SINGUR, INDUSTRIALISATION, & THE BENGAL LEFT FRONT GOVERNMENT

An article by B. Prasant

A huge ruckus has been thrown up in the corporate media in India and elsewhere, that "poor helpless farmers" are being robbed of their agricultural land, their only source of livelihood, by the Bengal Left Front government for the sake of catering to big business and big capital.

Singur comprises a cluster of small villages in the district of Hooghly, about 60 km from Kolkata. As part of its pro-employment and pro-poor industrial policy, the Left Front government, at the head of which is the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has chosen to build up industries in this area. The central government would not help, and the state government does not have the resources. Thus, private capital has been invited, but under conditions stipulated by the state government.

The state government acquired a Tata Motors project that would produce a US $2,500 small hatch back car called Nano. Big and small farmers, absentee landlords, and sundry smallholders including shop owners, populate the 998 acres of farmland that has been taken over. The land plot also includes residential houses, mostly single-storied.

Agriculture here is no longer profitable. Thanks to population pressure (with a politically stable government and the state domestic product on an increasing curve, Bengal has been undergoing a "baby boom" for the past thirty years) land plots have become smaller and smaller, not viable to produce enough to allow the farming families even the basic necessities.

The state government came forward with an attractive compensation package, providing more than 200% of the market value of the land. By merely keeping the money in banks, even for short-term deposits, the land-loser families would have more than four times the annual income that they earn from farming.

There was more. Each land-loser family would be ensured of at least one high-paying job in the Tata factory itself, the necessary training to be provided free by the state government.

The Tata project would require setting up a series of ancillary and downstream engineering units, which would provide direct employment to the unemployed youth of the area, including members of the families of land-losers. Excitement spread across Singur and the Hooghly district because an industrial hub was in the making. Employment would rise, to be followed by more industrial capital.

But the opposition parties, with the covert and overt support of the central government, foreign-funded NGOs, and various US agencies operating in Communist Bengal, would have none of it. They put together a rag-tag outfit of right reactionaries, left sectarians, Maoists, religious fundamentalists, and rich landlords to foil the project. The attempt is still going on.

The chief demand of this campaign is that land be given back to the farmers, most of whom show no interest. Those not willing to accept compensation (mostly on political grounds) are less than one percent of the entire population who have accepted the compensation-rehabilitation package.

These elements have beaten up the Tata employees, and threatened local youth against joining the Tata enterprise. They have attacked showrooms and offices of the state's industries department. They have organised demonstrations blocking the Tata factory, which was 95% completed, with the entire workforce plus the ancillary projects ready to roll out the cars come the festive season in mid-October.

At this stage, during the week starting on September 15, the Bengal LF government announced further incentives to the land-losers: more funds, more jobs, and assurance of employment even for farmers who are actually migrant labourers. The impasse goes on.

Still, the Indian and the western media kept shedding crocodile tears for the "poor, suffering farmers." The Tatas, in their turn, took the opportunity to threaten to take their projects elsewhere to Congress-run states, the chief ministers of which have made loud appeals to the Tatas to "come away from Communist Bengal."

The Bengal government and the CPI(M) hoped that statewide campaign-movements involving hundreds of thousands of people from almost every section of society could bear enough pressure on the irresponsible opposition parties and their backers in and outside of the country to stand down and let the factory go online.

Sadly, Ratan Tata announced rather casually at a hastily convened media conference that the Tata group would not wait for a people's response to the right-wing depredations.

Having extracted the full benefits from the Bengal Left Front government, including infrastructural facilities, low land prices, payment of compensation to the land-losers at a high rate, and a steady supply of specialised motor parts vendors as part of the ancillary network, security, and free access to the highest echelons of the cabinet of ministers, are concerned, and more), the Tatas have now chosen to leave for greener pastures.

As we file this report, they are in the midst of negotiations with Gujarat (where the right-wing state government distinguished itself by allowing religious fundamentalists to run riot against Muslims and Christians), Orissa (where another right-wing government has recently supported by default the killing of Christian priests and the raping of nuns), and Karnataka, where another tight wing government rules the roost having come to office after an open rigging of the elections held earlier in the year.

As the people of Singur go through a period of terrible uncertainty, Ratan Tata even managed a sick joke at their expense, smilingly assured the media conference that he "had to leave" because the opposition could "pull the trigger effectively."

Save Nano Committee to prevent transfer of equipment

Singur (West Bengal), Oct 19 (IANS): Though Tata Motors has decided to shift its Nano plant to Sanand in Gujarat, many people in this rural pocket are yet to come to terms with reality - and say they will prevent the transfer of equipment to the new site.

Those employed as night guards and construction workers, as also members of the syndicates supplying various materials, and youths undergoing training in the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) for absorption in the plant and its ancillaries are determined to prevent the company from taking out equipment from the abandoned facility in this town, about 40 km from Kolkata.
‘We want the Tatas to come back. We want jobs,’ said a youth who has been training at an ITI.

‘We want Nano. We have been training for two years. We may have to commit suicide if the factory does not open,’ said another angry young man.

They are part of the Nano Bachao Committee (Save Nano Committee), an apolitical platform for the common people of Singur, syndicate members and people who gave their land willingly for the small car project and those who have undergone training for various kinds of jobs which were expected to flow out of the project.

The committee took out a large rally Sunday from near one of the gates of the erstwhile factory. The rallyists passed through various parts of Singur, including Ratanpur and Kamarkundu station, and then held a street corner meeting on the Durgapur Expressway.

They also blockaded the busy Expressway for about half-an-hour, condemning the Trinamool Congress for forcing the Tatas out of Singur.

‘We won’t allow the Tatas to take out any equipment. If in the process any of those dismantling the factory is harmed, we should not be held responsible,’ said one of the agitators.

On the other hand, the Trinamool backed Krishijami Jiban or Jibika Raksha Committee (KJJRC) also organised a street corner meeting in the evening and burnt an effigy of Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata.

