All-party meeting on Singur today

Kolkata,30th September: The West Bengal government has convened an all-party meeting here on Tuesday to find ways torestore normality in Singur so that Tatas can resume work on the car project there.

The meeting, however, will not be attended by the State’s principal Opposition party, the Trinamool Congress, that has been spearheading an agitation demanding return of 400 acres of land [300 acres from within the site] acquired for the project to farmers who have not accepted compensation for their plots.

Call for consensus

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is keen that the major political parties in the State reach a consensus in support of the project at Singur prior to his meeting with Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group, the date for which is yet to be finalised.

There have been apprehensions of Tata Motors pulling out of Singur ever since work was suspended at the site on September 2 in view of continued confrontation and agitation by the Trinamool Congress and its allies.

The agitation was lifted after a meeting between the Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on September 7. But the latter has threatened to resume the agitation unless an agreement between her associates and the State government on the land issue is implemented.

On Monday, Ms. Banerjee ruled out her party’s participation in any all-party meeting that the government convenes till the latter decides to implement the agreement signed on September 7.
“If the agreement is operationalised, we have no problems sitting for talks on any technical matter but not on the question of the package [proposed by the State government for the rehabilitation of the affected farmers of Singur],” she said.

Congress to attend meet

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

The Hindu

Cong acts as shadow of Trinamool at all-party meet on Singur

30 Oct, 2008

KOLKATA: WEST Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s all out efforts to salvage Singur by garnering Congress support in the run-up to his crucial Friday meeting with Ratan Tata has suffered a jolt.

On Tuesday, the Congress state leadership declined to sign a resolution adopted during an all-party meeting urging the Tatas and their Nano vendors to resume work in Singur. Instead, the state Congress has backed Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee’s demand that the Buddadeb government first honour its Singur land return agreement of September 7. Significantly, Congress’s refusal to ink the all-party resolution came hours after the crucial meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee in Dehi on Tuesday afternoon.

Though the all-party meeting was convened by the chief minister to assess the Singur situation , frontline opposition parties — the Trinamool Congress and SUCI — boycotted it. But what surprised the chief minister and state is industry minister Nirupam Sen was the volte-face by the Congress. “The Tatas are coming here on Friday to hold talks with our government on their Nano project in Singur. I had convened the all-party meeting and all Left parties and even the BJP had supported our stand on Singur and even signed a resolution that was finalised after accommodating amendments given by nearly all political parties. But I note that the Congress letter drafted by Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi is nothing but a shadow of Trinamool Congress’ view on the Singur land issue,”

Mr Bhattacharjee told reporters after the all-party meeting on Tuesday. Interestingly, the Congress was represented by Subrata Mukherjee who had recently visited Singur to express his solidarity with Mamata Banerjee’s land agitation, along with Manas Bhunia, leader of the Congress Legislative Party and Shankar Singh, a party MLA from Nadia district. Congress spokesperson Mukherjee, however, told reporters that “the principal opposition party and the state government has signed an agreement and agreed to distribute land to the unwilling farmers from within the Nano factory premises. We want the government to implement the September 7 agreement and distribute land to the unwilling farmers if necessary by purchasing plots in the nearby locality. We have not given our consent to the resolution because the government has deviated from what it had promised on September 7 at the Raj Bhavan meeting.”

Asked to react on the Sonia-Mamata meeting, Mr Bhattacharjee said “I have no interest in what they have discussed.” About the refusal by the Congress to sign the resolution, Mr Bhattacharjee said, “I don’t know whose decision it is. I also don’t know whether this is Mr Dasmunsi’s personal opinion or it is the decision taken by the state Congress. But the party has refused to give its consent to our resolution for the time being, although I still believe good sense will prevail at their end shortly to support our government’s initiative.” The resolution adopted after the 90-minute meeting, however, requested the Tatas and its vendors to restart their work at Singur at the earliest. Political parties also urged the common people to create a peaceful and congenial atmosphere so that work at Singur can start without any delay.

West Bengal commerce & industries minister Nirupam Sen told later told reporters that a parliamentary standing committee will soon table before the Lok Sabha the bill promulgated by the Union government on rehabilitation and resettlements for the landlosers. “The compensation package we have given in case of Singur is better than what the Centre will announce for the land losers,” claimed the minister.

Mamata meets Sonia, demands use of Art 355 in W Bengal

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI): Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today met UPA Chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Singur issue and demanded central intervention in West Bengal under Article 355 of the Constitution to "protect" the interests of farmers there.

"The Centre cannot keep mum. It must intervene to protect the interests of farmers as well as that of the industry," she told reporters after a 30-minute meeting with Gandhi here.Asked what kind of intervention she was seeking, Banerjee said "the state government cannot unilaterally reject an agreement reached in the presence of the Governor. ... There is constitutional sanctity to it (agreement). Therefore, it is better to use Article 355 against the state government."

Under Article 355, the Centre is duty bound to protect a state from either external aggression or internal disturbance or send a directive to fulfill constitutional duties.The Trinamool Congress chief, who was accompanied at the meeting by party's sole Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and former MP Dinesh Trivedi, said she presented all documents relevant to the Tatas car project, including the copies of the agreement and several related letters, to Gandhi.

To a question whether it would serve the state's interests if the Tatas withdrew from the Nano project in Singur, Banerjee said "you are only interested in the Tatas and saying 'tata, bye-bye' to the people." "We are not against industries. Both industry and agriculture should flourish side by side and not grow at the cost of one another," she said. PTI

Leftfront approves conditional renewal of licence to Metro

Metro Bloc-ade lifted, licence by Oct 10
29 Sep 2008, 0311 hrs IST,TNN

KOLKATA: Left Front partner Forward Bloc on Sunday gave in to intense pressure from the rest of the allies, especially CPI(M), and agreed to renew the licence to wholesale major Metro Cash & Carry. The Bloc-controlled state agriculture marketing board will issue by October 10 the agriculture produce marketing committee (APMC) licence the German supply major needs to start operations at its new outlet on EM Bypass.

As a concession to the Bloc, which literally had to eat humble pie on the vexed issue, it was decided that a set of conditions - to be drawn up jointly by FB and CPI(M) - would be imposed before the licence is renewed. Reacting to the development, a Metro Cash & Carry spokesperson said: "We have received media reports that the APMC licence will be given on October 10. We heartily thank the chief minister, the Bengal government, the marketing board and all officials concerned for this."

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had on Friday overruled the board's objection and asked chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb to issue orders to renew Metro's licence by September 30. Now, as per the Front's decision, the order will not be executed. Sunday's acrimonious meeting, extending to nearly three hours, saw the Front partners coming down heavily on the Bloc leadership - state secretary Ashok Ghosh, agriculture marketing board chairman Naren Chatterjee, Barun Mukherjee and Hafiz Alam Sairani - for objections to renewing the licence and the decision to resign from the state Cabinet if the CM's order was not revoked.

With the Singur crisis still looming large, most Front partners were in no mood to allow internal bickerings to come to the fore and give the Opposition another issue to exploit. Bloc leader Barun Mukherjee explained his party's stand on the issue and why they considered Metro Cash & Carry a threat to farmers and small traders. But RSP leaders Debabrata Bandyopadhyay, Biswanath Chowdhury, CPI state secretary Manju Maju-mdar, Nandagopal Bhattacharya and other LF leaders launched a scathing attack on the Bloc leadership.

According to sources, the Bloc leaders were asked to explain why the licence was first issued in 2005 and then withdrawn in June 2007. The Bloc leadership's argument that then agriculture minister Kamal Guha wasn't aware of the implications of issuing the licence, however, didn't cut much ice. The Front partners were also critical of FB's sudden decision to boycott Writers' Buildings and quit the ministry if the CM's order was not revoked by September 30.

Harping on Left unity and the state's development, the partners asked the Bloc leadership to fall in line. Biman Bose and other Front leaders appealed to Ghosh to maintain Left unity. "We were never against issuing the licence. What upset us was the CM's unilateral decision at a time when talks were on," senior FB leader Sairani said after the meeting. However, leaders from the other Left Front parties wanted a greater say when it came to big investment in the state.

