would infringe on the site earmarked for the project’s auto-cluster.
It has assured the Tata Motors’ authorities that the integrated nature of the auto-cluster, comprising the mother plant and a vendor park, will be kept intact while considering the issue of return of land to the farmers who have not received compensation.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said here: “we are hopeful that the committee is working towards a solution” to the stalemate over return of a section of the land to farmers.
Denying any differences within the party on the Singur issue, he said a solution was urgently needed “for the future of Bengal and the prosperity of its people”. (END) Source : The Hindu

Day labourers decry Singur cease-work

2008-09-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

By Sabyasachi Roy

KOLKATA, Sept. 10: The agreement between the state government and the representatives of the Paschim Banga Krishi Jomi Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee might have encouraged the unwilling farmers of Singur but the future of 3,000 people engaged as day labourers in the ancillary units remains uncertain. Following the agreement between the state government and the Trinamul Congress, the ancillary units were asked to put construction work on hold for a week. After this, all ancillary units located inside the project area have stopped construction work, leaving these day labourers in deep trouble. More than 2,000 workers from Talbhomra, Singher Bheri, Kasher Bheri, Gopal Nagar, Bera Beri, Bajemelia and Joymollah were engaged as day labourers by some 33 ancillary units, which had started construction work. These people used to get Rs 70-110 as daily wages, depending on their nature of work. They were paid every weekend. With the suspension of work, the day labourers have virtually become jobless. Mr Anupam Koley from Koleypara said about 700 people of Singur were employed in the ancillary units. They were treated as group-D staff as they had to carry out loading, unloading and other work. “The people engaged as group-D staff by the ancillary units belong to the families of willing farmers and sharecroppers (bargadars). Around 2,300 people were engaged on contract basis by the contractors. They were mainly engaged in plantation and digging of soil. Some were also engaged as masons, labourers, and carpenters,” he added. The labourers have been jobless since the dharna started. They were not paid from the last week of August as all the companies closed their offices from 2 September when the Tatas announced the cease-work, said Mr Sandip Das from Bera Beri. Even people who belong to the families of unwilling farmers have experienced the same problem. Mr Santhosh Das, whose father refused to give up his farmland for the Tata project, said: “Our farmland was acquired and we had lost our job as agricultural labourers over the past three years. As the project started here, many of us got the opportunity to earn but now all of us are jobless.” (END) Source : The Statesman

State , Trinamool at odds over land to be returned

2008-09-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

By Special Correspondent
Kolkata: The West Bengal government and the Trinamool Congress continue to be at odds over the acreage of land within the Tata project site at Singur that could be handed back to farmers who have not received compensation.
Underpinning their differences are their contrasting interpretations of the consensus arrived at Sunday’s talks, chaired by Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and in which Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee participated.
It was agreed then that the government would respond to the demand of those farmers who had not received compensation “by means of land to be provided to the maximum within the project area and the rest in adjacent areas as early as possible.”
The Trinamool camp insists that the phrase “maximum within the project area” implies that the chunk of 400 acres, which the party wants returned to the farmers from whom land was acquired “forcibly,” will be provided from within the project site.
The government’s stand is that only after keeping intact the auto-cluster, comprising the mother plant and the vendor park, can a maximum extent of land from the remaining area within the site be considered for handing back to the farmers as is suggested in Sunday’s consensus.
Meanwhile, the committee, set up with representatives of both sides to “ascertain the scope and settle the modalities” of providing land to the farmers, visited the project site on Wednesday to see for itself how much land might be available within the project area.
Trinamool MLA and committee member Rabindranath Bhattacharya later said vacant land available within the site would add up to about 300 acres.
Mr. Bhattacharya said the government representatives on the committee, at its first meeting here on Tuesday, had stated that 40 acres could be provided from within the project area. The government officials also said another 50 acres could be made available from outside the site, he said.
The committee will reconvene here on Thursday for further discussions. (END) Source: The Hindu