‘He has made uncalled for comments against our leader Mamata Banerjee. We won’t tolerate such remarks,’ said KJJRC convenor Becharam Manna.

In an advertisement splashed in several newspapers here, Tata Friday warned the people of West Bengal of the ‘destructive political environment of confrontation’ that he said the Trinamool Congress was espousing.

Faced with sustained protests from the KJJRC, Tata called off the Singur project Oct 3, and within days announced that the factory would be shifted to Sanand in Gujarat.

CPI(M) CENTRAL COMMITTEE'S FUTURE PROGRAMME OF ACTION

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held its meeting from October 12 to 14, 2008 at Kolkata.

The Central Committee called for the following programme of action in the coming days:

• The Party will conduct a sustained campaign against the communal forces and for the protection of the minorities. It will work for a broad mobilization against the Hindutva communal forces. The Party demands firm action against the terrorist groups indulging in mindless violence.
  
• The Central Committee calls upon all Party units to observe a “Week Against Communalism and Terrorism” from October 30 to November 5.
  
• The Central Committee calls upon the Party units to continue the struggle to demand steps to curb price rise. It should step up the struggle for the adequate supply of rations, issuance of ration cards and against black marketing.
  
• Party units should work for the implementation of the Forest Rights Act for the tribal people and for the proper implementation of the Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
  
• The Party will campaign against the UPA government’s pro-imperialist policy including the surrender to the US on the nuclear deal. The Party strongly protests the Indo-US naval exercises which will begin on October 24 on the West Coast.
  
• The CPI(M) will organize protests on October 24 all along the West Coast by holding rallies and demonstrations in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala against the “Malabar Exercises”.
  

Speculation over Mamata, Amar, Pranab meet

Kolkata (PTI),19th October: Speculation is rife over an impending political realignment in West Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections following a meeting between Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi.

Banerjee and Singh went to Mukherjee's residence in the national capital on Friday night after addressing a rally at Jaminagar and was with him for about an hour, sources in the Trinamool Congress and Congress said here on Saturday.

A state Congress leader, who did not want to be named, said, "the issue of a possible alliance between the Trinamool Congress and Congress obviously figured in the discussions."

The leader pointed out that Mamata has been jointly organising programmes with the SP general secretary and has distanced herself from the NDA for quite quite some time now.

He said even BJP leader leader Sushma Swaraj had also said Mamata was no longer in the NDA.
West Bengal Congress working president Subrata Mukherjee told PTI, "I cannot say right now whether there is any possibility of political realignment out of Mamata's meeting with Pranabda. I have not talked to Pranabda as yet. So I cannot say anything about it."

Banerjee was quoted by a Bengali daily here as saying "I and Amarda met Pranabda, only to demand institution of a judicial probe into the Jamianagar encounter by the Centre through him."

JSW Steel project on schedule in West Bengal

Kolkata, Oct 16 (IANS) : The foundation stone laying ceremony of JSW Steel Ltd’s proposed 10-million-tonne steel plant in Salboni in West Bengal will be held Nov 2 as scheduled, a top official said here Thursday.”The Bengal project is right on track and we are sticking to our earlier announced schedule. It is our expansion project at Bellary that might get delayed following recent developments in the financial markets,” JSW Steel managing director Biswadip Gupta said.

Earlier, there had been some apprehension about a possible delay in executing the West Bengal project following the recent comment of Sajjan Jindal about the non-completion of the financial closure of the project.

In the Bellary unit, the company is planning to raise capacity from 3.8 million tonnes to six million tonnes.

“External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will attend the foundation stone laying programme,” Gupta said.

JSW has already completed acquisition of 4,800 acres for the project.

We are committed to West Bengal: Apeejay

Kolkata, Oct 17: Refuting rumours on relocating the Rs 2,000 crore (USD 500 million) Bengal Shipyard Ltd ship building project from West Bengal to Orissa, Apeejay-Surendra Group Chairman Karan Paul on Friday said he was committed to the state and no such decision has been taken. "We are committed to the state and there is nothing like any deadline. The Bengal government is supportive about the project," Paul said here.

He, however, said there was some 'misunderstanding' regarding land acquisition. The project would require close to 500 acre and the company would directly negotiate with farmers and land owners. "We have already begun direct talks and will do more if direct talks work better. We are open to both government and direct land acquisition models," he said.

At present, the two parties--West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the Haldia Development Authority are close to acquiring 293 acres of the total 494 acres of land needed for the project. The comapny would set up a modern shipbuilding yard along India's eastern coast to manufacture ships of capacity ranging from 100,000 dwt to 250,000 dwt. Bengal Shipyard Ltd is a 50:50 joint venture between Appeejay group's unlisted Apeejay Shipping Ltd and Bharati Shipyard Ltd.

Zeenews Bureau Report

West Bengal to become seat of Italian studies

KOLKATA: West Bengal is all set to become a seat of Italian studies with 11 universities from that country about to sign a composite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with four State universities for exchange programmes. Under the MoU Italian language, philosophy and political studies will be taught at the designated universities here.

The exchange programme will also facilitate the teaching of Bengali literature, especially that of Tagore, as well as music, choreography and synchronisation techniques at the 11 Italian universities, Bruno Campria, Consul General of the Italian Consulate, said. He will sign the MoU on November 7 on behalf of the Italian universities. This was being done as part of an initiative of the Italian Consulate in the city.

“There is a widespread interest in the literature of Rabindranath Tagore as well as the Bengali language among the Italian students who will now be able to study them in their own country,” Mr. Campria told The Hindu here on Saturday.

Film being an integral part of showcasing the cultural diversity of any region, organising Bengali film festivals at the Italian universities is also a part of the exchange programme. The open format of the text of the MoU will enable other universities interested in joining the exchange programme subsequently without going through the diplomatic labyrinth.

