A new roadblock

West Bengal: The Tata Small Car project again runs into trouble as the Trinamool Congress-backed KJRC resorts to violence.

TROUBLE has resurfaced at the Tata Small Car Project site in Singur in West Bengal’s Hooghly district. Supporters of the Trinamool Congress-backed Krishi Jami Rakshya (protection of farmland) Committee (KJRC) beat up a civil engineer working at the site and threatened the workers there with dire consequences if they did not quit their jobs and leave Singur.

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee stoked the fire, emboldened by the success of her party in Singur in the recent panchayat elections. She announced an indefinite gherao of the plant site from August 24 until 400 acres (160 hectares) of the 997.11 acres (399 ha) acquired for the project were returned to the reluctant landlosers.

That was enough cause for concern for the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front government, which sees the project as one that involves the most important investment in the manufacturing sector in recent times. And Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant’s recent statement only added to its anxiety. Asked about the problems faced by the company in Singur, Kant said, “We are continuing as long as our patience lasts” – a statement with obvious ominous connotations.

Right from the beginning of this project in 2006, the Trinamool Congress, along with the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), has been attempting to put a spanner in the works, be it over the acquisition of land or over compensation for the landlosers. In the most recent incident, on July 29, Manish Khatua, an engineer in the employ of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd, entrusted with the civil construction of the small car plant, was beaten with iron rods by a group of villagers, allegedly KJRC members.

According to reports, the incident took place when Khatua tried to prevent the group from stealing iron rods from the plant site. The incident occurred less than 48 hours after the KJRC threatened employees at the plant site. It even launched a midnight attack with handmade bombs on a nearby lodge where some of the workers were staying.

Volatile as the situation has been at the troubled plant site for the past two years, the latest incidents left workers shaken. According to sources, a sizeable section of workers was too scared to report for work for a few days even though police protection and the number of Tatas’ own security guards were increased around the plant site.

“With almost 80 per cent of the construction work over, at present on any given day, there are between 2,500 to 3,000 people working at the site, and there has been an exodus of quite a few because of the KJRC’s intimidation tactics,” a source close to Tata Motors told Frontline. This has to some extent affected the progress of the work, but the company’s top brass are apparently confident that Nano, the Rs.1 lakh car, will roll out of the factory “between October and December this year”.

At present there are around 600 policemen deployed in Singur along with 500 private security personnel employed by Tata Motors. In fact, State Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty himself went to Singur to take stock of the situation and even held a meeting at the factory site on August 5 to discuss the law-and-order situation.

Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, has stuck to her guns, refusing repeated invitations from the State government to sit for talks on the issue. She has ruled out any possibility of talks unless the 400 acres acquired without the consent of farmers are returned.

Out of around 12,000 landowners who were affected, 1,500 refused to accept compensation, demanding the return of their land. “Nowhere else in this country has any opposition party of a State hindered the development and growth of the State for a short-term political gain; in all other States, the opposition has the greater interest of the State in mind,” a government source told Frontline.

Mamata Banerjee’s stand on Singur has not found the kind of support she may have been hoping for. Perhaps realising this, she adopted a more conciliatory tone at a press conference on August 5, where she said, “I am not opposed to industrialisation and I do not want the Tatas to leave Singur, but I want the 400 acres forcibly acquired from unwilling farmers to be returned to them.”

She has apparently already identified land opposite the plant site where, according to her, ancillary units could be accommodated. This was done without consulting either the State government or Tata Motors.

The government, however, has ruled out the possibility of any part of the land being returned. West Bengal Commerce and Industries Minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Nirupam Sen said the 400 acres in question were scattered over the project site: “How can the government return this land without jeopardising the whole project?”

Moreover, a Supreme Court ruling also states that land acquired for a public purpose cannot be resold to the erstwhile owners but can either be used for another public purpose or, failing that, be put to public auction and the sale proceeds used for a public purpose (State of Kerala vs. N. Bhaskaran Pillai, 1997 vide SCC, 432).

On January 18, the Calcutta High Court upheld, while disposing of a number of public interest litigation cases, the State government’s land acquisition proceeding in Singur, making it clear in a 217-page judgment that land acquisition in the region was “made for the public purpose of employment generation and socio-economic development of the region” and ruled out any mala fide intention of the State government in acquiring land in Singur.

The Tata project is of singular importance to West Bengal. The Rs.1,000-crore project involves one of the biggest investments in the manufacturing industry in the State and is expected to kick-start its reindustrialisation process. Once it is operational, the project is expected to employ 2,000 people directly and 10,000 indirectly. Besides, it is expected to generate spin-offs in different manufacturing spheres and also attract other kinds of industrial investments.

In the Left government’s perception, the industrial future of West Bengal hinges on this prestigious project – a future that envisions industrial growth and employment that will reduce the burden on land and the “disguised unemployment” in the rural economy of the State. According to industrial experts, if the Tatas back out of West Bengal, it will create a “ripple effect” in the industry, severely hampering future investment in the State and crushing hopes of an industrial resurgence.