Came, saw & didn't concur

2008-09-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

Trinamul finds 300 acres, govt 40
By KINSUK BASU

Singur, Sept. 10: Becharam Manna, the Trinamul land scout, cast a critical eye on the half-finished power plant in a corner of the Singur complex and wondered aloud.
“Can’t this be dismantled and the land recovered…?”
Neelam Meena, the Hooghly district magistrate, politely reminded him: “Please think before you make such a statement, Mr Manna. Half of the construction is over. So, how can you say this?”
And thus proceeded the spot-the-land reality show inside the Singur car complex: the Trinamul team finding almost every piece of vacant land suitable for rehabilitating farmers and the government representatives trying to explain how the stretch has already been factored in.
At the end of the two-and-a-half-hour hunt, this is what each team brought to the table — Trinamul: 300 acres could be found inside the complex; government: 40 acres.
The two teams — part of the committee that is looking at ways to implement the Sunday “agreement” — are expected to meet again tomorrow.
But an air of futility is already gathering around the exercise with sources in the government fearing that a phase of festering impasse — Mamata keeping up her rhetoric without reviving the siege and the Tatas refusing to resume work — could set in.
The fear — described by some as the “worst outcome in a bad situation” — could come true if the committee fails to resolve the key issues by Monday when it is expected to file its report. The lone silver lining during the day was Mamata’s silence, probably intended at not queering the pitch while the panel is at work.
Trinamul team leader and Singur MLA Rabindranath Bhattacharya declared after the site survey that “if the state government wants, maximum land can be given from the project area itself. This could amount to around 300 acres”.
The reply came soon enough. In Calcutta, industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen said: “The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) has about 40 acres inside the project area which the government can think of giving back, though I don’t know in which form that is possible. Besides that, I don’t think any quantum of land more than 40 acres inside the project area can be returned as of now.”
Asked whether land not occupied so far by ancillary units can be given back, Sen said: “The committee found that land meant for the vendors had been developed by dumping fly ash in several places. That means many ancillary units are preparing to set up shop. Some have also adopted a wait-and-watch approach as the Tatas have suspended work. So, it’s a difficult question as to whether ancillaries can be relocated. The integrated nature of the project is to be maintained in order to economise costs.”
Other officials said the seven-foot-high fly-ash layer had already made the land uncultivable.
Manna betrayed no sign that he was aware of such limitations as he bounded from one vacant spot to another, accompanied by WBIDC managing director Subrata Gupta, Meena and Bhattacharya.
At one point, baking in the sun, Meena and Bhattacharya paused under the shade for a few minutes. But not Manna, who ensured that Gupta accompanied him.
Government sources said they were given to understand that the Trinamul team expressed “surprise” at the advanced stage of work. The members apparently said they did not realise from outside how much work had been done.
“But will they have the freedom to give such an assessment to Mamata?” an official wondered. The team briefed Mamata in the evening. (END)

Ex-judge statement
Raj Bhavan today said Chittatosh Mookerjee had conveyed to the governor that The Telegraph report on Wednesday “does not correctly represent” what the former chief justice had told the paper on Tuesday night.
“I had said that the agreement signed by both sides speaks for itself. It was felt that there ought to be land-based settlement and some lands in and around the project area could be released/returned. As yet, there has been no agreement regarding the actual area to be returned/given either from within the project area or outside,” a Raj Bhavan statement issued in the evening quoted the legal adviser as saying.
Mamata Banerjee has been saying that it was agreed “300 acres” would be returned from within the project. The statement issued by Raj Bhavan today makes it clear that no agreement had been reached on the quantum of land.
On Wednesday, The Telegraph had quoted Mookerjee as saying: “I was present at Sunday’s meeting between the chief minister and Mamata Banerjee. There it was decided that a few acres of land from within the project area would be given to the farmers who have not yet collected the cheques, but there was no talk of 300 acres.” ( END) Source: The Telegraph

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Govt. Oppn differ on vacant land