Mr. Campria said the Consulate wants India-Italian ties in the eastern part of the country to extend beyond the boundaries of economic relationship. “Cooperation carried out in the shape of specific executive projects dealing with common interests like culture and academics will help strengthen the bilateral ties.”

Universal inks MoU for 10,000 MW power plant in West Bengal

October 17, 2008

FE reported that Universal Success Energy, a subsidiary of Singapore based Universal Success Enterprises, has signed a MoU with the West Bengal government on for setting up a 10,000 MW thermal power plant at an investment of around INR 60,000 crore.

For the 10,000mw project, which will be the single biggest project in India in terms of capacity, Universal Success will need 5000 acre, which it plans to buy directly at market prices.However, it has given a rider that the company will move ahead with the project if only the people of the state want it.

Mr Prasoon Mukherjee promoter of the company after the signing of the MoU said that "Even as we have committed an investment of INR 60,000 crore, but we will first satisfy ourselves that the people of Bengal are willing to have the project in the state."Mr Mukherjee said that “The project will be implemented in phases and Universal plans to set up a 2000 MW plant first on 1000 acre, entailing INR 11,000 crore investments by 2012. It will invest another INR 5000 crore for building a port in 300 acres to 400 acres, because the entire coal will be sourced from Indonesia.

The port will have a capacity of handling at least 30 million tonne of coal per year.”Mr Mukherjee added that "Universal has coal blocks in Indonesia and sourcing coal for the 10,000 MW project will not be a problem.”He also said that “Universal has proposed to set up similar kind of power projects in Maharashtra and Gujarat and the governments there have promised to give all support.”

Bengalis should now relocate Mamata: Yechury

New Delhi, October 17: Attacking Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for her "opposition" to Nano project, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said West Bengal has been deprived of industrialisation and people will assess her politics.

"If Mamata Banerjee has succeeded in relocating Nano project from Bengal, people of Bengal should consider relocating her," Yechury told reporters in New Delhi.

He claimed that people of the state have been deprived of proper industrialisation and that youths of Bengal were denied of potential jobs due to relocation of the Nano project.

"All this goes to the sort of politics that the Trinamool Congress and its leader are playing. We have also appealed to people to look into it," he said.

Tata's open letter to west bengal people through huge ads

Kolkata, Oct 17 (IANS): A fortnight after pulling out the Nano plant from Singur, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata Friday asked the people of West Bengal to support either the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led government 'to build a prosperous state' or suffer the 'destructive political environment of confrontation' that he id was being espoused by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.

In an act unusual for an industrialist, Tata made sharp, politically-explosive comments eulogising the state government and running down Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, the main opposition party in the state, through huge advertisements in several dailies here.

In the advertisement, headlined 'Open Letter to the citizens of West Bengal', Tata urged the people, particularly the younger citizens, to express their views and aspirations as to what they would like to see the state 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 of 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?'

Then he went on to fire the salvo that had Kolkata talking Friday morning: '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 have caused serious disruption to the progress of the Nano plant.'

Tata said his company had two years ago decided to bring out Nano from Singur as it had 'tremendous faith and confidence' in the state government.

'It reflected the tremendous faith and confidence we had, and still have, in the investor-friendly policies of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's government. All through the two years that we have been constructing the plant at Singur, this feeling of faith and confidence in the vision and objectives of the state government has been reinforced.

Slamming the Trinamool for leading a farmers' agitation which forced Tata Motors to shift the Singur project Oct 3, Tata said the protests had the backing of 'vested interests'.

Tata recalled that the state was a major centre for heavy industry and steel fabrication in the past, but agitation and violence drove away many industries around 30 years ago.

'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,' he said.

Detailing the reasons for withdrawing from Singur, Tata said the company had to endure constant acts of open aggression on the site, occasional acts of violence, breaking of compound perimeter walls, and theft of construction material from within the project area.

He squarely blamed the Trinamool for the breakdown of talks with the government to resolve the Singur impasse, saying: 'Various attempts at finding a solution were thwarted by the Trinamool Congress' consistent demand that land acquired for the Nano plant and/or its integrated vendor park be returned to the segment of the land owners which the Trinamool Congress party claims to represent.'


He also referred to the 'intimidation and even physical assault of employees, contract labour and residents of the area to be absorbed in the project. Country bombs have been lobbed into the premises, obstructing the movement of material and personnel into and out of the plant'.

Tata said that the project had been conceived as an integrated campus of manufacturing facilities and suppliers, so as to maximise integration and minimise logistics and material flow costs.

'Disruption of this integrated campus would make it extremely difficult for the company to meet its product price and productivity goals,' the advertisement said.

Tata said he was compelled to write the open letter following statements by vested interests criticising the decision taken by Tata Motors to move out of Singur and claiming that it was hasty and politically motivated.

'I therefore feel compelled to address the people of West Bengal, to explain how our dream of contributing to the industrial revival of the state has been shattered by an environment of politically-motivated agitation and hostility that finally left us with no option but to withdraw,' he said.

Tata said his appeal Aug 22 for a more congenial environment only led to an escalation of hostilities through a dharna (sit-in led by Banerjee) on the highway in front of the plant.

'All of you will therefore appreciate that the final and painful decision to move the project out of West Bengal has not been a decision taken in haste, but a decision taken with great regret after a great deal of deliberation,' he said.

'We believe the responsibility for this would lie with the Trinamool Congress, which has created the hostile environment that had obliged the company to move the project form Singur,' Tata said.

Since its inception in May 2006, the project to roll out the Rs.100,000 ($2,250) car encountered strong resistance from the Trinamool-led farmers demanding return of a portion of the acquired land 'forcibly taken' from owners unwilling to part with their land.

Tata Motors has since relocated the plant to Sanand in Gujarat.

West Bengal opposition’s anti-industry stand decried

October 16th, 2008 - 12:29 am

Kolkata, Oct 15 (IANS): Supporting the industrial drive of the ruling Left Front government in West Bengal, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) - the peasants’ wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) - Wednesday slammed the opposition parties for agitating against the economic development of the state.”We strongly condemn the stand of some political parties that are opposing the industrial progress of the state. Industry is important in terms of bringing economic reforms in our society,” AIKS state secretary Samar Baora told IANS.