The State government found support in Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen, who during a recent visit to Kolkata told reporters, “Industrialisation is a must for development. I do not know of any country in the world where development has taken place focussing solely on agriculture. If the Tatas back out of Singur, it may imperil the industrial future of West Bengal. Concerned parties should try to resolve this matter through talks.”

The government has swung into action to allay the fears created in the industry and among the people of West Bengal by Kant’s statement and the Trinamool’s subsequent threat of staging an indefinite siege in Singur.

At a function on August 5 celebrating the birth anniversary of the legendary Marxist leader Muzzafar Ahmed, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said: “Whatever the obstructions, neither the Tatas nor the State government is going to back out. There is no reason to worry. There will be more projects like the one in Singur, providing more opportunity for employment for the new generation.” He said land was acquired in Singur strictly according to the Central government’s guidelines and “not an inch in excess of the requirement was taken”.

Like his Industries Minister, he made it clear that there could be no returning of land to disgruntled farmers. “That would mean the end of the project. Then what excuse would I give the 6,000 youths of the State waiting to get employment there?” he said.

At the same time, the State government is exploring the possibility of rehabilitating these farmers on land in the vicinity by providing them opportunities to learn new skills.

SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY

FRONTLINE,

Volume 25 - Issue 17 :: Aug. 16-29, 2008

GRAPHIX: THE TELEGRAPH

SC widens scope of ‘public purpose'

NEW DELHI: This Supreme Court judgment is sure to take the wind out of political agitations — including the one by Mamata Banerjee at Singur — opposing largescale acquisition of land for setting up of projects, particularly those by private players in different states. The court ruled on Friday that any project giving largescale employment has to be treated as one serving public purpose, thus legitimising the role of state in facilitating land acquisition.

Earlier, narrow interpretation of ‘public purpose’ entitled the state to acquire large tracts of land only if every component of the project to be set up on the acquired land passed the test of public benefit. Departing from this, the apex court gave a very wide meaning to the words ‘‘public purpose’’ and said: ‘‘If the project taken as a whole is an attempt in the direction of bringing foreign exchange, generating employment opportunities and securing economic benefits to the state and the public at large, it will serve public purpose.’’ Accepting in toto arguments advanced by solicitor general G E Vahanvati, who appeared for Andhra Pradesh, a bench comprising Justices C K Thakker and D K Jain cleared the state’s acquisition of vast tracts of land to set up an integrated project, meant to make Hyderabad a major business-cum-leisure tourism centre. The bench held that the project, to be implemented by Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure Investment Corporation (APIIC), would make Hyderabad a world-class business destination.

The fallout of this judgment is significant as the court upheld ‘‘development of infrastructure’’ as legal and legitimate ‘‘public purpose’’ for exercising power of eminent domain. ‘‘Simply because a company has been chosen for fulfilment of such public purpose does not mean that the larger public interest has been sacrificed, ignored or disregarded,’’ said the bench. This is sure to come in handy for the embattled Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government to counter the arguments of Mamata Banerjee against Tata’s Nano project at Singur. To determine ‘public purpose’, the project has to be taken as a whole and judged whether it was in the larger public interest, and then its various components also put to the same test, the bench said. The judgment is in keeping with the requirements of the time with the public sector having long ago ceased to occupy the ‘‘commanding heights’’ of economy, ceding ground to the private sector.

However, while the domination of public sector has diminished, there is resistance to state playing the enabler for the private sector. The SC on Friday applied it more to the joint venture, given the nature of the case being discussed. The joint venture mechanism for implementing the policy, executing the project and achieving lawful public purpose for realising the goal of larger public good would neither destroy the object not vitiate the exercise of power of public purpose for development of infrastructure, the bench said.

6 Sep 2008, 0120 hrs IST,

Dhananjay Mahapatra,

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Brand Bengal stands to lose Rs 80,000 cr

KOLKATA: If the Tatas go, they will take with them almost everything that matters to Brand Bengal: image and the big bucks. The first entity doesn’t carry a price tag but the second one does: a whopping Rs 80,000 crore in investments. The immediate loss will be over Rs 5,000 crore, including the investments on the ancillary units in Singur. The list would also include tier-II vendors, who will have no reason to be here once Ratan Tata moves out.

What’s more, the Tata brands like Tata Realty Infrastructure, Tata Metaliks and Maithon Power Limited might also take flight, amounting to a loss of at least Rs 10,000 crore. Besides, there are other big-time investors who are already jittery. Bharat Forge, which had decided to invest big time in Bengal largely because of the Nano plant in Singur, is now in two minds. The company would have brought in Rs 6,500 crore. This top-of-the-line forging company had signed an MoU with the government earlier this year. Ever since trouble erupted in Singur, their response to the state industries department is: We’ll get back.