"Left Front will discuss and decide on who will be allowed to invest in West Bengal," Biman Bose told reporters. The CPM state secretary said that there was no question of any Bloc minister resigning. "CPM and Forward Bloc leaders will meet and decide on the conditions before October 10," he said. Ashok Ghosh echoed Biman Bose's words.

SECOND COPY

Kolkata, Sep 28 (IANS): Putting aside their differences, the constituents of West Bengal’s ruling Left Front Sunday decided to renew the licence of German firm Metro Cash and Carry while the Forward Bloc withdrew its threat of boycotting the state secretariat on the issue.”We discussed the issue threadbare and openly. We have arrived at the unanimous decision that the state Agricultural Marketing Board will renew the licence of Metro Cash & Carry on Oct 10, but there will be some conditions attached,” Left Front chairman Biman Bose said after the three-hour deliberations.

“Following the discussions, the Forward Bloc has also suspended the decision that its ministers will not go to the state secretariat Writers Buildings from Monday. They will attend office from Monday,” Bose said.

The Bloc’s ire had stemmed from a letter written by Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb to the South 24 Parganas district magistrate at Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s instance that the wholesale major’s licence to do business in the state may be renewed.

The Bloc had also threatened to pull out of the ministry if Bhattacharjee did not withdraw his instruction by Sep 30.

The Bloc, which holds the portfolios of agriculture and agricultural marketing in the state, had Friday said it was opposed to renewing the licence of the German company fearing “it (Metro) would eat up the space of small and poor farmers and the intermediaries”.

The party, which controls the Agriculture Marketing Board that issues the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) licences, took exception to Bhattacharjee bypassing the Board.

According to the formula finalised at Sunday’s Left Front meeting, the chief secretary’s order would not be implemented, and the Agriculture Marketing Board itself would grant the renewal.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which leads the Front, and the Bloc will hold bilateral talks before Oct 10 to decide the conditions to be imposed on Metro.

“It was also decided that in future, whenever some other company comes from abroad, the matter will first be discussed in the Left Front to decide what rights the company can be given,” Bose said.

The Bloc, opposing the entry of large corporate houses in retail trade, has expressed apprehension that Metro Cash & Carry could shift to retail business after getting a foothold in the state through wholesale trade.

The company had said it would wait till Monday before deciding whether to move out of the state.

The Bloc’s aggressive posture had come at a time when the state government was in a soup on the land issue in Singur, with Tata Motors signalling an imminent pull-out of its small car facility after having suspended operations in the Nano plant since Sep 2.

Metro Cash & Carry started constructing a 100,000 sq ft outlet for an investment of $30 million in the southeast of the city a couple of years back. The project got delayed due to land disputes.

It was granted a licence to trade in APMC commodities in 2005, which was subsequently renewed twice in 2006 and 2007 to be valid till March 2008. However, in June 2007 the said licence was unilaterally withdrawn by APMC authorities. The company filed for issuance of fresh APMC licence in March 2008 and is still awaiting this.

The German major already has four stores in India - two in Bangalore, one each in Hyderabad and Mumbai and has partnered with small and medium businesses like grocery stores, hotels and restaurants.

The Left Front has been in power in West Bengal without a break since 1977.

West Bengal gets only half its vaccine requirement

New Delhi (PTI): Following the closure of three key vaccine manufacturing facilities, the Centre is finding it difficult to meet the requirement of states like West Bengal which are receiving only 50 per cent of the some requisite vaccines needed under Universal Immunisation Programme.

The state is facing acute shortage of essential vaccines, which protect children against several life-threatening diseases, resulting from irregular and inadequate supply from the Centre.

Last year, 1,19,66,436 DPT vaccines, which protects Dyptheria, Pertusis and Tetanus, were needed in West Bengal, but it received only 80,12,020 -- a shortage of about 33 per cent. During current financial year, only about five lakh DPT vaccines were received by the state.

In the first six months of this fiscal the state has received only 7,10,750 measles vaccines as against the demand of 14,96,000 during the period. The TT-PW vaccine requirement was 32,91,000 but only 16,99,400 were received showing a shortage of about 50 per cent.

The condition is similar with other key vaccines like BCG and DT which are also facing short supply.

The issue was raised by State Health Minister Surjya Kanta Mishra during a meeting with Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday.

"The licenses of Central Research Institute of Kasauli, Pasteur Institute Coonur and BCG Vaccine Laboratory, Chennai have been suspended without making alternative arrangements for ensuring supply of vaccines," Mishra told Ramadoss.

West Bengal gets first Centre for Perishable Cargo

Kolkata, West Bengal, India, 2008-09-27, 01:45:03 (IndiaPRwire.com):

West Bengal Friday got its first Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC) at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport here. It was inaugurated by Minister of State for Commerce, Industry and Power Jairam Ramesh.

The CPC has an annual storage capacity of 12,000 million tonnes, 10 times higher than the present export of perishable goods from the Kolkata airport.

'Its installed capacity should be utilised to the maximum potential,' Ramesh told reporters on the occasion.

The 742.5 square metres CPC, built and operationalised with a 100 percent grant-in-aid of Rs.67.5 million by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) of the commerce ministry, was under trial operation from June 2008.

Kolkata being the gateway for exports to Southeast Asia, the commissioning of this CPC would prove beneficial for West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and all the northeast states.

At present, seasonal fruits, vegetables and chilled fish of perishable category are exported from Kolkata by air.

West Bengal's second CPC is under construction at Bagdogra and will be operational by March 2009, Ramesh said.

APEDA would also finance a Rs.55 million Export Cargo Complex at Haldia. It would be constructed within one year after the state government selected a contractor for the project, Ramesh added.
Indo Asian News Service

Land for Pantnagar plant has come from govt: Tata Motors

NEW DELHI: Country's leading car maker Tata Motors on Saturday said that the Uttarakhand government had given its own 1,000 acre land to the company, on which it has already set up manufacturing facilities along with that of vendors. Reacting to reports that a group of farmers was planning agitation if more land is given to the company in case it sets up Nano car project, which is facing uncertainty in West Bengal, a Tata Motors spokesperson said : "All our land has come from the government and the plant exist on the government land." A group of farmers in Uttarakhand's Pantnagar area, under the banner of 'Kisan Kisani Abhiyan', had taken up cudgels against the state government's purported plan to allot more land to the company with its leader Hanif Gandhi threatening an agitation. The government had agreed to offer 1,100 acre of land in the area, of which the company has already set up a mother plant and vendor park on 1,000 acres. The government is yet to give the rest 100 acre for setting up residential colonies, the spokesperson said. He said that since no part of the land for the existing facilities, from where its rolling out commercial vehicle Ace, has come from the farmers and hence there is no ground for any agitation. On whether the company had decided to shift the Nano project from West Bengal to Uttarakhand, he said that the company had earlier said in a statement that it could explore options at other existing facilities.

No proposal from Tata for Nano roll out so far: Uttarakhand CM

28 Sep, 2008, 1206 hrs IST, PTI

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri has said the government has not yet received any proposal from the Tatas to roll out Nano from the state. The CM's statement comes in the wake of speculation that the company might shift production of the world's cheapest car to the state following the stalemate in Singur. If the company proposes for to roll out the Nano from Uttarakhand, the state government would provide necessary facilities, Khanduri said. Tata Motors officials who visited the state on September 25 to settle issues related to its Pantnagar plant, told the government the company had not yet taken any decision on Nano production from there. Earlier, Tata Motors, reacting to reports that a group of farmers was planning agitation if more land is given to the company in case it sets up Nano car project, said : "All our land has come from the government and the plant exists on the government land." A group of farmers in Uttarakhand's Pantnagar area, under the banner of 'Kisan Kisani Abhiyan', had taken up cudgels against the state government's purported plan to allot more land to the company with its leader Hanif Gandhi threatening an agitation. The government had agreed to offer 1,100 acre of land in the area, of which the company has already set up a mother plant and vendor park on 1,000 acres. The state has already allotted 56 acres of the 100 acres additional land sought by Tata for residential purposes. On whether the company had decided to shift the Nano project from West Bengal to Uttarakhand, he said that the company had earlier said in a statement that it could explore options at other existing facilities.