He said the front would carry out a nationwide campaign from November, protesting the anti-people policies of the central government.

“We’ll inform people about the importance of industrial development in our country. We’ll also tell them about the recent economic crisis also,” Baora said as a two-day national conference of AIKS concluded here Wednesday.

“Some opposition political forces are trying to hinder the economic growth of West Bengal. On behalf of the AIKS West Bengal state committee, we are conducting several interactive sessions at the district level to inform people about the significance of industries in our state.

Automobile major Tata Motors had relocated their small car plant in Singur to Gujarat following relentless protests by West Bengal Opposition Leader Mamata Banerjee. Tata Motors Oct 3 announced it was pulling out its Nano project from the troubled Singur region and blamed Banerjee for the “regretful” decision. “All AIKS state committees would observe a weeklong agitation in their respective regions, protesting issues like the agricultural crisis and anti-people policies of the union government,” said Baora, who is also the All India joint secretary of AIKS.

Chakraborty accuses Bajaj, Suzuki of backing Mamata

by Romita Datta

LIVEMINT,

Posted: Tue, Oct 14 2008. 12:28 AM IST

Kolkata: Members of West Bengal’s ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPIM-led government on Monday claimed Tata Motors Ltd’s Nano project at Singur was scuttled by the company’s rivals Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Bajaj Auto Ltd, and that the state government would soon announce a new project, involving a large automobile firm, on the same plot of land where the Tata factory was to come up.

Replying to a question on the fate of the 997 acre plot, CPIM member of Parliament and central committee member Shyamal Chakrabarty said: “The land cannot be kept idle. Neither can it be returned... Of course, Mamata Banerjee and Bajaj and Suzuki, who were behind her, would love to auction the land and return (it) to the farmers. The government has no such intention.”

While Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj said the allegation was “false” and “not correct”, executives at Maruti Suzuki could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday evening.
On 3 October, Tata Motors announced that it would no longer be building a factory to produce its small car, Tata Nano, in Singur. The company had decided to house the plant in West Bengal more than two years ago. The state government acquired land for the project from farmers, some of whom were unwilling to part with their source of livelihood. Matters came to a head in August when Banerjee, the leader of CPM rival Trinamool Congress, laun-ched a protest near the factory that was almost complete.

When talks between the government, the company and Banerjee didn’t end the impasse, Tata Motors pulled out. On 7 October, it said the factory would come up in Sanand in Gujarat instead.
According to Indian law, land acquired for a particular project under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, cannot be returned to the owners if the project is abandoned. It has to be auctioned and the highest bidder has the option of returning it to the land owners.

Chakrabarty’s comments came on the sidelines of the second day of the CPM’s central committee meeting. The committee approved efforts by the state government to attract investment and asked chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and commerce and industry minister Nirupam Sen to look for an alternative investor who would set up a manufacturing facility at Singur.

Meanwhile, Subhas Chakrabarty, the state’s transport minister, said on Monday at Writers’ Building, the seat of the West Bengal government, that the state government is all set to finalize a memorandum of understanding with a big automobile company for the same plot at Singur, where the Tata Motors factory was being built.

The legalities of this process weren’t immediately clear.

‘Liberalisation has affected national integration’: JYOTI BASU

NEW DELHI, Oct. 13: The CPI-M veteran and former West Bengal chief minister, Mr Jyoti Basu, has told the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, that national integration had suffered due to “unbridled penetration of foreign capital” and policies of liberalisation.

Replying to an invitation to attend the National Integration Council (NIC), Mr Basu told the Prime Minister that policies of liberalisation had opened the economy to “marauding forays of multi-national corporations” and regional imbalances were growing. Mr Basu said national integration would have received strength if the Directive Principles of State Policy were implemented, and recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission were put into practice.

The basic thrust of the political outlook, he said, must comprise land reforms, higher wages, more state intervention in agrarian, economic and financial sectors, defence of the public sector, and a strong defence of the rights of the socially and economically oppressed, and the minorities. The CPI-M veteran said “an important component of the move towards national integration would be a move away from a US-dominated foreign policy. For all this to be reality, the Central government must exert the correct political will in abundance or the nation’s existence itself will in the long run be imperilled”.

According to Mr Basu, even communalisation had its roots in economic and social backwardness. “Mere reservations, necessary as they are, cannot prevent such a phenomenon from taking place without economic empowerment in particular. Because of what can be called the class-caste correspondence, those at the bottom of the economic structure are also thus at the bottom of the social structure,” Mr Basu said.

He said various reports on the plight of the minority communities were gathering dust. The communal menace could be fought through political will and administrative courage and commitment to secular values. “There is widespread compromise with communalism for narrow electoral gains. Majoritarian communalism has in turn given rise to minority communalism and things are taking a more and more violence turn,” the Left stalwart said. He said national integration could be improved through electoral reforms, definition of secularism as a basic feature of the Constitution, and a reversal in the harmful direction of Centre-state relations.

Nirupam Sen admitted to hospital

KOLKATA,14th Oct.: CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and West Bengal Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen was admitted to a city private hospital on Tuesday, following complaints of chest pain, fluctuating blood pressure and uneasiness.

His condition is stable, according to hospital sources. Several CPI(M) Polit Bureau members (now in the city on the occasion of the party meeting) visited Mr. Sen at the hospital in Salt Lake City.

A medical board, comprising seven consultant specialists, has been constituted to monitor Mr. Sen’s condition. A doctor from the States referral hospital the SSKM Hospital also attended to Mr. Sen on invitation. A bulletin issued by the hospital stated that several medical tests were being conducted on him and he was under constant monitoring and observation.