2008-09-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA/SINGUR, Sept.10: While the Opposition members of the committee formed to determine the modalities for locating maximum land within the project area and adjacent claimed today that there are ample vacant, arable land in the vendors' park which could be returned to the unwilling farmers at Singur, the state government maintained that land filling exercises have already been completed in most of these plots by the ancillary units. The four-member committee today inspected the project site at Singur. Following the visit, two Trinamul Congress representatives on the committee ~ Mr Rabindranath Bhattacharjee and Mr Becharam Manna ~ briefed Miss Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamul Congress chief, and discussed their next course of action. Later Mr Manna said: “We have identified about 250 acres of land within the project area of which 80 per cent are still cultivable as the character of the land is yet to be altered. We have identified vast stretches of vacant land in Joymollah, Sahapara and Gopalnagar areas within the project area.” Mr Subrata Gupta, MD, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and the government representative on the committee, briefed the chief minister and industries secretary, Mr Sabyasachi Sen, about their progress. Mr Sen categorically denied the presence of such arable plots. “The MD told me that in most plots the ancillary units have begun land filling exercise with fly-ash being dumped to raise the level of the ground as the land is quite low lying, even if they have not started constructing the sheds. There is little land which can be termed as vacant,” said Mr Sen. The government maintains only 40 acre land can be provided while keeping the project intact. The secretary also added once the quantum of land is identified by the committee it would seek legal advice to decide on the modalities for providing this land to the land losing families. The committee would again meet tomorrow. Miss Banerjee is preparing a dossier on Hindustan Motors where the entire unit is thriving on 410 acres. According to Miss Banerjee, Hindustan Motors is a labour intensive unit with a staff strength of 4,500 but Nano, being a more sophisticated car should require much less area than Hindustan Motors. Meanwhile, a section of landlosers who willingly gave their lands for the vendors’ park have opposed the move to give back land to unwilling farmers. “We have given our land solely for the Tata factory. We wouldn’t allow our land to be given to those who opposed the project,” said Sheikh Sohrab Ali, whose family has given up 25 bighas of land.. On the other hand, over a thousand supporters of the CPI (ML-Liberation) took out a rally in Singur demanding compensation for agricultural labourers and unrecorded sharecroppers of the acquired area. (END) Source : The Statesman

No talk of 300 acres: Adviser

2008-09-10T01:12:00.000-07:00

Ex-judge sets the record straight

By BARUN GHOSH
Calcutta, Sept. 9: The legal adviser to the governor has told The Telegraph that “there was no talk of 300 acres” at the meeting between Mamata Banerjee and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday.
“I was present at Sunday’s meeting between the chief minister and Mamata Banerjee. There it was decided that a few acres of land from within the project area would be given to the farmers who have not yet collected the cheques, but there was no talk of 300 acres,” former chief justice Chittatosh Mookerjee said tonight.
The revelation, which contradicts Mamata’s claim that prompted the Tatas to seek a clarification from the government and keep work suspended at Singur, is certain to add to the mounting pressure on the Trinamul Congress leader to defuse the crisis.
Mamata’s interaction with Jyoti Basu and the reluctance of her party to get involved with the hunt for alternative land outside the Singur complex have fuelled speculation that she might not be averse to scaling down her demands.
“Even in the resolution, the word ‘maximum’ has been mentioned as the maximum possible that could be handed over at the project site. If both sides take extreme positions, then the matter will never be resolved,” Mookerjee, who provided legal assistance during the talks, added.
Mamata has been insisting that the Sunday statement — which mentions “land to be provided to the maximum within the project area” — meant most of the allotment would be from inside the complex.
A few hours before Mookerjee’s disclosure, a Raj Bhavan official said governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi was “pained” at the way the spirit of the agreement was being “misinterpreted”.
“The Opposition claim that most of the land in the rehabilitation package would come from within the project area goes against the spirit of the agreement and the governor is pained by its misinterpretation,” the official said.
Gandhi today met Mookerjee and state advocate-general Balai Ray separately, apparently to seek views on how to clear the air. Chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb and home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti apprised the governor of the outcome of the first meeting of a four-member committee on Singur land.
“The governor was told that two members of the committee (Trinamul representatives Rabindranath Bhattacharya and Becharam Manna ) were insisting on the return of 300 acres of land from within the project site,” an official said.
Sources said the relevant sentence in the first draft was “to the maximum extent possible” but the word “possible”, which would have precluded any ambiguity, was dropped on the Opposition’s insistence.
Trinamul leader Partha Chatterjee, one of the signatories of the statement, refused either to confirm or deny the version. “There were so many drafts and so many changes. I don’t know whether there was any such word or not. What matters now is that the government agreed to the final draft,” Chatterjee said.
Sensing a minefield ahead, Trinamul today sought to cry off the land hunt. The agreement requires the party to “co-operate” with the government in finding land inside and outside the Singur complex for rehabilitation of landlosers.
But Bhattacharya, the Trinamul MLA from Singur, and Manna, the leader of the Save Farmland Committee, said neither the party nor the resistance outfit would assume the responsibility. “Acquiring or securing land cannot be our job,” said Bhattacharya. “It’s the government’s job.” Manna echoed the sentiments.
The two know well that seeking to find land in Singur will be akin to playing with fire, especially with prices going through the roof and potential sellers biding their time to make a bigger killing.
The duo also made it clear to the rest of the panel members that their brief was to “go through” the papers and “not to sign anything”, lending credence to a perception that Mamata had deliberately put lightweights on the committee. “In the event of unfavourable findings, she can always say the party nominees could not present their case properly,” a Trinamul leader said.(END) Source: The Telegraph