CEOs blame land acquisition for delays in infra projects: CII survey

New Delhi, Sept 28: With the row in Singur, land acquisition has emerged as a big impediment for industrial projects, particularly for those in the infrastructure sector, an overwhelming 81 percent CEOs said in a CII survey.

These CEOs of infrastructure developers and financiers felt land acquisition was the biggest hurdle in implementation of infrastructure projects, the survey said.

Other factors cited for project delays by majority of the respondents are environment clearance, government approval and lack of coordination among various implementing agencies.

A case in point is the Tatas' virtual withdrawal of their small-car project from Singur in West Bengal to an alternate location despite the state government requesting them to stay back. The group had to face widespread violent protests in Singur on the issue of compensation and return of 400 acres of land at the project site.

Further, the report says, rising input and interest costs also lead to cost overrun for infrastructure projects, which was a cause of concern for both developers and financiers.

According to 46 percent of the respondents, increase in input costs is expected to be in the range of 10-20 percent, whereas 23 percent respondents expect it to go beyond that.

While rising costs would be absorbed by project developers, some companies were likely to pass it on to the government, the survey said.

About 58 percent of respondents felt there would be renegotiation of prices that may lead to further delay in implementation of projects.

However, 67 percent of those surveyed by CII said the infrastructure investments were "on track". According to government estimates, the infrastructure sector requires investment worth more than USD 400 billion in the 11th Plan period. (Bureau Report)

Singur has made US investors wary, says US consul-general

26 Sep, 2008, 1936 hrs IST, PTI

KOLKATA: The political tussle over the Tata Motors small car project at Singur has made US investors wary of investment, US consul-general in Kolkata Beth Payne on Friday said. Speaking at an interactive session organised by CII (eastern region) here, Payne said the Singur development had forced cancellation of the proposed visit of USIBC trade mission to the city this week. ''The trade mission was very excited to come to the city. But the developments taking place there had led to the cancellation," Payne said. She said US investors were very particular about respect for contracts and signed agreements. The trade mission is wondering if Ratan Tata is not able to succeed in West Bengal, how US investors would. Talking about West Bengal, she said the state had an educated workforce, low attrition rate and low cost of living. ''These characteristics make the state an attractive investment destination." ''It is regrettable that the state missed the opportunity," the envoy said.

I will talk to Ratan Tata over Singur: Buddhadeb

Kolkata, September 27, 2008(IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata was willing to sit for a dialogue with the state government over the Singur imbroglio.

"I wrote a letter to Ratan Tata and I've got a reply from him. I sent him the missive expressing willingness to have a conversation with him regarding the issue. He agreed to my proposal," Bhattacharjee said while addressing open session of the 13th all India Students Federation of India (SFI) conference in Kolkata.

He said the state government was trying its best to stop Tatas from shifting out of the state.
"If the situation continues for further period, the company will surely move out of the state. But, I am still trying to retain the project in West Bengal," he said.

Criticising the movement led by the opposition Trinamool Congress, Bhattacharjee said: "If Tata Motors shifts its Nano plant from West Bengal, Trinamool Congress will have to be responsible for that."

"I tried a lot to make the opposition leaders understand the importance of the project in West Bengal. But they are glued to their demand for the 400 acres," the chief minister said, adding: "It's impossible to give back 300-400 acres inside the Tata Motors small car project area at Singur."

According to a decision, unanimously taken in the state cabinet meeting on Friday, Bhattacharjee wrote a letter to Tata requesting him not to move out of the state.

Bhattacharjee also appealed to the company to restart operations at the plant and promised to provide full safety and security to the workers.

Buddhadeb for Metro Cash & Carry licence, Forward Bloc protests

Kolkata, Sep 27 (IANS) : West Bengal’s ruling Left Front plunged into fresh crisis Friday night with alliance member Forward Bloc saying its ministers would not attend the state secretariat from Monday to protest Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s order to renew the license of German firm Metro Cash and Carry.The Bloc’s ire stemmed from a letter from Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb to the district magistrate of South 24 Parganas at the instruction of Bhattacharjee that the wholesale major be given a renewed licence to do business in the state. The Forward Bloc, which holds the portfolios of agriculture and agricultural marketing in the state, had earlier Friday decided not to renew the license.

Slamming the chief minister’s instruction, Bloc state secretary Ashok Ghosh said: “Protesting this attitude of CPI-M, our ministers will abstain from going to the Writers’ Building (state secretariat) from Monday. We will continue this till the chief minister withdraws his instruction.”
Ghosh also threatened that the Bloc may even leave the ministry if the issue was not resolved soon.

The Forward Bloc is scheduled to meet the CPI-M Sep 28 to decide on the renewal of the APMC (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee) licence for the German company.

The Bloc has been opposing the entry of large corporate houses in retail trade and has expressed apprehension that Metro Cash & Carry could shift to retail business after getting a foothold in the state through wholesale trade.

The company had Wednesday held a meeting with the chief minister and said it would wait till Monday before deciding whether it would move out of the state.

Asked whether the party would now sit for talks with the CPI-M, Ghosh said: “We don’t think there is any need for talks till the CPI-M withdraws the letter they have issued.”

While announcing their decision against renewing licence to the German firm, Ghosh had said: “Our party has decided unanimously not to renew the APMC licence for Metro Cash & Carry. We will not allow any big investor, both Indian or foreign, to eat up the space of small and poor farmers and the intermediaries,” Ghosh said.

While Naren De of the Forward Bloc is the minister for agriculture and agricultural marketing, another party leader Naren Chatterjee heads the Agriculture Marketing Board, which issues the licence.

The Bloc has four members in the Bhattacharjee ministry.

The Bloc’s aggressive posture has come at a time when the CPI-M led Left Front government has been in a soup on the Nano land issue, with Tata Motors signalling an imminent pull-out of its small car facility from Singur after having suspended operations in the plant since Sep 2.

The government had been touting the Nano project as the beginning of the industrial resurgence of the state after years of drought in attracting big investments in the manufacturing sector.

Metro Cash & Carry started constructing a 100,000 sq ft outlet for an investment of $30 million in the southeast of the city a couple of years back. The entire project got delayed due to land disputes.

It was granted a licence to trade in APMC commodities in 2005, which was subsequently renewed twice in 2006 and 2007 to be valid till March 2008. However, in June 2007 the said licence was unilaterally withdrawn by APMC authorities. The company filed for issuance of fresh APMC licence in March 2008 and is still awaiting the same.

The German major already has four stores in India - two in Bangalore, one each in Hyderabad and Mumbai and is partnered by various small and medium businesses like kirana stores, hotels and restaurants.

Don't leave West Bengal: Buddha urges Tata

NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has written to Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata urging him not to shift the Nano car project from Singur. The chief minister in his letter to Ratan Tata said no more disruptions will occur. “We assure you of police protection,” he said.

The letter is seen as the last-ditch effort by Buddhadeb to salvage the Nano car project. The West Bengal government is awaiting Ratan Tata’s response. West Bengal Industries Minister Nirupam Sen said the state government was trying its best to retain the Nano project in Singur. The letter by the chief minister was sent after yesterday’s decision at the state cabinet meet to appeal to both the Tatas to implement the project here as well as to the opposition to cooperate in the interest of the state.

On Thursday, Trinamool Congress said it was willing for further talks on Singur issue if Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi takes an initiative for this. "We had responded to the invitation for talks on Singur in the past. The Governor is the constitutional head. We will go every time he calls us," Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee told a public meeting here. Without responding to the state cabinet's appeal for cooperation, she said "if the government really wants the Tata Motors unit to come up at Singur, why did it not operationalise the (September 7) agreement? The government took recourse to a canard against us, although we are for both industry and agriculture". Trinamool Congress did not ask the Tata Motors to leave Singur, she said. "Let both agriculture and industry smile." She said the state government and CPM were claiming that the September 7 agreement was a 'declaration' and not an accord. "They are cheating us. They have also insulted the Governor by violating the agreement", she charged. Reading out the copy of 'agreement', she said that her party was ready for a 'land-based solution'. She also said the industry should purchase land and added "why should land be acquired forcefully?"

Meanwhile truckloads of material have started rolling out of the Singur Nano factory, a sign that Tata Motors is on an exit route from West Bengal. There has, however, been no formal communication from the company so far.