“We can diagnose the cause for Mr. Sen’s illness only after careful examination of the medical reports,” said Debasish Sarma, medical superintendent of the hospital. He added that they were trying their best to discharge him as quickly as possible. Mr. Sen had a normal diet on Tuesday.

During the day, Biman Basu, general secretary of the CPI (M)’s State committee , Brinda Karat, West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta and Health Minister Surjya Kanta Mishra called on Mr. Sen.

CPI(M) central committee members meet Jyoti Basu

Kolkata,13th Oct.: Members of the central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who are here to attend the three-day meet of the body, took time off on the second day of deliberations and visited veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu at his Salt Lake residence on Monday.

Mr. Basu reportedly expressed happiness on seeing his party colleagues and spent some time with them.

The 94-year-old leader also had a photo session with those who called on him.

In response to requests made by him on grounds of health, the CPI(M) leadership had relieved Mr. Basu of his responsibilities in the Polit Bureau at the 19th Party Congress held earlier this year in Coimbatore. He, however, was made a special invitee to the body besides continuing to be a member of the party’s central committee.

Mr. Basu has not been able to participate in the ongoing central committee meeting for health reasons.

Among those who visited him were CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, party’s West Bengal State Committee secretary Biman Bose, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Brinda Karat — all Polit Bureau members.

Third alternative

Besides other issues, the CPI(M) central committee is discussing the issue of alliances with like-minded secular non-Congress parties for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The need for a third alternative at the national level has been heightened in the wake of atrocities on minorities in different parts of the country, the CPI(M) leadership believes.

Criticism

Speaking to journalists, central committee member Shyamal Chakravarty ridiculed Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s remark here on Sunday that the CPI(M) would not win even one seat in the coming Lok Sabha polls. He said she had erred in her forecast and “the figure four should be put before the zero” that Ms. Banerjee had spoken of — thus suggesting that the party would win in 40 seats [of a total of 42 in the State].

Singur: Defeat This Anti-People Politics

EDITORIAL

October 12, 2008

PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY

THE opponents of the Left Front in West Bengal led by the Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee have, unfortunately, succeeded in driving out the Tata’s car manufacturing unit from Singur. They have, thus, 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 as well as the process of industrialisation that would have generated greater employment opportunities. As we have repeatedly argued in these columns earlier, the disruptive violence mounted both in Nandigram and Singur were basically political in nature. Through these movements, the Trinamul Congress and other opposition to the Left Front are seeking to consolidate their support base. In the final analysis, it is for the people of Bengal to decide on the type of politics that they would want.

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 re-location to Gujarat. 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.

Be that as it may, voices in the corporate media, despite the stark realities of why the Tatas have shifted from Bengal, cannot refrain from their usual CPI(M) bashing. “Don’t just blame Mamata” screams the editorial of The Economic Times. Some others have been less aggressive, but nevertheless hold the CPI(M) and the Left Front government responsible and, in the process, eulogise Mamata Banerjee by comparing her to David in his fight with Goliath (Business Standard), or, portraying her as “India’s saviour” (Prem Shankar Jha, The Hindustan Times)! The latter justifies this by reference to an alleged electronic media footage of policemen brutally attacking “unwilling farmers” in the process of acquiring land at Singur. There is no iota of any evidence of either the source or the credibility of such footage that few others seem to have seen. This is followed by graphic description of how the villagers’ consent was “obtained” through police excesses: “Are the blood and tears of the poor a necessary price of development?”

Such descriptions remind us of the times, in early 1970s, when graphic accounts of the advance of the US army operations in its war against Vietnam in Saigon, were being filed as `eye witness accounts’ from the Press Club in Bangkok. As the evening advanced, such `eye witness accounts’ became more ‘spirited’. In the event, it was Vietnam that triumphed over the US army and liberated Saigon and the rest of the country.

Amidst such anti-Left vitriol, certain substantive issues have been raised that require attention. First, why did the Left Front government acquire arable land for industrialisation instead of barren land? The answer is simple. There is less than 2 per cent of land in West Bengal which is barren. Secondly, why did the Left Front government not persuade the Tatas to give a share or stake to the land owners in the company or the project that is to be set-up on this land? Again, the answer is simple. What we require is a new central law for land acquisition in the country.

Land currently being acquired all over the country (5 lakh acres of arable land in the last three years has been acquired) is being done under a law enacted by the British while the rail roads were being constructed way back in 1894. The CPI(M) has been demanding that this anachronism must be immediately removed by enacting a new law that will take into account the nature of compensation including providing a stake in the future of the project not only to the owners of the land, but also to those dependent upon the land for their livelihood. This has to be a legal arrangement under law. This cannot be left to the whims and fancies of individual corporate houses or the state governments. The need for a negotiation on this must simply not exist. This needs to be enacted under law.

Unfortunately, during these last four years or so, especially when the drive for the Special Economic Zones began aggressively and the issue of land acquisition came to the fore, no new law has seen the light of the day. This needs to be urgently addressed.

Thirdly, the common refrain is that the Left Front government failed to provide adequate security forcing the Tatas to leave Singur. That is not the reason as Ratan Tata himself has stated 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. 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.

In any case, the net result is that Bengal and its people have been denied, temporarily and only in this particular project, the opportunities and advantages arising from such industrialisation. As argued in these columns in the past, what Bengal and its people require to advance further is rapid industrialisation on the basis of the consolidation of the land reforms and attendant increases in yield and productivity in agriculture. This has been a decision arrived at after long discussions in the Left Front and amongst the people and this was emphatically endorsed by the people in the last elections to the assembly when the Left Front won a whopping two-thirds majority on the basis of an election manifesto whose major thrust was for rapid industrialisation. The current opposition is, in fact, a negation of the people’s mandate.

It is, therefore, upto the people of Bengal to decide, when the opportunity arises, to endorse this negation of their earlier mandate or to reject such politics which are acting against the interests of the state and its people. In other words, the politics that led to the re-location of the Nano project from Bengal also needs to be re-located elsewhere in the interests of greater prosperity of Bengal and its people.