Bedside diplomacy
By BISWAJIT ROY AND INDRANIL GHOSH
Calcutta, Sept. 9: An ailing Jyoti Basu’s bedside has offered the CPM an unlikely venue to request Mamata Banerjee to take a “reasonable stand” on the Singur controversy.
The patriarch also reportedly requested the Trinamul leader to “sort out the problems amicably” when she called on the ailing leader in the intensive care unit of a city hospital.
After the interaction, a CPM leader said: “We got the impression that she would not stick to her claim of 300 acres. She, too, knows very well that it would be difficult to convince the Tatas to give up a substantial part of the land meant for ancillary units. We hope that the hiccups will be cleared by this week.”
A Trinamul leader said: “She also told Jyotibabu that he is not to worry, things would be sorted out soon.” The Trinamul source refused to say whether Mamata was referring to Basu’s health or the Singur impasse.
In view of the informal contact with the Mamata camp, the CPM postponed a meeting of the Left Front, slated for this evening, sources said.
Mamata wished Basu a speedy recovery and presented him a bouquet of flowers. Opposition leader Partha Chatterjee, who signed the Sunday Singur agreement on behalf of Trinamul, accompanied her.
“I pray for your recovery. Get well soon. The country’s politics still needs you,’’ Chatterjee quoted Mamata as telling Basu. He said Basu and Mamata spoke to each other for a few minutes but declined to divulge what transpired.
CPM sources said the patriarch thanked her for calling on him and also for talking to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Singur. “Both of you should be in contact to solve the land issue and ensure that the Tata project stays in Bengal,’’ a CPM leader quoted Basu as saying.
“Amra 67-68-e esab korechi. Ekhon apnara korchen (We have done these things in 1967-68, today you are doing this),” Basu reminded Mamata, apparently referring to the militant peasant movement.
But, as in the dispute over the word “maximum” in the Singur agreement, Trinamul had a different version. “Amra to 68 theke chalacchi. Ekhon tomra koro (We are running the government from 1968. Now it is your turn).” This is how a Trinamul leader quoted Basu, referring to the United Front government.
“My days are coming to an end,” Basu told Mamata with a smile. “Now it’s the turn of younger people like you.”
Moved, Mamata told Basu: “Please don’t say things that make us sad.”
She re-arranged the pillows, helping the veteran to recline against them. “Why is it that you do not allow an attendant in your room, why do you go to the bathroom on your own?” Mamata said, drawing another smile from Basu.
Mamata sought Basu’s permission to bring in a few more visitors. Basu nodded and smiled again when he saw Samir Putatunda, who was once with the CPM and now a Trinamul ally, and his wife trooping in. “Why, they were all with us till sometime back, then went away one day,” Basu said.
He also greeted Purnendu Bose, a Naxalite member of the Save Farmland Committee. “Oh, you too,” Basu said. (END) Source : The Telegraph

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Tata keeps up pressure on state