According to reports, Tata engineers had dismantled dies and other "key fixtures unique to the Nano" from Singur and started moving them to an undisclosed location a few days back. Pending a final decision, the company could either roll out its first Nano from its Pantnagar or its Pune facility. The Rs 1 lakh car was scheduled to hit the road in October and Tata wants to stick to that deadline. But as an official said, the situation in Singur "was not conducive to work". It is believed that the Tatas are likely to announce their final decision on the matter by this weekend.

26 Sep 2008,

1401 hrs IST,

AGENCIES

WB cabinet appeals to Tatas not to withdraw Nano project

Kolkata, Sep 25 (PTI): The West Bengal cabinet today appealed to the Tata Motors not to withdraw the Nano project from Singur and assured help and cooperation for its implementation.The cabinet in a statement after the meeting, said the issue of the Nano project was not on the agenda for discussion, but due to request by ministers it was unanimously decided that the cabinet would appeal to the Tatas as well as to the opposition for implementation of the project.Appealing to the Tatas not to withdraw the project, it also urged the opposition parties to accept the rehabilitation package offered to land-losers in Singur and cooperate in the implementation of the project.The ministers also appealed to the people of Singur and the state for their cooperation for the development of the state, it said. PTI

Left has to rally other parties for third alternative, says Karat

Kolkata, 24th September: The Left parties have to rally other political parties in the country to counter the “anti-people and anti-national policies of bourgeoisie” national parties like the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and raise a “third alternative political platform,” said Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), here on Wednesday.

Mr. Karat was speaking on the “Future of National Politics: A Left View,” at a seminar organised by the Students Federation of India — the student wing of the CPI (M).

The third alternative will pursue an alternative economic policy, a foreign policy that ensures national sovereignty and will struggle for a better federal structure.

“The global economy is on a path of long-term recession and in spite of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s assurances that adopting the United States of America-sponsored Wall Street model of economic reform will not affect India’s economy, the fact remains that we cannot escape the repercussions of the U.S. market crash,” he said.

Mr. Karat said the UPA government was jeopardising the country’s national sovereignty by establishing strategic alliances with the “imperialist” United States.

Speaking of the growing incidence of terrorism and communal violence, he said, “These are not isolated incidents as the vast gap between promises made in the post-Independence period and the reality have led people to seek fragmented identities for themselves.”

He said the Congress, in spite being a secular force, had time and again proved that it was unable to stand up to communal forces and terrorist activities.

“The Hindutva agenda of the BJP is fuelling the anti-national sentiments of separatist forces in the country as are other various external agencies.”

“The Left parties are strong defenders of secularism and we have to ensure that it is not diluted in the manner Congress has done, as it is a question of securing national unity,” he said.

(THE HINDU)

SECOND COPY

CONSPIRACY MUST BE FOILED THROUGH

COUNTRYWIDE MASS STRUGGLES

KOLKATA,25th September(INN):This was the crucible in which CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat ripened his arguments, while in Kolkata during the evening of 24 September. Prakash was addressing a packed meeting at the Town Hall (beautifully renovated to pristine standards by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation), and the occasion was a seminar that connected with the organisation of the all-India conference of the SFI in Kolkata at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre at Salt Lake.

Pointing with facts at his command how the source of the anti-people and antinational conspiracy, nationally and internationally emanated from the forces of US imperialism, Prakash was quick to note that the struggle and movements against neo-liberalisation and religious fundamentalism could never be separated from one another. The maintenance of the secular structure of India would also mean the continuity and development of national integrity and national sovereignty.

Much in a similar vein, stressed the senior CPI (M) leader, imperialism must be dealt a blow if one desired to resist, contain, and defeat the dark forces of religious fundamentalism—of both kinds. The rise of religious fundamentalism Prakash traced to the unevenness of human developmental index since the country gained its political independence in 1947. Since then, too, the disparity and disproportion was created because of the crass failure on the part of the ruling classes and the political parties they represented to fulfil the developmental promises that were announced with fanfare.

The discrepancies have given birth to – some times in violent form – to religious fundamentalism, casteism, provincialism, and sectarianism in diverse varieties and forms. The anguish and angst that pre-existed were fuelled by the advent of neo-liberalism fuelled by the forces of imperialism the world over. The other fall-out of recent times has been the sway away from an independent foreign policy and use of the US as a lean-to by the Manmohan Singh régime.

The glorious role emoted by the Left against these developments would be maintained, expanded and deepened unwaveringly among the masses countrywide through struggles, movements, and campaigns. Contrasting this to the vacillator character of the Congress-run central government Prakash underlined that for the past four years, the Left and the CPI (M) gad dedicated themselves to the task of resisting and rolling back (wherever possible) the steps emanating out of the policy of neo-liberalisation followed by the Congress government. Further attempts at liberalisation would surely result in the kind of supply-side crisis that the US and indeed the so-called ‘developed’ world has been experiencing of late to the peril of the common men and women.

There was need to build a third alternative based on consensus on an independent foreign policy, democracy, secularism, national unity and integrity, national sovereignty, and the restructuring of the existing structure of centre-state relationship. The alternative would not be just an electoral alliance but a people’s alternative to both the political parties of the big bourgeois-land ruling classes of the country, the Congress and the BJP.

Prakash also spoke on the heinous attacks being brought down on the Left-led state governments of Kerala, Tripura, and Bengal. The cause of the attack was this: these three governments were working for the interest of the people, especially the poor, despite having to operate within a national scenario where neo-liberalisation was a revered deity.

Prakash welcomed the industrial policy of the Bengal LF government standing as the policy did on a strengthened and augmented agrarian base. The industrialisation was aimed correctly at the generation of employment as jobloss growth overtook the country. All conspiracies against the Left-led government must be made nought through political movements and struggles, concluded the CPI (M) general secretary.

Other speakers at the convention included the former SFI leader Nilotpal Basu and the all-India SFI leader Ritabrata Banerjee. Another former SFI leader Somnath Bhattacharya acted as the facilitator of the convention.

B. PRASANT

Deve Gowda asks political parties to solve Singur impasse

Kolkata (PTI), 24th September: The West Bengal Government's compensation package to farmers at Singur is a "model" for other states, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on wednesday said and appealed to political parties to cooperate in solving the impasse at the Tata Motors site.

"I appeal to all political parties to cooperate and solve the problem. The opponents of the project are resisting it to fulfil their own political agenda," the Janata Dal (S) chief told a press conference here.

Gowda also asked the land losers to accept the package.

Asked about the Karnataka Government's offer of land to the Tatas for relocation of the small car project, he said, "the Tatas are welcome to Karnataka, but if they leave West Bengal at this time, it will adversely affect investment and industries."

Earlier, Gowda called on veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu, who is recovering at his Salt Lake residence after a head injury.

Talking to reporters after the 30-minute meeting, Gowda described the CPI(M) patriarch as an "international politician" and said he had wished him speedy recovery.

ATTACK ON SINGUR FACTORY GUARDS STRONGLY CONDEMNED

KOLKATA(INN), 23 SEPTEMBER: That Trinamul Congress goondas sneaked inside the Singur motor vehicles factory and severely beat up two security guards in the dark of the night of 22 September 2008 (both had to be removed for treatment to a hospital) has been condemned strongly by the Bengal Left Front. Biman Basu has called the assault ‘craven and conspiratorial.’

LF GOVT’S ROLE

Bimanda has clearly come out with an assertion that unhesitatingly points to a larger and wily scheme afloat to sabotage the sincere efforts of the Bengal Left Front government to ensure the re-commencement of the working of the Singur motor vehicles factory. A special package has already been announced for the people of Singur by way of a sustainable financial and economic rehabilitation. The package works out to the interests of all concerned – the landowners, the peasants, the share-croppers, and the agricultural labourers.

Bimanda is of the firm view that while there a determination in the drive of the Bengal LF government to maintain and secure the interest of both agriculture and of agriculturists, the effort is faced with a rejection of the package on irrational grounds by the Trinamul Congress and its cohorts for the simple reason that they would like to see the Singur project scuttled.