Who Prevented The Singur Project From Being Implemented?

by BIMAN BASU

THE exercise of setting up Tata Motors’ small car project in West Bengal began on May 12, 2006 when the Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Tata group chairman Ratan Tata met at the Writers’ Buildings. Based on those discussions, on May 18 in the presence of the Bengal chief minister and the industries minister Nirupam Sen, Tata announced that they are ready to invest in the automobile sector at Singur for producing their rupee one lakh small car, Nano.

It was also spelt out that in the main complex, directly 2000 people would be employed. However, in the adjacent ancillary industries, the employment would go up to 10,000. These figures exclude the people who will avail themselves of the benefits through setting up of shops, bazaars, lodges, and accrue other social benefits out of the social activities in and around Singur.
Based on the discussions with the Tata Motors, the government of West Bengal initiated the preliminary preparations to go for the small car project unit at Singur in Hooghly district. Accordingly, the government started the acquisition of land at Singur and this move was supported by a big rally of peasants. The slogan given by the peasantry of Singur was ‘we want industry to be set up at Singur.’

INTRANSIGENT OPPOSITION

In the month of October the same year, the state government called an all-party meeting to identify the land for acquisition purposes and to prepare a land map for the factory. The TMC boycotted the meeting and gave a call for a 12-hour bandh. It is found that after the visit of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) officials, the TMC gave another call for bandh against the setting up of the industry at Singur. The government started simultaneously training the young men and women of the peasants’ families of Singur to provide future employment to them at the proposed factory.

However, this was not liked by the TMC. They started assaulting the peasant families of the area. A few days after the incidents when the government declared Section 144 in the area, and did not allow the TMC chief to go there to create vandalism in the villages, she returned to the West Bengal assembly, which was, then in session. She, not being a member of the assembly, came inside the assembly, called upon the TMC legislators and shouted out a wrong version of the incident with concoctions and lies aplenty. And then she gave a reckless call for wild ransacking of the assembly premises, including destruction of the properties of the assembly.

In her presence, the vandal activities were perpetrated by her legislators, damaging in the process property worth several lakhs in the lobby and the library – and the incidents were telecast live on TV channels. They also carried on vandalism within the chamber. After the mischief made by her party’s members, she gave another bandh call the next day. This is just like thieves who after stealing the goods, shout out ‘Thieves! Thieves’- and then make good their escape! What a shameful exercise this was – indeed it was a black day for the state assembly.

2006 witnessed many more anti-industrial activities by the TMC and their cohorts of different varieties from right reactionary to the left sectarian forces along with the so-called civil society patronisers. In the beginning of 2007, the same TMC attacked the WBIDC office without any reason whatsoever and if there is any reason it is only known to the attackers.

2007 also rolled on with lots of irrational and undemocratic activities unleashed by the TMC. These anti-industrialisation forces drawing people, especially hoodlums, from different parts of the state wanted to break down the walls on the perimeter of the factory, hurled bombs, and also attacked and injured five security guards of the factory.

In the beginning of 2008, the Kolkata High Court passed a verdict on the case against land acquisition in Singur lodged by the TMC and their patronisers. In its verdict the High Court clearly stated that the land acquisition is in accordance with the law of the land and thus legally valid. It further declared that the land acquisition was done for the sake of public interest.

The chief minister on different occasions wrote letters to the Trinamul chief inviting her for discussions. However, the latter refused to enter into any parleys. On the contrary, she declared that she would make a ‘great fun’ out of the entire governmental effort. In the third week of August of this year, TMC along with its rainbow alliance commenced blockade near the factory at Singur with a huge amount of expenditure, started to stay there, and made extensive arrangements for food and lodging sponsored by the rainbow combination and their patrons.

BLOCKADE AND AFTER

On August 20, the engineers and other staff of Tata Motors, comprising of both foreigners and Indians, were returning from the factory to their lodging, they were menacingly obstructed by the TMC-led protestors. At this point, the Tata Motors announced that they might think in terms of shifting out the factory away from Singur. During this critical period, the governor of Bengal started to negotiate with the TMC and organised different kinds of meetings where the Bengal chief minister and the industries minister as well as the panchayat minister took part. In certain meetings of this kind, the TMC chief and the chief minister took part in discussions in the presence of the governor.

It was decided through discussions that two persons from the TMC and two from the state government would discuss to find out the ways and means of solutions of the impasse that had rapidly developed. It was unfortunate that the representatives of the TMC did not want to keep on record what they had suggested at the meeting. Nor would they allow any minutes of the discussions to be kept and maintained. This very strange development was never opposed by the governor who wanted to act as the facilitator.

After all this, the new package was announced. The package covered very well the scenario of benefits of the land losers and the sharecroppers, including the agricultural labourers. The industries minister pointed out for the benefit of the people of Bengal that the new package signified a quantitative improvement on the earlier schemes. Apart from a 50 per cent hike in compensation for land, the package also included 10 per cent additional cost of the land price for the land acquired as contained in the earlier package. The beneficiaries can either utilise the funds through business initiative and / or via purchase of land elsewhere in the area.

After all this meticulous pro-people, pro-poor, pro-peasantry exercise, the setting up of a big automobile hub could not materialise at Singur. On October 3, the final curtain was rung down by Ratan Tata who declared that the small car project could not viably start functioning from Singur and that regretfully the Tata Motors would withdraw the project to elsewhere. This sad announcement just during the festival seasons deeply traumatised the people of Bengal, and not just of Singur.

TEMPORARY SETBACK

It is a fact that closing down of the Singur automobile unit temporarily created negative impact on our battle for industrialisation. However, we do not want, by any means, to halt our onward march for the development of Bengal’s economy, and to create jobs for the millions of young men and women of the state. We cannot and must not forget that about 84 per cent cultivable lands in Bengal are in the hands of the small peasants, marginal farmers, and the rural poor, which was made possible through redistributive land reforms in the interest of the exploited masses.