Brand Bengal had attracted investment announcements of Rs 1,27,302 crore since the third quarter of the last financial year. But this target is now a distant dream. In case of a Tata pullout, there will be a question mark on the investment from nonferrous metal major Vedanta Group. That will be another Rs 16,000 crore gone. Then, there are steel majors who would have implemented their projects this year, but are apprehensive now. All these steel majors, including Adhunik (Rs 5,000 crore), Shyam Steel (Rs 8,000 crore), Jay Balaji (Rs 16,500 crore), Bhushan Steel (Rs 4,000 crore), Abhijit Group (Rs 8,000 crore) may not be all that keen to invest. ‘‘None of these steel majors will stay on, once the Tatas go,’’ an industries department official said. ‘‘These investments had come after sheer hard work. We had also roped in other automobile majors. Two months ago, they were ready to start work. Now, they are saying they would rather wait and watch,’’ he said.

4 Sep 2008, 1010 hrs IST,

TIMES NEWS NETWORK.

SHAHID DIVAS RALLY WITNESSES A PACKED KOLKATA INDOOR STADIUM

RALLIES HELD IN EVERY DISTRICT OF BENGAL ON 31 AUGUST

KOLKATA(INN): Just over a month back, CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat while in Kolkata to attend a state committee meeting, told us that once the ongoing campaign-movement reached a peak all-over Bengal -- against US intransigence, against the Indian government’s kow-towing before imperialism, and against the runaway inflation, all the secondary and tertiary issues that were created by the Bengal opposition in its different avatars, to tease, taunt, provoke and ultimately harm not only the people of Bengal, but also the Bengal CPI (M), and the Bengal Left Front government, ‘would get subsumed in the people’s struggles.’

MASS MOVEMENTS

Truer words were seldom spoken as was demonstrated by the massive, unprecedented attendance at all the rallies that were being held all-over Bengal, in towns as well as rural areas, on the occasion of remembering the sacrifice of the shahids (martyrs) of the food movements of the past, especially those who were brutally killed in 1966 by the then Congress-run Bengal government. That was not all as the campaign movement widened and deepened among the toiling masses.

The Maoist intransigence has stopped in its tracks. Nandigram has seen only occasionally flaring up despite the Trinamul Congress’s quite unexpected, and as yet unexplained, electoral step forward of the in the last rural polls; and the Darjeeling separatists have halted in their onerous trail to gradually convert the three hill subdivisions into a separate district for all practical purposes.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Bengal chief minister and a senior CPI (M) leader of Bengal started his address at the indoor stadium, after the roar of applause has finally died down when he had stepped up and taken the microphone on the podium, a usual phenomenon and one that leaves him visibly and always in great discomfiture, by asking rhetorically what could be the ‘ways-and-means’ to fathom and plumb the depth of the present situation in India-- and in Bengal?

TWO ISSUES

Two issues, he answered his own query, ‘we must ponder over, and with seriousness that they deserve.’ These were, first, the programme of the campaign movement in the days, weeks, and months, even years to come. Second, what are the ideological, political, organisational, and yes, developmental tasks that the Bengal CPI (M) wants to achieve, taking along the toiling exploited masses of the people all the way?

Buddhadeb served a warning when he said that ‘at the present moment we have a central government that would not even marginally bother about the vast economic crisis overwhelming the nation.’ There is a double digit inflation just topping the fearful figure of 13% plus. The prices of essential commodities are soaring up, productivity has fallen below 7% -- and the smile on the faces of the hoarders and black-marketers, enjoying ‘safe havens’ under the Singh dispensation, are becoming broader and broader.

CORRECT JUNCTURE

Buddhadeb said that some time back, and at the correct juncture, the CPI (M) and the Left had withdrawn their outside support from the Congress-run UPA government. ‘We may remind you of the circumstances that had led us to lend them our support in the first place: there was then a second coming of the BJP, claws, teeth, fangs and talons exposed, ready to ride the rath (chariot) of Hindutva, preparing to render the nation asunder along communal fault lines.’

‘We needed to stop the BJP from assuming office. That was the reason, and the sole reason, behind our lending outside support to the Congress whose authoritarian features the CPI (M) knows better than any political outfit in India, especially from our experiences in Bengal of the 1970s.

Nevertheless, was the support unconditional? No, it was certainly not. A Common Minimum Programme had been drawn up. Two committees had been formed: one of the UPA and the other, the pro-people, Left coordination committee. The condition was the implementation of the contents of the CMP.

‘Soon we started to realise that the Singh régime was moving away from the CMP – slowly at first and then with gleeful rapidity, and the two committees started to meet less and less, and the blemish did not lay with the sincere and mature leadership of the CPI (M) and the Left.

‘We knew that we were about to come under fire – already the people grilled us about our raison d’être of suppoporitng an anti-people government. The oil prices were allowed to float upwards with nary a concern for the cascading and harmful effects on the economy. Would the Singh government mind?