ROLE OF THE TRINAMULIS

The Trinamul Congress had earlier during their so-called dharna and Satyagraha, threatened the employees of the factory with dire consequences. The entrepreneurs chose to close the factory down pro tem. The fresh assaults are clear indicators of the design the Trinamul Congress and its gangsters have in mind in terms of permanently closing down the factory, and at the same time to terrorise the people of Singur.

Bimanda further said that while in public the Trinamul Congress ‘has gone on record to say that they are engaged in organising a peaceful Satyagraha,’ in practice, the attacks earlier and right now would simply prove if nothing else then the discordance of the Trinamul Congress with the process of development of Bengal. They do not want that there would an increase in employment through a process of pro-people industrialisation. They would not care to see a secure future for the generations to come in Bengal.

BENGAL LF’S APPEAL

The Bengal Left Front has appealed to the people of the state to come forward and to foil the conspiracy that is designated to harm Bengal’s interests. The LF also asks of the mass of the people to organise unified protests against all acts of commission and mischief like the latest instance of sneak attack.

Bimanda believes that ‘at this point of time it devolves on the people of Singur to decide whether there will be a motor vehicles project at Singur, or not.’ The LF in the meanwhile has called upon the state LF government to take all necessary steps to keep the law-and-order situation intact at Singur as elsewhere in Bengal, to maintain a peaceful setting, and to ensure that work resumes at the motor vehicles factory at Singur.

B. PRASANT

MAOISTS KILL CPI (M) ZONAL COMMITTEE LEADER IN BIRBHUM VILLAGE

KOLKATA(INN), 23 SEPTEMBER: Maoist assassins with conniving help from Trinamulis brutally killed comrade Nandalal Mistry (53), a member of the Khairashol zonal committee of the CPI (M) at Rajnagar in Birbhum bordering Jharkhand. This was the same region where exactly a year back, the Maoists had killed Tantipara local committee member of the CPI (M), comrade Sridam Das.

The morning of 22 September saw Comrade Nandalal going to the Agayabandi School where he is the headmaster when he was accosted by three or four young men who were standing besides a parked motorbike. They asked for a motorcycle repair shop. Unsuspecting, comrade Nandalal was pointing out the direction for the young men to take when the latter, trained killers all of a Maoist gang, fired at him twice. Both bullets found their marks at the close range from which they were discharged.

Bleeding profusely comrade Nandalal sank to the ground and the cowardly killers then stepped forward and brutally slit the fallen comrade’s throat -- and then fled after spreading about Maoist leaflets that talked of class war and class assassinations -- through killing a mild-mannered and elderly headmaster and a dedicated Communist, and the only bread-winner of a poor peasant family?

The grim fact of the matter is that the area has been earlier under the terrorist command of a joint Trinamul-Maoist-Jharkhandi gang. They also ran the Panchayat. It had been comrade Nandalal and the Khairashol zonal committee that organised and rallied the toiling masses – mostly kisans and khet mazdoors – to resist the killers and to wrest the Panchayati bodies away during this year’s polls. The Trinamuli-Maoist-Jharkhandis have been plotting avenge since.

Biman Basu, secretary of the Bengal unit of the CPI (M) has strongly condemned the killing and has called for an early bringing to book of the culprits and their associates and henchmen. Marches were brought out almost immediately after the killing became known and the protest demonstrations would continue until 26 September, the Birbhum district leadership of the CPI (M) informs us.

B. PRASANT

VC voice for industry cry

THE TELEGRAPH,

Issue Date: Tuesday , September 23 , 2008
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, Sept. 22: Vice-chancellors of the state’s leading universities today faxed an appeal to the government and all political parties to end the Singur impasse for the sake of Bengal’s youth.

Care was taken not to blame any political party, but while dwelling on Singur, the letter said: “Such obstacles to industrialisation cannot be imagined in any other state in India.”

Among the signatories were the vice-chancellors of Calcutta University, Jadavpur University and Rabindra Bharati University. The head of the Indian Statistical Institute and the chairman of the state higher education council also signed the letter.

Supporting the government’s drive, the vice-chancellors wrote: “The process of industrialisation that has started in Bengal is set to bring job opportunities to the young students in the state.

“Many of them, coming from poor and lower middle- class families, are waiting for these opportunities. The worst affected will be these young boys and girls if the process of industrialisation suffers.”

The letter said that if the right of the farmer to land was the main contention, an “acceptable solution” could have been reached by now.

“We appeal to the parties that instead of making it a political issue, they should allow the industrialisation process to progress in the interests of the youth of Bengal.”

The heads of the universities also dealt with the farmland-versus-industry debate, saying the argument about a threat to food security because of land acquisition had no merit.

“Fears that food security will be threatened in the state, when two to three per cent of the total land is being used for industry and infrastructure development, are baseless,” they said.

The academics also urged the government to adopt a clear policy of compensation and rehabilitation for the landlosers.

Swapan Pramanik, the vice-chancellor of Vidyasagar University, said institution heads held a meeting recently and took a decision to issue the appeal.

“The statement was prepared on the basis of a unanimous decision by all the vice-chancellors and pro-vice-chancellors,” Pramanik said.

Singur ball in Tata's court: Bengal

NDTV Correspondent

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 (Kolkata)


The West Bengal government has for the first time admitted there is a very real possibility that the Tatas may move out of Singur."With each passing day the prospects of the project are getting bleaker," West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen says.The Minister adds that he is disappointed by what he calls the Opposition's unreasonable demands, and that "Tatas will have to take a final call".

Reacting to the latest attack on Nano plant guards, the minister says: "It is very unfortunate that they have started this all over again. We have already announced a good compensation package. Majority of the people in Singur want this project. Majority of the people in the state also want this project. But the opposition is making very unreasonable demands."

Work had stopped in Singur plant following Trinamool-led demonstrations and Tata is reportedly looking for options to relocate the plant from Singur. The government has progressed little in the peace deal it is trying to broker with Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress so work can begin again at the Singur plant.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta high court has stayed the publication of full text of the pact between Tata Motors, state government and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation. Parts of it were made public.

West Bengal Govt. extends deadline for compensation

KOLKATA,23rd September: With the number of farmers reconsidering their earlier decision to refuse monetary compensation for their plots acquired for the Tata Motors project at Singur rising, the West Bengal government extended by two days its deadline — previously set for Monday — for the acceptance of applications. But, the Trinamool Congress leadership has reiterated its threat to renew the agitation for the return of land from within the project area to “unwilling farmers.”

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

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

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

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

Buddhadeb voices concern over future of industrialisation

Package on offer “to protect the interests of… all sections”

N. Ram

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee gives his frank assessment of the situation in Singur to N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu —

Kolkata,22nd September: “Time is running out and if we fail to come to an agreement, the Tatas will leave this State. That is the latest situation…[which is] very difficult,” West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told The Hindu in Kolkata on Sunday.

When I asked him for an update on the discussions to resolve the Singur dispute, he said he was doing his “level best to find a solution.” The Left Front government had come up with an attractive package the idea behind which was “to protect the interests of the farmers, all sections of the people, in Singur.”

As for the mood of the people, Mr. Bhattacharjee pointed out: “If you first take the situation in Singur, out of 12,000 landowners, 10,000 handed over the land. Two thousand have still not. But even these 2,000 are not totally opposing this project. At least half of them have no papers and are absentee landlords; they have no interest to come here and take money on that. But a small section is still opposing [the acquisition], no doubt about that. But the difference is between 10,000 and 2,000. In a democracy, it is the opinion of the majority that should be taken care of.”

A week ago the Government came out with a package, which was published in all newspapers. “For the landowners who have given their land for the project,” the Chief Minister noted, “we have increased the price of the land that we have already paid. We have proposed a package for unrecorded bargadars or sharecroppers, and for agricultural workers, a package to protect their interests. And there are proposals for the many boys and girls there who have studied in schools or polytechnics and have undergone training by the Tatas and also by government polytechnics. Almost 800 boys and girls are ready to join and we are going to recruit another 800 to 1000 who will get jobs in the main factory or in the ancillaries. And they wanted a portion of land from inside the factory area. I discussed this with the Tatas and finally we proposed that we could hand over 70 acres of land from inside the factory area.”