2008-09-10T01:05:00.000-07:00

Wipro undeterred by Singur

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept. 9: Tata Motors today categorically told the state government that they should be informed of any future agreement on Singur which is “contrary” to what had been agreed upon earlier between them. In a letter to the state industries minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, the Tata Motors MD, Mr Ravi Kant, stated that they had “noted” the clarification by the state government that the integrated nature of the auto cluster with both the mother plant and ancillary units would be maintained. The letter read out by Mr Sen to newsmen stated: “The government should not take any steps to disturb this arrangement.” The Tata Motors MD, Mr Ravi Kant, went on to add: “We would like to be clearly told of any future agreement, understanding and commitment contrary to this arrangement which would result in not honouring those earlier commitments (the agreement between Tata Motors and the state government).” Although prior to the talks, Mr Ratan Tata, in a letter to the Governor, had explained his stand, the company was taken aback by the agreement between the state government and the Opposition which said maximum land would be provided within the project area, forcing them to seek clarifications. Mr Sen had been compelled to clarify yesterday that the project would be kept intact, ruling out any relocation of the ancillary units. On the other hand, the four-member committee, set up to determine the modalities for locating maximum land within the project area and the balance from adjacent areas to be given to the unwilling farmers whose land was acquired without their consent, held its first sitting during the day. Representatives of the Trinamul-led Opposition included in the committee stuck to their demands that 300 acres from within the project area be “returned” to the unwilling farmers. However, the industries minister described the meeting as “positive”. Mr Rabindranath Bhattacharya, the Trinamul MLA for Singur, said: “The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. We have specifically demanded that about 300 acres of land from within the project area should be returned to the farmers. We will hold discussions again after inspecting the project site tomorrow. “But we have made it clear that maximum land should be given to the farmers from within the project area,” he added. (END)

Wipro undeterred by Singur

By Tyagaraj Sharma

BANGALORE, Sept. 9: Bogged down by the ongoing controversy over the Tata Motors project at Singur, the beleaguered West Bengal chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has found something to cheer about amidst the gloom enveloping him.For, undeterred by the prophets of doom and the consequent concern expressed by the industry in general over the negative fallout of Singur on the state's investment climate, Wipro Limited, which is set to expand its operations in West Bengal, has shown that it remains unfazed.According to a company statement, Wipro Limited has a presence in West Bengal and it will continue with its operations and plans in the state. The statement came after persistent queries on the proposed expansion of its facilities in the controversy-ridden state. Obviously, after this, Mr Bhattacharjee will heave a sigh of relief. More so, as barely 24 hours ago Infosys had made its concern known over the Singur development, even hinting at the possibility of reviewing its planned investment in the state. Infosys is investing Rs 500 crore to set up a software development centre in Rajarhat, opening up prospects of jobs for over 5,000. Following the developments in Singur, first Mr Narayana Murthy, chairman board of Infosys Technologies, termed the developments as unfortunate for West Bengal, India and all progressive Indians. His apprehension was that it would unleash fear and uncertainty in the minds of investors, Indians and foreign. If this was unsettling for the West Bengal government, Mr Mohan Das Pai, director, HR, Infosys, added that Infosys was rethinking its decision to expand business in West Bengal.This is where Wipro's belief in the state has come as music to the government's ears. The software giant is set to raise its present investment in Kolkata from Rs 140 crore to over Rs 500 crore in the next three years. This comprises the cost of land, expansion of existing facilities and related building and infrastructure.The company has also firmed up plans to raise its staff strength from 1,800 to 8,000 in the next four years. Singur or no Singur, all these plans remain unchanged, going by the statement issued by the company. (END) Source: The Statesman

Bengal 'terrifies' investors

2008-09-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

Infosys flashes warning, says Singur changed everything
By SAMYABRATA RAY GOSWAMI