LF WITH THE PEOPLE

The LF government has withdrawn a large chunk of its share of taxes on fuel – a slight but important relief to the people’s economy, the economy where the toiling masses operate for their daily livelihood. Accountable to the people, we even stood the loss of crores of rupees every month by starting to supply rice, lentils, and edible oil at a concessional price.

In the meanwhile, the Singh government was running away with its wishes. ‘We had said “no!” to the “strategic partnership” with the US.’ The central government fussed over the issue but went quietly ahead with its anti-people, anti-national machinations. ‘We had said that they should put an immediate stop to all those “joint exercises” and their likes – but would they listen for a moment—no, and the “no” was not exactly unexpected by then to us, given the central government’s class character.’


WHAT STANDS IN BETWEEN

‘On the last occasion I met Prime Minister Singh,’ said Buddhadeb, ‘I told him quite categorically that the being that stands between the left and the Congress is none other than the one and only George W Bush – and the prime minister would not bother for a response.’

An important task ahead is the building up of a third alternative – a long-drawn task, indeed, for that alternative must come up through the vagaries and the challenges of mass movements all over the country – and not just in the Left-run states. The Left would of course grow from strength to strength as the principal force of opposition in the days to come, was Buddhadeb’s firm belief and conviction.

agriculture and industry

Narrating the agrarian successes of Bengal in recent times, Buddhadeb iterated the need for industries for employment-oriented growth. He was critical of the opposition when they talk out of turn and damning the law of the land about ‘returning and for which compensation has not been received.’ Buddhadeb again said that the portals for discussion were open but within the present legal and administrative frame work.

Buddhadeb also explained what was meant by ancillary units and how these units must abut the mother plant for the production chain to be of any viability at all. The strife going on around Singur is one-sided – nay, more it is a strife between the opposition and the aam janta of Bengal, between the forces of development and the forces of regression – and the question that faces everybody is this: would the state move forwards along its determined path of pro-people, pro-poor, pro-employment growth or would the Trinamul Congress get on with its evil design of stalling the entire process?

Biman Basu who presided spoke briefly on the purport of the rally and on the significance of the day. He narrated his experiences of the food movements in which he had taken a part as a young lad, and had had its first test Congress régime’s brutal ways. Bimanda concluded by saying that all kinds of developmental works in Bengal must take the people along with the entire process and procedures.

Left Front constituent leaders addressing the rally were Manju Kumar Majumdar (CPI), Barun Mukherjee (FB), Debabrata Bandyopadhyay (RSP), Pratim Chatterjee (Marxist FB), Janmejoy Ojha (WBSP), Prabodh Sinha (DSP), Mihir Byne (RCPI), and Rita Chaudhuri (BBC).

(B. PRASANT)

31 August,2008

Infosys Chief Narayana Murthy speaks out for Tata Nano

THE CORPORATE honchos of India, the men who have written some of the greatest success stories in India are all coming forward in a combined effort to express their solidarity opposed to what is happening at Singur at the Tata Nano plant. Narayana Murthy on Sunday (August 31) went on to say that the gridlock at Singur over Tata’s Nano plant is likely to be a major hurdle in the growth of the Indian economy. Murthy went on to add, What has happened in Singur is unfortunate for West Bengal, for India and for all progressive Indians.” Murthy has always been known to speak his mind over social and economic issues.

Earlier, during the anti reservation stirs all over the country, he had come out in defense of the anti reservation activists by saying, “India is perhaps the only country in the world where people fight to be called backward.” At this instance too, he has come out in support of the Tatas, for he feels that it will be a great blot to India’s growth if the Tata Nano project at Singur is halted.He also believed that this event would result in a dearth of jobs for youngsters in the state of West Bengal and it will deter growth in the state. He also said, “This event will unleash fear and uncertainty in the minds of all investors – Indian and foreign – and is likely to be a stumbling block in the excellent GDP growth India has demonstrated in the last decade. “It is time that all well-intentioned Indians stand up and demand a peaceful, logical and constructive way of settling the issue of farmland at Singur and elsewhere in India.” Murthy’s statement comes just a few days after Mukesh, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited said, “A fear-psychosis is being created to slowdown certain projects of national importance”.

Mukesh also believed that such steps will deter the economic growth of the country and will also deter foreign investors from coming and investing in India. He had also gone on to praise the Tata Nano projects citing it as one of the most innovative projects in the world and one that would go on to establish the position of India as a small car hub in the world market. In the entire process, the biggest loser is sure to be the state and the people of West Bengal. (Agencies)

02 September 2008, Tuesday

Tata Motors suspends work on Nano plant in Singur

Kolkata: Tata Motors Ltd. has been constrained to suspend the construction and commissioning work at the Nano plant in Singur in view of continued confrontation and agitation at the site. This decision was taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour, who have continued to be violently obstructed from reporting to work. The company has assessed the prevailing situation in Singur, after five continuous days of cancellation of work, and believes that there is no change in the volatile situation around the plant. The project’s auto ancillary partners, who had commenced work at their respective plants in Singur, were also constrained to suspend work in line with Tata Motors’ decision.