Mr. Bhattacharjee referred to his lengthy discussion with the Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerjee, before announcing the new package. “I tried to convince her: ‘Look, for the interest of the people of Singur and for the interest of the people of the whole State, you should accept this.’”
But she had still not accepted the package and there was “almost a situation where the Tatas are really thinking whether they will be able to continue in Singur.”

The Chief Minister said he contacted Ratan Tata and requested him to “just bear with us if we take some time to convince the opposition. They are waiting but they are seriously disturbed.”

Mr. Bhattacharjee commented that “if they leave the State, it will create a serious problem in our future industrialisation process.”

Respite in Singur

The withdrawal of the siege by activists of the Trinamool Congress of the Tata Motors factory in Singur marks a tentative first step towards a satisfactory resolution of the issues relating to land acquisition and compensation that have plagued the Nano car project right from the start. That the agitators who had been protesting for two weeks in front of the factory complex, threatening to derail the car project of the Tatas, have agreed to suspend their sit-in is in itsel f a welcome development. But the limited agreement reached between West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in the presence of West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi will need to be built upon if normal work on the car project is to resume. After repeatedly upping the ante, Ms Banerjee mellowed only after the Tata Group chairman, Ratan Tata, threatened to pull out of Singur, and the factory employees continued to stay away from work. At the crux of the controversy is the fact that the owners of 305.47 acres of the 997.11 acres of land that had been acquired for the car project refused to accept the compensation offered by the government. According to the agreement that has resulted from the Governor’s intervention, the government has now referred to a committee the possibility of giving land from within the project area as compensation to those who have turned down the monetary compensation.

The committee comprising representatives of the two sides has to decide within a week the scope and the modalities of land-based compensation. Tata Motors has made it clear that its requirement is that the ancillary units should be in close proximity to the main plant to ensure the financial viability of the project. This is essential if Nano is to live up to the promise of being the cheapest car, costing only Rs. one lakh. For the farmers who have lost land to the project, the compensation demanded is in the form of land from within the project area. In such a situation, there are obvious difficulties in forging a compromise. Quite understandably, Tata Motors has pointed to the “limited clarity” on the outcome of these discussions and has said it would not resume construction or commission work at the plant unless satisfied “that the viability of the project is not being impinged.” Mr. Gandhi has done his best in bringing the warring sides to the negotiating table. Given that she claims that she wants the car project in Singur, Ms Banerjee will have to push for a meaningful solution that will not jeopardise the Nano while giving the landowners their due.

The Hindu, Editorial,10th September,2008.

JSW Bengal ready to begin construction from Nov 2

KOLKATA: JSW Bengal Steel is set to lay the foundation stone of its Rs 35,000 crore integrated steel plant on November 2 at Salboni in West Midnapur.

The event is of significance as the image of West Bengal as an attractive investment destination has taken a battering following the impasse over Tata Motors' small car project.

“We want to begin the construction without any delay to meet our deadlines and thus the ground-breaking ceremony has been finalised on November 2 at the site,'' JSW Bengal Steel Joint-CEO and Managing Director, Mr Biswadip Gupta said.

Mr Gupta told PTI that the company has already done the financial closure of the first part of first phase steel plant of Rs 4,000 with State Bank of India as lead banker in the project being implemented at a debt equity ratio of 2:1.

“The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union Steel Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan have agreed to attend the ceremony,'' he said.

JSW Bengal Steel will have three million tonne steel plant in the first phase which is likely to be operational from 2011-12.

“We have received all necessary clearances, including the one to get water from river Rupnarayan required for the project,'' Mr Gupta said.

The company is also expecting to get the SEZ status for the project from the Commerce Ministry.

JSW Bengal will also have a three million tonne cement plant and a captive power plant. It will be able to scale up the steel production capacity to 10 million tonnes in phases. - PTI

Trinamool gives 7-day ultimatum to West Bengal govt

Singur controversy

Monday, 22 September , 2008, 00:05

Last Updated: Monday, 22 September , 2008, 10:13, PTI




Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday served a week's ultimatum to the West Bengal government to accept its demands for returning land of "unwilling" farmers at Tata Motors' car plant site at Singur or face fresh agitation.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee warned for the first time that the Tatas would leave the state if there was further delay in accepting the government's rehabilitation package for farmers.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, however, gave the government a seven-day deadline to operationalise the September 7 agreement reached between her and Bhattacharjee in the presence of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi or she would resume her suspended dharna outside the Tata Motors plant at Singur.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who a day earlier met the Governor to convey to him that he was open for talks with Trinamool Congress on the package that provides for 70 acres of land from within the Tata Motors car project area and compensation, appealed to the Opposition parties to withdraw their agitation and accept it.

"I appeal to Opposition parties to accept the government's package on the land acquisition at Singur for the Tata Motors factory and withdraw the agitation. If there is any further delay, this project will leave West Bengal," he said in a statement.

The Chief Minister's statement came in the backdrop of a number of states offering land and incentives to Tata Motors to set up the Nano car project there.

Bengal's economy will suffer if Tatas leave: Amartya Sen

Indo Asian News Service
Saturday, September 20, 2008 (Kolkata)

Expressing concern over the happenings related to the Tata Motors factory in Singur, nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen has said West Bengal's economy will suffer a big jolt if the auto major decides to shift its small car plant out of the state.Sen found the fresh compensation package announced by the government "just".

"Apart from the fact that the state will lose out on the investment relating to the motor factory and the ancillary industries, (if the Tatas go away) the view that will gain currency across India is that West Bengal's brand of politics makes it impossible for any economic initiative, and street politics can jeopardise any venture," Sen said in a letter published in the vernacular daily Anandabazar Patrika.

Though the state government had erred during its failed bid to set up a chemical hub in Nandigram, it did not commit any such fundamental mistake regarding the Tata Nano project, Sen said.

He felt the small car facility and the ancillary industries would be good for the state and would help it in dispelling the notion, at least partially, that the state's industrial climate was not conducive to set up projects.

The Nobel prize winner termed it as a "bit unfortunate" that the factory was coming up on fertile farmland.

"I am not at all concerned over the quantum of land being used for the project, as it is very small compared to the total farmland in the state," he said.

"Moreover, the losses due to acquisition of farmland would be more than compensated by the increase in employment opportunities and income in Singur. But to those unwilling to give their land, it's a big loss, and that's a vital question," the economist said.

Sen said the best case scenario would have been if the required land was purchased directly from the landowners. "Acquisition should be the last resort."

He also felt the 40 percent over the then market price given to the landlosers at the time of the acquisition was not enough. "Because it was always expected that due to industrialisation, the price of land in the area would skyrocket.

"But now if the Tatas leave Singur, and there is a high possibility of that happening, then Singur will be back to its old self, and the land price will nosedive. Those holding protests must be worried over that. But the government should have paid much more than what it paid for the land at the time of acquisition," Sen said.

"The compensation package announced by the government recently is much more just. And along with the promise for alternative employment and other benefits, the new proposals can be rated as a good compromise formula," he added.

With several other states announcing sops for Tata Motors to set up the small car plant, there is a possibility that the company was preparing to move out. "If the deadlock is not resolved within a short time, then it is widely believed that the company will leave Singur. But in that scenario, even if the owners get back their land, they will not get it in its original shape," he warned.

Sen regretted the state's political character would change only when the ruins, both in terms of industries and economy, become more visible. "But this is a futuristic statement. Now, there is a strong attraction for street politics. To that has been added the wrong notion of physiocrats of yesteryears that agriculture is the only way to prosperity," he said.

FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER

From THE TELEGRAPH,

Issue Date: Saturday , September 20 , 2008
Huge price of street politics

AMARTYA SEN ON THE SINGUR SITUATION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great loss to West Bengal if Tatas leave Singur: Pranab

September 21st, 2008 - 7:00 pm ICT by IANS

Kolkata, Sep 21 (IANS): It would be a “great loss” to West Bengal if Tata Motors shifts its Nano unit out of Singur, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Sunday.”It will be a very unfortunate incident if Tata Motors leaves our state. It’ll be a great loss to West Bengal,” Mukherjee told reporters at Baharampur town in Murshidabad district, about 220 km from here.

He said: “There’s no conflict between agriculture and industrial reforms. Both can go hand in hand.”

