BIG RALLY OF YOUTH IN KOLKATA CALLS FOR PRO-EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRIAL GROWTH

MAMATA BANERJEE TOO WANTS INDUSTRIALISATION – BUT IN MODI-RULED GUJARAT !!! (GRAFFITI ON POSTERS SEEN AT THE YOUTH RALLY)

Thousands of young men and women congregated at the Esplanade area now called the metro channel (because of the proximity to the Kol-Metro central station) during the afternoon hours of 18 October. They had but two slogans on the raise: industrialisation for employment, and industrialisation for the unemployed youth! Hundreds of effigies of those who stood against industrialisation of Bengal and against the Singur project in particular, were put to the flame.

There was anger. There was no frustration. There was rage. There was no sadness of afterthought. There was hope. There was no melancholy in evidence. There was the vigour of youth organised under the Red banner. There was no indiscipline that was later to become the hall mark of the Trinamulis’ attempted assault on the HQ of the Kolkata Police at Lal Bazar (effectively contained by the police without there being any actual clashes or even show of arms. There was the iron logic of development and looking to the toiling masses.

Then, there was elsewhere in the city rioting of the Trinamuli goondas like the sad unpleasant incident near Charu Market in Tollygunj. Trinamuli mastans and goondas had run riot there, burning a dozen odd vehicles, attacking the police, putting to flame eight Police jeeps and vans, ransacking shops – and all in the name of didi for hers is the ‘word’ to follow on ‘return of land to farmers.’

Why choose Charu Market? The more important question is perhaps why they do not dare prefer Singur now-a-days for these so-called protestations. The answer assumes frightening dimensions for the hirelings of the Trinamulis. The entirety of Singur – irrespective which political affiliation the people indulge in – have risen up against the great betrayal of the Trinamuli chieftain and her hirelings (some indigenous, others hardly so, some native to Singur, others not quite that), and vast and angry processions are taken out every day, mornings and evenings, with the slogans: ‘revive the Singur factory, and down with the Trinamuli viswasghaat.’

Dare she now flaunt her pro-kisan image at Singur? More to the point, would she be able to go even near Singur in the near future? In the meanwhile, the youth rally is followed by rallies and marches by the toiling masses elsewhere in Bengal, and while not all the programmes are centred on Singur, industrialisation with a pro-people outlook is the theme of these people’s actions orchestrated by the Bengal CPI (M) and the Left mass organisations.

B PRASANT

CPI(M) questions governor’s role in Singur accord

Kolkata, Oct 23 (IANS) : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) West Bengal secretary Biman Basu Thursday questioned whether a governor could be a party to an accord between the state government and the opposition to resolve a dispute.

''I often hear that the agreement between the state government and the opposition Trinamool Congress was signed in the presence of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Firstly, I want to clarify that no agreement was signed over the Singur dispute. It was just a declaration letter which was released in the presence of the governor, not an agreement,” Basu told a press conference here.

“No governor can participate in any accord between the government and the opposition unless he or she is authorised by the government of India to intervene in any issue, as far as the Indian constitution is concerned.”

Last month, Gandhi had invited the Left Front government and the opposition to resolve through dialogue the vexed issue of land acquisition for Tata Motors’ car plant in Singur, about 40 km from here, after the firm suspended work on the project.

Several meetings were held at the governor’s residence and an accord was reached Sep 7.

The auto major finally shifted the project to Gujarat following continuous protests by Trinamool-backed farmers demanding return of a portion of land acquired for the project.

Land at Singur cannot be returned to farmers: CPI(M)

23 October, 2008 12:49:27

The CPI(M), the leader of West Bengal's ruling Left Front, on Thursday said there was no law under which the land acquired for the Tata Motors' car project could be returned to farmers as demanded by opposition Trinamool Congress. "Her (Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's) demand is unrealistic and not supported by any provision of law," CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu told a press conference in Kolkata.

"Where is the law under which acquired land can be returned? She should have raised the issue in Lok Sabha instead of making the demand outside parliament. The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, has no provision for return of land," he said. The Left Front government has already announced that other industries would be set up at the land meant for the Tatas project after the withdrawal of the industrial house from the small car project at Singur.

Basu also questioned Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi's attempt to broker a solution at Singur."How can a Governor be involved in an agreement unless the Centre authorises him to do so?" Basu said referring to the agreement reached at Raj Bhavan between West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress on Septemeber 7. "In fact, no agreement was signed at Raj Bhavan on the Singur issue. It was only a declaration," Basu who is the Left Front chairman, said.