In view of the current situation, the company is evaluating alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities and a detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site is under preparation. To minimise the impact this may have on the recently recruited and trained people from West Bengal, the Company is exploring the possibility of absorbing them at its other plant locations.

Construction of the plant has faced challenges at various points of time. There has however been a significant decline in the attendance of their staff and contractual labour since August 24, 2008. Some of the international consultants working on the plant have returned home and the construction work in the plant has been stalled since August 28, 2008. In fact, the existing environment of obstruction, intimidation and confrontation has begun to impact the ability of the company to convince several of its experienced managers to relocate and work in the plant. Further, several persons engaged in the construction and commissioning work who had taken accommodation at Singur and nearby areas have since vacated and have gone away due to intimidation and fear.

Construction of the Nano project comprising of the Nano manufacturing facilities and the vendor park, a normal feature in modern world-class auto plants, commenced in January 2007. The work on the construction and commissioning of the plant had been nearing completion in line with planned schedules. During construction, this project employed about 4000 employees at its peak including several hundred young residents from and around the region.

As a part of its commitment to enhance the employability of its people. Tata Motors has trained over 762 ITIs and other apprentices from the region and the state. They have undergone retraining at the Tata Motors facilities in Jamshedpur and Pune. Tata Motors’ efforts to offer medical care in and around the region, which had handled over 17,000 medical cases, have been forcefully stopped by violent agitators. As part of the proposed integrated auto cluster in Singur, about 60 key auto ancillary suppliers to the Nano have taken possession of land in the integrated complex and have invested about Rs.500 crore towards construction of their plants and procurement of their equipment and machinery.

Commenting on the situation, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, “The situation around the Nano plant continues to be hostile and intimidating. There is no way this plant could operate efficiently unless the environment became congenial and supportive of the project. We came to West Bengal hoping we could add value, prosperity and create job opportunities in the communities in the state.”

September 02, 2008

Lives changed, by Nano and by siege

By DEVADEEP PUROHIT

Singur, Sept. 1: Mukunda Das was a laid-back trader till the summer of 2006, rarely missing his siesta in Singur.

Then the Tata plant was born, bringing in its wake the sleep-busting jangle of money.

“On an average, I have been selling cash cards worth Rs 6,000 a day for over a year. The growth in business has been phenomenal,” said Das standing outside his store, Moumita Electronics, in Singur Bazar, which sells radio sets to cellphone top-up cards.

On Monday, a weekly off in Singur Bazar, all shops were closed and Das had slipped back to his old routine.

“Even keeping the shop open would not have helped. Sales have slumped since the siege of the Tata factory. Business is not even Rs 1,000 a day,” said Das, a staunch Trinamul supporter.

Standing under the shop’s hoarding, partially covered with signboards of several telecom companies, he spoke of the slump in earnings since work stopped at the Tata factory.

According to Das, everything changed in Singur since the arrival of the Tata plant.

The signs of change are visible across Singur, a sleepy township in Hooghly till a couple of years ago. Four new banks — State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of India — set up shop, nine two-wheeler stores opened, computer training centres mushroomed and consumer goods swamped the stationery shops.

Tinku Maiti, a cycle-van puller till a few months ago, would vouch that the change did not happen only in terms of creation of new avenues to spend and save.

“Our incomes have grown, too…. I earn at least Rs 300 to Rs 400 a day by ferrying passengers from the Singur station to the Tata plant,” said Maiti, standing next to his trophy — a motorised van he bought two months ago.

Maiti, son of a farmer from Ratanpur that escaped land acquisition for the Tata project by a whisker, said the increase in employment opportunity had changed the standard of living in rural Singur as well.

As the Tata Motors plant was closed for the third consecutive day, Maiti and his fellow motor van drivers — around 70 of them — had a dull day at work.

Sadai Koley of Koley Cement Syndicate, one of the biggest local suppliers of cement, sand and stone chips to the Tata plant, also had time to sit back and sift through his account books.

Koley started the hardware business seven years ago but it took off only in 2006. In two years, it has grown by over 15 times and prompted him to increase staff strength from six to 30 and buy three computers.

“I cannot understand why Trinamul supporters are against the project. Many members of the syndicates, which supply materials to the Tata plant, are Trinamul supporters,” said Koley, sitting in his office on Surendra Mullick Road in Singur.

For traders like Koley and Das, the only pitfall of the boom is rising property prices and rent in Singur.

Deed writer Ashok Chakraborty, who used to handle at least 50 property deals a month, explained how the rising property prices — around 100 per cent in less than 12 months — had affected his trade.

“People are expecting further increase and not selling land. So, I hardly write 15 to 20 deeds a month. But as our remuneration is a percentage of the value of the deal, my income has gone up.”