“If we want to progress in the modern civilisation we’ve to maintain a balance between both. We can neither ignore agriculture nor the need of the industry in today’s world,” Mukherjee said, expressing concern over the ongoing stalemate in Singur.

Tata Motors began constructing the Singur factory two years ago to launch the Nano, the world’s cheapest car at Rs.100,000 (about $2,250).

However, work at the plant has been suspended due to an agitation by the Trinamool Congress for returning part of the land allotted for the project.

CM says Tatas will leave Bengal if package not accepted

21 Sep, 2008, 2357 hrs IST, PTI

KOLKATA: Chances of a solution to Singur impasse on Sunday appeared to have receded further with West Bengal government warning for the first time that the Tatas would leave the state if there was further delay in accepting its rehabilitation package for farmers and Trinamool Congress threatening fresh agitation of its demand was not accepted. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who a day earlier met the Governor to convey to him that he was open for talks with Trinamool Congress on the package that provides for 70 acres of land from within the Tata Motors car project area and compensation, appealed to the opposition parties to withdraw their agitation and accept it. "I appeal to opposition parties to accept the government's package on the land acquisition at Singur for the Tata Motors factory and withdraw the agitation. If there is any further delay, this project will leave West Bengal," he said in a statement. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, however, gave the government a seven-day deadline to operationalise the September 7 agreement reached between her and Bhattacharjee in the presence of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi or she would resume her suspended dharna outside the Tata Motors plant at Singur.

The Chief Minister's statement came in the backdrop of a number of states offering land and incentives to Tata Motors to set up the Nano project there. "Since the project will go out of West Bengal if there is further delay, therefore without any loss of time Tata Motors and ancilliary units should be given the opportunity to resume work at Singur," Bhattacharjee said. "Let all of us take the initiative to successfully implement this promising project in the interest of the state, the entire people of Singur and future generations," he said. The Trinamool Congress chief, speaking on Bhattacharjee's appeal to accept the package and withdraw the agitation, "if the Tatas leave, it is their affair. There is a mutual agreement with them (the government and Tatas)." She said it was the government which was not interested in solving the problem. "They are neither for the industry nor agriculture." Banerjee said she had met Gandhi prior to the agreement after he wrote to her stating that the state government had offered a land-based solution in and around the Nano project area. "Therefore, I had attended the meeting (on September 7) for a face-to-face meeting with the chief minister. But the government did not operationalise the agreement and turned 180 degrees and declared a rehabilitation package unilaterally," she said. Prior to resumption of dharna, TC plans a rally at Singur on September 26 after observing 'Singur Diwas' a day earlier. "We also know that this is the time of Ramzan and will be followed by Durga Puja. We will not inconvenience the people. But at the same time the movement will go on

Governor urges WB govt, TC to continue talks on Singur

20 Sep, 2008, 2240 hrs IST, PTI

KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Saturday asked both the government and the Trinamool Congress to persevere with their discussions in the interest of a solution to the continuing Singur impasse at a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The governor, who met Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee yesterday, conveyed to the Chief Minister the salient responses of Mamata Banerjee to the package proposed by him on September 12, together with the governor's own assessment of the situation, a Raj Bhavan release said. The Chief Minister, who went to the Raj Bhavan for the meeting with the governor, reiterated the features of the government's new package. The release said, "at the same time the Chief Minister said that the door was open for further discussion on Banerjee's responses to the package. "The governor has urged both sides to persevere with their discussions in the interest of a solution which the people of the state desire and deserve," it said. Sources, however, said that Chief Minister told the governor that a solution to the Singur impasse was possible only if the Trinamool Congress accepted the government's newly-announced rehabilitation package.

Tata Singur impasse: West Bengal govt rules out further concessions

19 Sep, 2008, 2346 hrs IST, PTI

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee on Friday met West Bengal Governor Goaplkrishna Gandhi seeking his intervention for fresh talks to break the deadlock on Singur issue even as West Bengal government ruled out any further concession on a land-for-land agreement. Banerjee had an 80-minute meeting with Gandhi at the Raj Bhavan and later told reporters that her party wanted a solution in the interest of the people and the state" and asked the government to implement the September 7 agreement reached between her and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for a land-for-land solution. Banerjee, who had earlier threatened to go on the warpath from any day after September 19, said after meeting the Governor that if necessary her party was prepared for more talks with the government. However, adopting a tough posture, the Chief Minister ruled out any further concession on the offer already made by it to return 70 acre from Tata Motors car plant complex to "unwilling" farmers and asked the TC to accept it saying only this can lead to a solution of the imbroglio. "A solution to the (Singur) problem is possible if the Opposition accepts the package which was publicised on September 14 on the basis of the talks between the government and the opposition in the presence of the honourable governor", Bhattacharjee said in a statement. "I hope good sense will prevail on the government and it will operationalise the decisions taken at the September 7 agreement signed in the presence of the Governor," Banerjee said. Referring to the agreement, she said "maximum land means it may be 400 acre or 410 acre or 392 acre. All those affected farmers who did not accept compensation should be returned their land." "According to records with us farmers who held 353 acres which was acquired for the project, besides the 50 acres belonging to bargadars, should be given back their land."

Singur: Mamata seeks central intervention

17 Sep, 2008, 2151 hrs IST, PTI

KOLKATA: With West Bengal government on Wednesday rejecting the party's demand for return of 300 acre from the Tata Motors project at Singur, Trinamool Congress accused it of violating the Constitution and demanded central intervention. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee claimed the September 7 agreement on Singur, reached between the state government and her party in the presence of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, had been "violated". ''If the state government does not give credence to the commitment made in the agreement in the presence of the constitutional head, then it is a case of violation of the Constitution and it is time that the Centre steps in'', she said. Rejecting chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's offer of return of 70 acre from within the project site at Singur to 'unwilling' landlosers, she charged the government had 'cheated' people by 'violating the agreement' and reiterated her demand for return of 400 acre. Countering the chief minister that the government had never agreed to return of 300 acre from within the project site and 100 acre from outside, she said ''this is totally untrue and an act of fraud on Singur. This government is visionless and has no idea about industry and agriculture.'' Claiming that the government had 'no moral right to continue in office' for flouting the Raj Bhavan agreement, she also claimed that the chief minister had 'also closed the door for further talks' by not waiting for the Governor to return from Delhi before announcing its fresh package of compensation.

WB Govt doing everything to settle Singur problem: Karat

Kolkata, September 18, 2008
First Published: 19:33 IST(18/9/2008)
Last Updated: 20:14 IST(18/9/2008)

The West Bengal CPI(M) on Thursday declined to comment on Karnataka's offer of 1,000 acres to the Tata Motors Nano car project, with party General Secretary Prakash Karat saying the state government has been making all efforts to resolve the Singur deadlock.

"The state government is doing everything to settle the issue. We will discuss on Friday what to do next," Karat, who discussed the issue with the party's leaders at the state party headquarters here, told reporters.

The party state secretariat would meet on Friday where the Singur stalemate might figure in discussions in presence of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee and other party leaders including Left Front chairman Biman Bose.

Karat did not comment when asked what line of action would be taken by the government in view of the uncertainty over the Tata Motors project with the government and Opposition locking horns over the land issue.

He also declined comment when asked how long Tata Motors would continue with the supension of work at Singur.

Accompanied by Bose, Karat also met ailing veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu at his residence at Salt Lake before leaving for Delhi.

On the Karnataka offer to Tata Motors of 1,000 acres in case the company decided to relocate its Nano car project, Bose said, "I have only heard from you. Let me know for myself the matter in detail, only then will I comment. Let me see what kind of offer it is. Earlier, too, some states have made such offers to the Tatas." (PTI)

Interview with Industries Minister Nirupam Sen

Nirupam Sen: “We followed rules.We are now working on a rehabilitation package.”

By SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY

WITH Tata Motors suspending work at the Nano plant site in Singur and exploring alternative sites outside West Bengal, the prospect of an industrial revival in the State hang by a thread. In an exclusive interview with Frontline on September 3, State Industries Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Nirupam Sen spoke at length on the importance of the project and why it is impossible for the State government to return the 400 acres [one acre is 0.4 hectare] of land to reluctant land-losers, as demanded by Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.