Mumbai, Sept. 8: Investors are “terrified” of entering Bengal, a top Infosys official has said bluntly, warning that the outcome of the Singur controversy could have an impact on the infotech giant’s plans in Rajarhat.
“Singur has changed everything. If land promised by a sovereign state government cannot be handed over to a corporate house because of a group of people who are out to settle political scores, then it is not a conducive atmosphere for bringing in investments,” T.V. Mohandas Pai, director (human resources), Infosys, told The Telegraph from Bangalore.
Pai’s tough words came days after Infosys chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy said the agitation at Singur over land acquisition would unleash fear and uncertainty among investors.
Infosys is set to pump in about Rs 500 crore to set up its maiden development centre in Bengal that is likely to generate 5,000 jobs in the first phase.
Pai clarified that the company had not yet decided to scrap the project. “We are not saying we will scrap the Bengal project at this stage. We are in the process of getting approvals and we want to be there. But the atmosphere is not right at present. We are apprehensive and keeping a close watch on how the Singur deadlock pans out,” he said.
The Infosys official echoed Ratan Tata, who had said his prime concern was the safety and security of his employees. “Protection of life and property is the first duty of the government. India Inc is today terrified of entering West Bengal because of the atmosphere of fear and intimidation that has been perpetrated by a handful of people,” the official said.
Pai said he was “shocked” by the utter disregard for law by the protesters, whose agitation had blocked off the crucial Durgapur Expressway. “A high court order has been disregarded and there has been total contempt for rule of law. What kind of society are we living in today? Bengal is a wonderful state with some of the brightest minds. But it is for us as people to decide whether we want a better future for our kids than we had,” he said.
Bengal IT minister Debesh Das said he was not aware of any rethink on the part of Infosys but admitted that the Singur row could have an impact on investments. “We are in regular touch with the company, but it has not communicated anything to this effect. But one cannot deny that Singur would have a grave impact on the IT sector,” he said.
The project might be on track but the blunt words of Pai – and the questions he asked -- are certain to find resonance among many people across the country and abroad.
Infosys had signed the MoU for the Bengal project in April after months of uncertainty over the price of land.
The land at New Town, which had an initial tag of Rs 2.16 crore per acre, was offered to Infosys and Wipro at a much lower rate ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore per acre.
Infosys is to set up a multi-service, multi-technology centre that will have everything from consulting to BPO over 90 acres, part of a 1,200-acre IT city being built adjacent to Vedic Village. Tech titan Wipro has also committed a similar investment over the next three to four years. The employment potential of the 90-acre Wipro campus is also likely to be the same.
Apex business chambers also rallied behind Tata Motors, which is yet to resume work at the Singur plant. Referring to the agreement reached yesterday between the government and Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) said it “was concerned that devil is in the details”.
Ficci said ancillary and vendor development was critical for employment generation. The chamber sought an all-round settlement, “which is a win-win for the government, the Opposition, Tatas, ancillary units, vendors and the farmers”.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) chief mentor Tarun Das also said clarifications should be made on some key questions. “Does it ensure the continued viability of the Nano project? Would the agreement mean sustained peace to enable uninterrupted work in the long term?” (END) Source: The Telegraph

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Tata firm on stand

2008-09-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept. 8: It will be 997.11 acres or nothing. Expressing distress at what it termed "limited clarity" on the outcome of discussions between the state government and Miss Mamata Banerjee, Tata Motors today said suspension of work at its plant in Singur would continue, and plans to relocate the manufacture of Nano were being pursued. The company made it clear that in its view there had been no change in the position since its announcement of 2 September when it had said it was evaluating alternative options for manufacturing the Nano at other company facilities and had taken up a detailed plan to relocate plant and machinery from Singur.In spite of a pointed question put to it by The Statesman, the company refused to say if it had today informed the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation of its decision to pull out of the state. Reliable sources though had told this newspaper that a top functionary of Tata Motors had today informed the WBIDC of its decision to leave West Bengal. But it said, "Tata Motors have been consistent on their requirement of 997.11 acres of land which is essential for cost optimisation and viability of Nano project in Singur."In a statement issued early today, the company said: "Tata Motors Ltd. is distressed at the limited clarity on the outcome of the discussions between the Government of West Bengal and the representatives of the agitators in Singur. In view of the same, Tata Motors is obliged to continue the suspension of construction and commissioning work at the Nano plant. We will review our stated position only if we are satisfied that the viability of the project is not being impinged, the integral nature of the mother plant and our ancillary units are being maintained and all stakeholders are committed to develop a long term congenial environment for smooth operations of the plant in Singur."In response to this statement, The Statesman e-mailed some questions to Tata Motors. These were: Is it true that the Managing Director of Tata Motors has today informed WBIDC that Tatas are pulling out of Singur? Further to the Press statement issued by you, please explain what you mean by “limited clarity” on the outcome of discussions between the Government of West Bengal and the agitators in Singur? Were Tatas invited to join the discussions convened by the Governor of West Bengal? Did the state government take you into confidence before committing itself to a position in the talks? Was there no contact between representatives of the state government and Tata Motors during the course of the talks? By stating that the “integral nature of the mother plant and our ancillary units” should be maintained, are you indicating that no portion of the land allotted for the project can be returned to farmers?The company pointedly refused to answer these questions. Instead, it sent a brief response, stating: “We have already issued this morning Tata Motors’ statement which is self-explanatory. You may also refer to the statement issued by Tata Motors last week, which is attached again for your ready reference. The stand taken by TML remains unchanged. Tata Motors have been consistent on their requirement of 997.11 acres of land which is essential for cost optimisation and viability of Nano project in Singur.” The decision of Tata Motors to continue suspension of work in the Nano factory has hurt local youths who were working in the project as contract labourers. Meanwhile, CPI-M supporters today took out a rally demanding that work should be resumed immediately.(END) Source: The Statesman