It is a great irony that the destructive forces that always remained with the landlords, big and small, and jotdars (rich peasants) in rural Bengal, suddenly started shedding profuse amount of crocodile’s tears for the marginal farmers and other victims of the member of the feudal society. They tried to befool these sections of people.

If we draw the correct lesson from the history of industrialisation, we find that all battles in Europe had to be waged seriously against the feudal elements. We are sharply aware of the fact that Bengal had an important position in the industrial map of India in the days gone by. However, these industries were traditional in nature. They could not compete effectively in the market without modernisation and gradually over time were shattered by the immutable laws of the market forces. It should be taken note of that Bengal was discriminated against in the issuing of licences, and this went on for more than two-and-a-half decades. Bengal was handicapped by the discriminatory policy of freight equalisation as well.

In 1994, the then Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu announced a new industrial policy and gradually infrastructural development projects were undertaken for modern industries as well as the renovation of the traditional ones. A sustained campaign, and an improving industrial climate, were shaped by and were based on the increased purchasing capacity of rural Bengal.

It can hardly be denied that around Rs 30,000 crore worth of industrial products are being purchased in the rural market, leaving aside the urban centres. Through this process, at a time when the state government started receiving a positive response from different types of investors, TMC, and its cohorts started to try to make the wheel of progress grind backwards.

DEFEAT THESE FORCES OF DARKNESS

The directionless and aimless opposition had always thought that industrialisation would always be marked out as the success of the LF government; they never could think of whether opposition to industrialisation, especially pro-people industrialisation, would help the people of our state. They even shrilly shouted ‘we would not allow industry to take roots in Bengal because that will not help the peasantry.’

These ugly forces always pretended to be the friends of peasants and farmers and never considered that the highest amount of cultivable land are in the hands of poorest of the poor in the rural areas, incomparable with any other part of the country. Due to the fragmentation of land and the pressure of population through the increase in the families and family members, land is gradually becoming unviable as a source of livelihood.

Their implementing a game plan to put a halt to the development of Bengal by getting direct patronisation of reactionary forces both here and abroad and spending crores of rupees for their malicious campaign based on falsehood, the so-called important personalities who were present with them in every form of campaign are also coming out with funds from their shady sources.

These forces of darkness not only oppose industrial growth but also the infrastructural development through a violent mode and method, which would certainly vitiate the ambience of peace, unity, and amity amongst the people of Bengal. They wanted a few dead bodies to help along their nefarious game plan. The GOWB would not oblige them.

We are sharply aware of the fact that the overwhelming majority of the people of the state especially the younger generation want the development of agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and job opportunities to facilitate a real and tangible economic growth of our Bengal.

Therefore, for the development and growth, the entire democratic masses of the people and especially the young men and women, must come forward to defeat the retrogressive elements who want to see the peace of the graveyard.

Singur industrialisation must continue: Biman Bose

KOLKATA: Left Front chairman Biman Bose on Saturday urged the West Bengal government to continue with its industrialisation programme in Singur, saying that this should be done to accommodate the local youth who had taken training in various trades in anticipation of an industrial project.

“They have been trained for months, selected and now they are deeply frustrated, the State government should see how they can be accommodated… the agenda of industrialising this area should go on,” he told a press conference.

“It is sad to see the exit of the Tatas from Singur, but other projects could be tried out here.” Industry Minister Nirupam Sen on Friday said that State government owned the land acquired at Singur and there was no question of returning it.

Mr. Bose also wanted a mass campaign to expose the people who had indulged in destructive politics, spelling the doom of the project. At a pressmeet elsewhere in the city, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said that the withdrawal by the Tatas from Singur was a victory for a people’s movement. She also said that all industrialists were welcome to invest in West Bengal and “it is myth that the industrialisation process will be halted due to one individual ….”

Mr. Bose said that while the TMC had repeatedly been called for talks over the last two years they had refused to come to the table, choosing the path of agitation instead. Even an appeal by veteran leader Jyoti Basu fell on deaf ears. He mentioned in this context that the voice of a majority of people was throttled by the Opposition and a project was derailed although 11,000 out of the total 12,000 land owners had given a thumbs up to the project. Mr. Bose also criticised the Congress for speaking in one voice with the TMC.

He said that India-U.S. nuclear deal would impact the country’s sovereignty.

CPI(M) to discuss strategy for LS elections

Kolkata (PTI),11 Oct.: The top leadership of the CPI(M) will discuss several crucial issues, including its strategy for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, at its central committee meeting here from Sunday.
"We will be discussing mainly the overall political situation in the country, including the party's tactic for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections," CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat told PTI from Delhi over phone.
The three-day central committee meeting, he said, would also finalise a document on the demands for restructuring Centre-state relations.
The signing of the 123 agreement, which the CPI(M) has contended was "a complete surrender" to the US and "betrayal" of India's vital interests would also be one of the topics of the discussions on which the party would chalk out its future strategy, Karat said.
CPI(M) leader and party MP Md Selim said "the Central Committee would finalise the document on the demands for restructuring Centre-State relations before beginning talks with other parties for a broad-based movement."
It is not clear, though, if BJP ruled states would also be included in this 'broad-based movement'.
On the party's poll preparedness, Selim who is the Deputy Leader of the CPI(M)'s parliamentary party said "We suspect the government will call elections in January or a little later after that. So, we will take stock of the political scenario, both at the national and state levels, and discuss preparations."
"In this scenario, when all other parties are preparing for the polls, so are we," Selim told PTI.
During a recent interaction with the members of Indian Women's Press Corps he had said that CPI(M) was for a non-Congress and non-BJP alliance and was trying to work out some understanding with the Mayawati-led BSP.
He said the party's effort would be to form a Third Front or an alliance to work with on a common platform of policies.
He had said that after the parliament elections, his party would neither support the BJP nor any government led by a party that had a strategic alliance with the US "with the India-US Nuclear Agreement in it".
The party's state secretariat on Friday discussed the contours of the post-Singur political campaign against the Trinamool Congress's alleged "destructive, anti-industry and anti-development politics" which would be finalised after the Central Committee meet.
Putting up a brave Front after the exit of the Tata's Nano car project, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has said the state government would fight and overcome the obstacles for industrialisation observing that the state has lost one battle, but not the war.
The financial crisis blowing across the world, the UPA government's "failure" to get its act together in curbing terrorism and rising attacks on the churches in NDA-ruled Orissa and Karnataka were also likely to figure in the central committee deliberations.
The UPA policies on economic front including the rise in the prices of essential commodities during its regime will also come up for discussions in the meeting, party sources said.