The Trinamool Congress chief, however, stuck to her demand that the land acquired at Singur for the Tata Motors plant could be used for setting up new industrial units only after unwilling landowners got back their 400 acre out of the 1000 acquired by the state government for the project.

UPA govt. discriminating against Left-ruled states: CPI

New Delhi, Oct 23 (PTI) :The CPI today accused the Congress-led UPA at the Centre of discriminating against Left-ruled states, saying the governments of Kerala and West Bengal were "paying the price" for withdrawal of support."The Left-led state governments in the two states are paying the price for our withdrawing support at the Centre," CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta told reporters here.

He said despite the long-pending demand of restoration of the rice quota to "food deficit" Kerala, no step has been taken by the Centre as yet.The UPA government has slashed the rice quota of Kerala by as much as 82 per cent, he said.

On West Bengal, Dasgupta said five dredgers meant for desilting of the waterways at the Haldia Port were withdrawn and taken to work for the Sethusamudram Project."While we are not opposed to the Sethusamudram Project and want it to be developed, we are demanding the return of these five dredgers so that they could prevent the waterways (from) becoming totally unnavigable," he said.
PTI

"Our state most peaceful in the country.'': Buddhadeb

Kolkata, October 22: West Bengal is the most peaceful state in the country, still the state police need to be more people-friendly. This was Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s advice to the force at the ‘Investiture Ceremony of Bengal Police 2008’ at the Science City Auditorium in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Taking a dig at the recent occurences in Maharashtra, Bhattacharjee said: “Observe other states. In one state, people from other states are considered unwanted and cannot go there for jobs. This is unthinkable in Bengal.”

He also highlighted communal clashes breaking out in different parts of the country. “People are fighting over religion in other states. West Bengal is safe and peaceful,” he said. Bhattacharjee, however, said there is no cause for complacency because terrorism, especially ultra-Left terrorism, is posing a real threat to the state.

He exhorted policemen to act as a friend of the people. “The police, from the level of superintendent of police to the officers of a police station, must gain confidence of the people. No discrimination should be made between the rich and the poor while addressing their complaints,” he said.

The chief minister also said: “The government is trying to increase the number of police housing estates and police hospitals. We will provide treatment to all injured policemen on duty.” Bhattacharjee conferred four Sourya Padak, seven Nistha Padak, 42 Prasansha Padak and 57 Sewa Padaks to the policemen. Three Sourya Padak awards were given posthumously. Police medal for meritorious service and President’s police medal for distinguished services were also awarded.

Biman Basu warns people of ‘unholy’ opposition

Kolkata, October 22: CPI(M) state secretary and Left Front chairman Biman Basu said on Wednesday “unholy” powers are trying to destabilise West Bengal.

Referring to Trinamool Congress agitation in Cooch Behar, Maoist blast in West Midnapore and Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) agitation in Darjeeling, Basu asked people to fight unitedly against such powers.

“Unholy opposition forces are creating a dangerous situation in the state. Trinamool Congress in Cooch Behar, Maoists in West Midnapore and GJM in Darjeeling — all of them are trying to create anarchy in the state. There are attacks, intimidations and murders. The democratic environment in the state is being destroyed by their acts,” Basu said.

“We have asked supporters of Left Front in Darjeeling to maintain calm and peace,” he added.
Referring to Maoist blasts in West Midnapore, he said: “The Naxals are attacking doctors and nurses in medical camp meant for the poor. People should understand their motives.”

Maoists grafted landmine kills 3 of a medical team

Midnapore,22 October,2008: Three people were killed in multiple landmines triggered by suspected Maoists in West Midnapore district of West Bengal. Maoists are suspected to be involved according to Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), Raj Kanojia. The blast occurred at 2:30 pm on Wednesday afternoon at Belpahari when a medical van was targeted.

The doctor in-charge of the Belpahari primary health centre, Dhaniram Mandi and a nurse, Bharati Majhi were driving to a primary health centre at Chawkisole village under the Belpahari police station, near the Jharkhand border when the landmines exploded, Home Secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters. The doctor and nurse were returning from an anti-polio drive when their van hit a landmine. The van was making its way back from that pulse polio workshop. All three were killed in the blast and the vehicle was detroyed.

PTI reports that according to a report from the district, villagers said they had informed the police in the morning that the wires were lying on the road and that landmines could have been planted, but no action was taken. District police are investigating the case. Senior police officials were at the spot. Police also add that they suspect more attacks by naxals.

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.