No change in Singur plan: Govt

2008-09-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Sept. 8: Twenty-four hours after the accord on the Singur small-car project between the state government and the Trinamul Congress-led Opposition, a letter from the Tata Motors managing director to the state industries minister expressing “distress” over “limited clarity on the outcome of the discussions” made the state government assert today that land would be provided to the landlosers keeping intact “the integral nature of the mother plant and the ancillary units which is fundamental and not open to change”. Chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and industries minister Mr Nirupam Sen jointly held a Press conference to clarify that Trinamul chief Miss Mamata Banerjee had been told during discussions at Raj Bhavan that the very nature of the project to manufacture the cheapest car was such that the mother plant and the ancillary units would have to be in an integrated cluster. Raj Bhavan sources said: “The Governor knows about the letter written by the Tata Motors to the state government during the day, but he is not willing to make any comment.” Mr Sen categorically stated, no land earmarked for setting up the ancillary units within the 997 acre project area could be disturbed and relocation of these units was out of the question. Both Mr Bhattacharjee and Mr Sen said the claim made by Miss Banerjee at Singur after the accord last night that 200-300 acres of land from within the project area and outside would be provided to the unwilling farmers “created confusion” which they sought to “clear”. In fact, Mr Sen said: “The relocation of the ancillary units wasn't discussed. The spirit of the discussion was that a committee would be set up to explore the maximum land that can be given from within the project area keeping the agreed ratio of land for the main plant and the ancillary units unaltered.” However, the accord read out by the Governor last night clearly stated: “The government has taken the decision to respond to the demand of those farmers who have not received compensation, by means of land to be provided to the maximum within the project area and the rest in adjacent areas as early as possible. Towards this, a committee will be constituted to ascertain the scope and settle the modalities within a period of one week. During this time the government will urge the vendors (who would set up the ancillary units) not to make any construction.” The state government constituted a four-member committee comprising the Singur MLA and panchayat samiti member belonging to the Trinamul, managing director, WBIDC and the district magistrate, Hooghly. The committee would begin work from tomorrow, the chief minister said. Earlier in the day the industries minister wondered, when asked by the media, “where has it been stated that land would be given from within the project area ?” The chief minister and the minister took only a couple of questions at the Press conference to assure that the project would come up and that the discussions at Raj Bhavan had been held to create an atmosphere congenial to setting up the small car factory. On the other hand the WBIDC website carried a copy of the agreement between the Tatas and the state government on the project, though it contained only what the minister had stated in the Assembly on 15 March, 2007. The agreement has a provision that 47.11 acres within the project area belonging to the WBIDC would be used for rehabilitation of families affected by the project, The Trinamul chief said: “No comments. We have nothing to with what the Tata Motors have said.’’ Commenting on the industries minister’s remarks, she said : “How is it possible ? This is a gentleman’s agreement and signed in front of the Governor by the minister himself. There’s no scope for confusion.’’ LF chairman, Mr Biman Bose, said earlier the Opposition had complained about transparency of the project agreement and now the Tatas were raising questions about transparency of yesterday’s accord. “In an atmosphere where there is lack of transparency, industrialisation will take place only slowly.” The CPI-M state secretariat met and discussed yesterday’s accord and the developments during the day. Mr Manju Majumdar, CPI, state secretary, said : “The Tatas have no business to decide whether the accord is transparent or not. They should immediately resume the project work.”(END) Source : The Statesman