The rising income and easy availability of credit — other than the four new banks, Singur also has Allahabad Bank, UBI and Hooghly District Co-operative Bank — have given a boost to Singur’s economy.

“The future looks exciting as promoters are joining hands with owners of houses along Singur Bazar and Natun Bazar to develop more commercial space,” said a senior official of a public sector bank in Singur.

But he was quick to add that the growth run would halt if the Tatas decide to pull out.

highway hope

Fifty-nine trucks were allowed to pass through Durgapur Expressway in two batches on Monday — the first such movement since the Singur siege began more than a week ago. Officials said they were hopeful trucks would be allowed to ply the highway tomorrow, too.

Issue Date: Tuesday ,

September 2 , 2008,

THE TELEGRAPH

Media reports Left rally against imperialism on 1st Sept.

Half-a-million march in Kolkata

to condemn the pro-imperialist

stance of the central government

KOLKATA,1st Sept.: vast sea of people started to advance in waves that rode on the strength of anti-imperialist feelings of the strongest kind as over five lakh of people – from virtually every cross-section of the society – strode along the streets and lanes of Kolkata. The people’s march organised by the Bengal Left Front was led by the LF leadership with the LF chairman Biman Basu despite injuries to his right foot, leading the marchers by example – the blazing sun above and the molten tar underfoot were of little hindrance.

The march commenced amidst rousing anti-imperialist slogans from the Suhrawardi Avenue near the Brabourne College grounds and by the time the first columns, banners, festoons, buntings, tableaux, and countless Red Fags fluttering in the freshening welcome breeze, as LF chairman Biman Basu released a single white dove that flew right up in the background of a glittering blue mid-day sky overhead.

The marchers started to walk along the A J C Bose Road and we were quite astounded to see another equally long column marching along the opposite footpath in the ‘wrong’ direction. Polite enquiries revealed that these streams of men and women, many of the latter carrying children suitably and carefully shielded from the sun under their pallus, were in fact going to Park Circus to join up with the eternally long ‘tail’ of the procession.

Police wireless buzzed to speak of numbers—and the ‘guesstimates’ were constantly revised, upwards, of course – from ‘one lakh, sir,’ to finally, with a bit of surprise in the voice, ‘over five lakhs, sir,’ and did we or did we not note a hint of glee in the voices of at least some of the men in uniform on duty or was our old aural équipe playing up in the sun?

Whatever – the fact of the matter was the lengthening line of people who soon decided to merge into a single, albeit a bit clumsy, a bit boisterous, and a tiny bit belligerent wave of humanity that advanced relentlessly and called upon the central government to stop kneeling lower and lower down before US imperialism, the perpetrators of all kinds of crimes against humanity itself, all over the world.

Faces in the crowd we saw aplenty as we dodged in and out of the processionists. We saw Sudeshna Paul from Belghoria, a former student who is now a young professor and who teaches sociology at a college in faraway Nadia and who had come to the city braving the train services that suddenly but not strangely had started running well behind schedule on this particular day, quickly snatch up and gather together her shopping bags from the roadside stall where she was making a hasty purchase of some increasingly higher-priced daily necessities, and then literally run swiftly join the marchers as the wave advanced-- soon getting lost in the sea of faces. We also Akram-ul Huq, a garage ‘mechanic,’ an underpaid helper actually, forego a day’s wage to join in, for the marchers are ‘talking about meri desh being sold out to videshis of a faraway land.’ This is grassroots nationalism in action.

We espied a clutch of budding entrepreneurs, among them Dwijendralal Banerjee accompanied by his colleagues who came all the way from the far side of the E M bypass, braving a fever and a cough, and they were soon joined by a tad sweaty, and very neatly but unsuitably dressed for the Kolkata summer -- ties and jackets and formal trousers and all – young men and women, oh, maybe a couple of thousands of them, perhaps a bit more, who had left the drudge of seven-days-a-week-work and had emerged from the unease of the secluded comfort of the confines of air-conditioned alcoves IT offices in sector V of Salt Lake onto spaces open and sunny, and had rushed out to catch the marchers as the waves of people passed onto the Moulali crossing and then proceeded towards the Sealdah flyover.

There, the procession was hugely swelled as a very large number of unorganised workers, mostly mutia-mazdoors (headload carriers) and auto-rickshaw drivers and ‘mechanics,’ who joined in, shouting slogans, waving the Red Flag -- CITU banners held high as always. Khet mazdoor Paran Mondol appeared a bit bewildered. ‘How could these many men and women come and who called upon them to come out on a holiday, and how, babu?’ was his innocent enquiry.

He himself had come with a hundred-odd group of his fellow agricultural labourers from the extreme southern fringe of Kolkata buttressing south 24 Parganas that still harboured the clean and fresh of unending green stretches of rice paddies, from where the metro citizens have their steady supply of seasonal vegetables, and rice.