According to Sen, it is not a question of compensation alone but also one of including the poor people in the region in the industrial process.

Excerpts from the interview, which took place before the two sides held talks at Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s initiative:

Q:What impact will a departure of Tata Motors’ Nano project have on West Bengal?

Nirupam Sen: It is bad news for West Bengal, but I still see a ray of hope. If we can resolve the issue amicably within a short space of time, we hope to be able to persuade Tata Motors to restart work at the plant site.

From the economic point of view, the automobile industry accelerates growth in the manufacturing sector by acting as a stimulant for the growth of small and medium enterprises manufacturing components. It is not just the small car mother plant that had come but also 55 component manufacturers. The number of people expected to get employment in these enterprises would have been more than double the number of people engaged in the mother plant.

Moreover, other component manufacturers were also showing interest in investing in the State; this, in turn, would have encouraged other automobile manufacturers also to come to the State.
This automobile plant is extremely important in India. Every international player has started looking at India as a destination to set up its unit. At present there are three automobile manufacturing centres in the country, in the north, the south and the west, and it was time for the east, and West Bengal had the opportunity to house this kind of a project, which would have accelerated growth, added to the revenue generation of the State government, and increased the employment potential in the State.

With the entire world looking on with interest at this project, the decision of the Tatas has tarnished the image of not only the State but the whole country. If a project of this kind cannot be implemented in the State, it will have an adverse impact on the minds of the potential investors as well.

Q:Was the State government expecting a decision like this?

Nirupam Sen: Well, Mr Tata was naturally concerned because nobody would want the factory to run under police protection. He had hoped that the people of the State would want a project like the small car factory and there would be a peaceful atmosphere in the workplace.

I can understand his point of view. Any investor would want that.

What is particularly disturbing is that those who are agitating in Singur had promised the State government that they would not indulge in violence, nor impede the activities in the factory. Unfortunately that was not the case. They stopped workers from going into the factory. They blocked the passage of some engineers who had come down from abroad to help in the work, and finally forced Tata Motors to suspend operations.

Q:Has the State government spoken to the Tatas to change their mind and give West Bengal one more chance?

Nirupam Sen: Not yet. Let us resolve the issue first. Attempts are on, and with the Honourable Governor, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, taking the initiative and talking with both the sides to settle the issue, we are hopeful of a positive result soon.

Q:Why is it not possible to return the 400 acres to the unwilling farmers, as demanded by Mamata Banerjee? Could the Tatas not have been persuaded?

Nirupam Sen: It’s not about persuading the Tatas; the question of returning land is a very complicated one. Initially, when the project was conceived, it was done in such a fashion that along with the mother plant, the vendors’ park would be an essential component and would be complementary to the mother plant. The Nano is an extremely price-sensitive car. Therefore, when the planning of the project was done, all the vendors’ and component manufacturers’ exact locations were also determined to the best advantage of the project. Accordingly, vendors were given land allotment. So, when the question arises to returning a portion of that land, it will be tantamount to abandonment of the project itself.

Secondly, even if it is agreed that the land may be returned, the question is whether it is possible to return the land acquired under the Land Acquisition Act to the erstwhile owners. In this case, the verdict of the Supreme Court has made it absolutely clear that this is not possible. The verdict states categorically that once land has been acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, it cannot be returned to the erstwhile owners.

Moreover, the Calcutta High Court has upheld the legality of the land acquisition proceedings in Singur and decided that the land acquired for the Tata project is an acquisition for a public purpose. Though the judgment has been challenged in the Supreme Court, until and unless the Supreme Court turns it down, the High Court verdict stands. But, going back to the main point, even legally, whichever government may be in power, it cannot return the land to its erstwhile owners.

There is another important aspect involved in this: of the total land-losers in the acquisition of 997 acres, those who have refused compensation are being called ‘unwilling land-losers’; there is no such term in the Land Acquisition Act. There is no provision in the Act to take into consideration who is willing and who is not. At the time of notification for land acquisition, farmers were allowed to express their points of view at the hearings; we have followed all the rules, never once deviating from the legal path.

But, for the sake of argument, let us take into consideration the ‘unwilling farmers’; the point now is, is their land in a contiguous area or on one side of the location? No. It is spread over the entire site, as the map I have given you clearly shows, and to return such land, as I have said, would mean abandoning the project.

Let us say, for the sake of argument, that we return the land to the unwilling farmer. In order to do that we have to give him access to his own land, and for that we have to take other land also. Is that feasible?

I’d like to make another point. So, we cannot return to the unwilling land-losers the land they held; but we can add up the total amount of land, and that amount we can give to them from a portion of the land in one corner of the site. In other words, we take the land of A, who has taken the compensation, and give it to B, who has refused compensation, taking into account the fact that after the construction of the factory the price of land has shot up.

Would that be morally justifiable? What answer will the government give to the man who gave his land willingly for compensation only to see it handed over to another who has defied the law, and particularly when the value of the land has increased so very much? If they (the ‘willing’ farmers) knew this is what would happen, they would not have agreed to part with their land in the first place. Such a thing would jeopardise the entire land acquisition process and set a precedent that would impact not only the State but the country as a whole.

Q:So what were the alternatives?


Nirupam Sen: First, let us get one thing clear: what is the main issue here? It is whether the government is serious about protecting the economic interests of those who lose their land; whether they are being thrown out or being included in the process of development. In this particular case, the State government has all along been willing to consider all the proposals by which we can protect the interests of those land-losers – particularly the marginal farmers and sharecroppers. It can be through the provision of jobs and through other kinds of activities such as skill-upgradation programmes, and even providing help to set up some kind of business. If your interest is to protect the livelihood of the people in the region, then there is enough scope to do so; and I say they should have a better livelihood after this industrialisation.

Q:Did you consider hiking the compensation?

Nirupam Sen: First, the price given to farmers at the time of land acquisition was considerably higher than the market price at that time. The price of the best land there, just by the National Highway, was not more than Rs.2 lakh an acre then, but we gave much more than that. But it would be wrong to compare it with today’s price because after the Tatas started setting up their factory, the price has shot up.

Secondly, I don’t think merely compensation is enough. I believe there should also be a rehabilitation programme. Whatever be the compensation, it is important that an alternative means of livelihood also be provided; we have been working on that right from the day we started acquiring the land. Almost simultaneously, we issued an advertisement in newspapers inviting applications from employable members of the families of land-losers. More than 3,000 people responded, over 500 of them women and 500 agricultural labourers. They have been provided with different kinds of training; in fact, already more than 1,000 people of the area earn their livelihood from working in that particular plant. So, even before production, so many people have gained employment there.

Not only that, if you look at the local economy, it is evident how much it has grown since the construction work started at the plant site. Branches of banks have come up; recently in a fair organised in the region by Maruti, the company sold 20 cars in one day in Singur alone. A number of motorised rickshaw vans have replaced cycle rickshaws and handcarts; so many people are engaged in supplying different kinds of construction materials – sand, bricks, stone chips.

Self-help groups have emerged. While 40 women have been provided sewing machines, 25 women run a canteen. As many as 350 boys are being given advanced training so that they can be employed in the factory itself. So, you can see there is quite a huge growth in economic activities in the Singur area. All these activities have taken place at the initiative of the State government to rehabilitate the people of the region.

Even after all these efforts if it was brought to our notice that someone had been left out, we were committed to protecting their interests as well. Even if there was no one employable in a particular family for any number of reasons, and there was no other means for them to survive than through land, we were ready to provide relief and assistance to them. We are open to any new ideas.

Q:Is the State government coming up with any plan regarding its land acquisition policy to avoid such fiascos in the future?

Nirupam Sen: We are now working on a rehabilitation package. Wherever we want to acquire land we discuss with the local people and try to evolve a package. Every industry has its own specific nature, as does every area.
While we cannot compare one with another, there should be certain common features in the rehabilitation package offered. We are working on that. In fact, recently we had a workshop involving economists, social scientists and the chambers of commerce, where we exchanged views and ideas.
We are also continuously discussing among ourselves, with our Left Front partners. We will come out with a publication once we arrive at a comprehensive consensus.