A RESPONSE TO HINDUSTAN TIMES ON SINGUR

by B PRASANT

We shall ignore Prem Shankar Jha’s [‘whose brakes failed?’ HT, 6 October 2008] obvious non sequitors that stems from his political position and / or lack of knowledge (‘brink of the class war’ -why not recognise the unpleasant fact that we are right in the midst of it?), his flirting with the untruth (project cost of Tata factory being Rs 1500 crore, Rs 131 crore worth of compensation paid (we are not privy to a capitalist venture’s statistics as he should be, but Mr Jha, check your figures, the compensation-rehabilitation package is worth close to double the amount quoted), 400 people are yet to queue for the compensation package—the number is less than 50 and dwindling yet, his fiction about the number of jobs to have been created – the number in fact is treble the figure he flaunts) – and of course his obscurantism about quoting figures from circa December 2006 – wake up, Mr Jha, nearly two years have since passed you by.

We hold no brief for the Tatas (or for people like Mamata Banerjee who are fed and clothed by the very industrialists one of whom Mr Jha motivatedly lambastes with punditry) who are successful capitalists in a hunt-and-peck operation in an uncertain supply-side dominated, portfolio-financial capitalist scenario, and have been coming to Bengal for purposes of profit – this should be crystal clear to Mr Jha because the corporate house that pays for his columns plays about with much the same philosophy. We shall concentrate instead on the ‘case’ he fails in, to make Mamata Banerjee a heroine.

Mamata Banerjee and her rainbow coalition of Maoists, the SUCI, the BJP, and the good old vacillation called the Pradesh Congress plus sundry other foreign-fed NGOs like the one led by Medha Patkar (who incidentally in her most recent statement make’s a conqueror out of Mamata Banerjee and is critical of Tatas --much in the same language as Mr Jha – ‘opposites attract’ or is it a case of the ‘birds of the same feather flock together?) have been on a one-point programme of destruction and that was to block all developmental projects and thus ‘ensure’ removal of the popularly-elected Communist Party-led Left Front government from office.

The Communist Party and the Left Front, too, possess a one-point programme. They would look to development – pro-poor, pro-employment, pro-people development. Agriculture is no longer a sustainable livelihood given the population curve and its extrapolation. Without industrialisation, Bengal shall ultimately be turned back to the Stone Age even without bombing from George W or his successor (and that is another can of wiggly worms now that the ‘deal’ has been signed).

Thus, the Communist Party and the Left Front went in for what they considered a sustainable development programme via industrialisation and urbanisation plus development of the service sector, widening the agrarian base all the while – the principal aim here was to create jobs, and agriculture was no longer paying (what Mr Jha seeks to point out about ‘little bits of land’ has a ring of truth in it and such bits do not sustain life with any security because the bits are unviable as a means of livelihood).

Yes, the compensation was paid for by the state government and it was a sustainable compensation provided the Tatas were allowed to set up shop. You do not naǐvely expect an industrialist to come and invest without incentives now, do you. Nevertheless, the more pertinent issue is this: how would Mr Jha argue in favour of a political coalition that would not recognise that ancillary units are part of an integrated project and cannot be removed and demand 400 acres of land from within the factory area? How is he able to state in a desperate effort to sanctify his blatantly pro-Mamata Banerjee position when he forgets – intentional or is age catching with him - to note that for two years there was no protest, and that the agitation commenced just when the factory was on its final lap?

Finally what we find intriguing is the ‘inside story’ for, as per Mr Jha’s confession, Mamata Banerjee was ready to strike a deal with the Tatas and that the deal would, and this he would not mention for obvious enough reasons, benefit not the farmers who were mostly forced not to take the two compensation packages on offer, but benefit Mamta Banerjee’s outfit politically, badly battered and cornered as it had become under the joint marauding done on it by the anti-people and ruthless combination of the Maoists and the SUCI.

Pardon me Mr Jha, but whose calculations failed? Who stands to suffer?

Dharna in Singur to urge Tatas to return to Singur

Friday, October 10, 2008 9:35:00 PM

KOLKATA/SINGUR(PTI): Days after the Nano car project went out of West Bengal and found a new home at Sanand in Gujarat a 'Nano Banchao Committee' on Friday organised a dharna at Singur urging the company to reconsider its decision.

''We started the dharna with the hope that the Tatas may reconsider their decision to relocate the Nano project from Singur,'' a spokesman of the committee said.

He said about 90 per cent work of the project in Singur was complete and had there been no agitation which forced the Tatas to suspend work, Nano would have rolled out from Singur.

To a question why they did not take to the street when Trinamool Congress had launched the agitation in Singur, he alleged "they had unleashed terror. But we also never thought that the Tatas will take such a decision so fast".

The spokesman also said that their representatives would meet West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi next Monday to urge him to request Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee to call off her opposition to the Nano plant in Singur, Manash Ghosh, secretary of the Save Nano Committee said here.

Ghosh claimed that people of all walks of life in Singur including some Trinamool Congress activists are members of the Nano Bachao Committee. He also claimed that the committee would hold a public meeting in Kolkata if the Trinamool chief does not call off her opposition to the Nano plant in Singur and would explain to the people the benefits that they would have received if the plant was set up in Singur.