Why have you come, Paran? Well, dada, I understand the Delhiwallah’s government (ok, meaning understood, fully) is actually engaged in buying rice from videshis and allowing those ‘nasty’ (that was not the colourful Bengali invective he actually used, of course) ‘blackers’ of around here and there in the whole country in fact to get away with their ‘nasty’ (ditto) ways.

The march went on, on, and on – passing along A P C Bose Road. School students joined in somewhere along the line holding up banners that had photos of the eternal inspirational figure of Che Guevara and emblazoned with the immortal words ‘egobo, jotokhhon na jitbchhi!’ (onwards, until we achieve victory!’) The innumerable tableaux carried photos of a molly-coddling photo of Bush adoring Singh, and the other way around.

The marchers included black-jacketed lawyers, engineers, artistes, intellectuals, littératures, students from every tier of education, housewives, sports persons, film personalities, and above all the common man, the members of the toiling masses who shouted out anti-imperialist slogans from the core of their hearts and who made the procession come alive, made the march a living protest against imperialist forays and the betrayal of the people by the Singh government, and the people had the final say on this day and for all the days to come.

(INN)

THE HINDU, 2nd SEPT., 2008

Left rally against imperialism

Be wary of divisive forces: Biman Bose

KOLKATA:

The ruling Left Front on Monday organised a huge procession here against imperialism and in support of peace. Major arterial roads in the central and northern parts of the city went out of bounds to traffic.

“Anti-people” policies

The rallyists carried festoons and posters condemning the U.S.’ threats to India’s independent foreign policy and the United Progressive Alliance government’s “anti-people” economic policies, leading to rising prices of essential commodities and inflation. Some Ministers too joined the procession, which covered a distance of 8 km.

“People from all strata of society, even different sports organisations, have joined the march against imperialism and communalism,” said Biman Bose, Secretary of the CPI(M) State Committee.

Orissa violence

On the communal violence in Orissa, Mr. Bose said: “The Bharatiya Janata Party is not in power does not mean that communal forces are not active in the country.” He said the people of the country should be careful as divisive powers were still operative.

“Strengthen unity”

“We have to strengthen our unity to fight against U.S. which is trying to impose its wills on our country,” Mr. Bose said.

Rally at Siliguri

The protesters arrived in buses, trucks, mini-trucks and trains from all districts in South Bengal. A similar event was organised at Siliguri in north Bengal.

Road blockade

Mr. Bose said that many supporters from the Burdwan and Hooghly districts had to cancel their journey because of “the illegal road blockade by the Opposition party on the Durgapur Expressway at Singur, forcing people to take eight-hour detour to reach the city.”

FROM PRAJASHAKTI CORRESPONDENT:

People of Bengal witness historic anti-imperialist rally

Massive turnout as Lakhs of protesters marches through Kolkata streets echoing their anti-imperialist slogans: another rally also flooded north Bengal

Kolkata. September 01: The massive rally that Kolkata witnessed today, once again reiterated the Kolkata’s claim as the bastion of anti imperialist struggle. At the call of the left front committee of West Bengal Lakhs marched together in an honest bid to show their pro peace and anti imperialist sentiments. The rally started from Park Circus Ground at Central Kolkata at about 1 pm in the afternoon. Braving the hot and humid conditions thousands of sloganeering protesters marched through the heart of the city chanting slogans and holding colourful placards in their hands. The rally started from the Park Circus ground after a short meeting in a makeshift platform from where prominent Left Leaders including the Left Front chairman Biman Bose addressed the gathering twelve pigeons were released in the air by 12 leaders of the Left front in a symbolic gesture in favour of everlasting peace. The anti-imperialist campaigners started their walk in the prescribed route which was scheduled in such a manner as not to obstruct the traffic flow of the city. Expected that more than 2 lakhs people attended in this Grand rally. People of every walk of life today participated in this historical rally with great enthusiasm, where bidi workers of Murshidabad district walked in this rally with joining hands with coal workers of raniganj. Student-Youth-Workers-kishans-women- teacher-lawyers every section of society today added more colour in this anti-Imperialist rally. Total 13 districts of south Bengal participated in this rally today as like Kolkata, Siliguri also was flooded by the sea of people. In North Bengal another anti-imperialist grand rally was staged at Siliguri where about one lakh people from the 6 districts of North Bengal participated in this rally. This rally was stated from baghajatin Park area in Siliguri and concluded at Kanchanjangha stadium. Here urban development minister Ashok Bhattacharya, CPI(M) Darjeeling district secretary S P Lepcha, Jalpaiguri District secretary Manik Sanyal led this rally, mentioning that even avoiding violent threaten of GJM activists, thousands of CPI(M) supporters, activists participated in this rally. Every Left Front MLAs, MPs, member of west Bengal cabinet were almost present in these two rally in Kolkata and Siliguri as per distribution.

The rally was marked by enthusiastic participation from large range of socio- political cultural and sports organisations like West Bengal Volleyball Association, sports organisations like ‘Friends of the Stadium” and cultural organisations like Panther Panchali, and many others. Abdul Barik a class 12 student of Karola High school in Ghatal of West Midnapore district, walked hand in hand with the eminent lawyers of Kolkata High Court who joined the rally as a part of their organisation Demiocratic Lawyers Forum . Huge number of students of Calcutta university and its different colleges marched in the rally under the banner of their organsation “SFI”.One such participant Avishek Dey & Arpita Chatterjee of Manindra Chandra College echoed the sentiments of the rally through expressive placards in their hand. Puspa Dutta an 82 years old woman ,a CPI(M) enthusiast was seen covering the whole stretch of the rally spanning over more than 6 KM’s ,with an arm wrapped over the shoulder of her younger comrade . It seemed that the whole rally was echoing the sentiments of the mass singer who singing for continuous peace and harmony among the different races . The anti –imperialist mood of the rally was also evident citizen workers and peasants walked hand in glove to defeat the forces of imperialism . The hatred of the common towards the US led forces was evident as the rallyist raised high pitched slogan s, voicing their opinion to cancel the upcoming naval strategic exercise in the Malabar coasts in Kerala . The vastness of the rally was evident from the fact that when the front portion of the rally have already reached the destination point at Desbandhu Park (North Kolkata)the tail was still waiting at the inception point of the rally at Park Circus grounds.

Addressing this huge attended rally, Today Left Front Chairman Biman Basu has stated that “ West Bengal always stand in front line in the battle against imperialist aggression, and today again people of Bengal echoed their voice against US imperialist force at the same marked they strong reaction against UPA incumbent those shamefully surrender before US imperialist force. Biman Basu also has added that “we, left parties already withdraw our outside support from this UPA incumbent, because we couldn’t extend our support to a government, those want to build up strategic relation with United States”. Mainly raising 22 point of slogans, this historic rally vibrated Kolkata Street with great commitment to carry out such pro-people, anti-imperialist and anti communal struggled under the banner of Red flag. Even renowned personalities, actor, actress, film director, famous magician P C Sarker, poet, intellectuals also present in this rally.

SUDIPTA BASU
1ST SEPETEMBER, 2008

Calcutta High Court VERDICT on Singur land acquisition.

From THE TELEGRAPH

Issue Date: Monday , July 7 , 2008

Public purpose tag on Singur - Nano plant zips past legal hurdle

Calcutta, Jan. 18: Calcutta High Court today ruled that the Singur land acquisition “was made for the public purpose of employment generation and socio-economic development of the area”.

The verdict handed a morale-booster to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s industrialisation drive and lifted the last vestiges of a cloud on the Tata small-car plant that will make the world’s cheapest car, the Nano.

The ruling also appeared to have taken the wind out of the sails of the Trinamul Congress’s campaign against the project. Mamata Banerjee said the Supreme Court would be moved but the local Trinamul MLA claimed the party would now focus on a “door-to-door” campaign, possibly signalling a shift from the occasional assaults on the factory walls.

The high court rejected the three main grounds on which 11 petitions — all were clubbed by the court — had challenged the acquisition of 997 acres in Singur for the Tata plant. All the petitions were dismissed today.

Besides turning down the petitioners’ contention that the acquisition was not for public purpose, the court threw out a claim that the government did not follow the legal procedure to buy land.
The third ground — that the government went beyond its jurisdiction — was also overruled.

“We hold that there was no colourable exercise of power by the state government while acquiring land at Singur,” the division bench of Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Ghosh said in the 217-page judgment.

“The term ‘colourable exercise of power’ means going beyond one’s jurisdiction. In this case, the judges meant that the government did not abuse its administrative power while acquiring the land,” said Subrata Mukhopadhyay, a high court lawyer.

Chief minister Bhattacharjee said he was “happy”. “The verdict will strengthen the state government’s drive for industrialisation in the greater interest of the people,” Bhattacharjee said. “I appeal to all who have not yet collected their compensation cheques to come forward and take them.”

Industries minister Nirupam Sen used the opportunity to hold out an olive branch to the sceptics.

“I request all political parties to come forward and co-operate. The government is sympathetic towards landlosers and is trying to find alternative livelihood for them,” Sen said.

CPM veteran Jyoti Basu “thanked” the high court. “Those who are opposed to development had filed the case. But the ruling will accelerate the pace of industrialisation.”

Elaborating on the ruling, Justice Pinaki Ghosh said: “We have gone through the submissions that were made by both the petitioners and the respondents (the state and the WBIDC) and found that the process adopted by the government during acquisition of land was just and in accordance with law.”

The petitioners had alleged that the government did not follow provisions of Part II and Part VII and Section 3 of the Land Acquisition Act of 1898. Part II deals with procedures to be followed while issuing notification, paying compensation and demarcating land.

Part VII states that the government cannot acquire land for a private company if the purpose is not in public interest. Section 3 focuses on development of an area and job generation.

The court has ruled that the state abided by all these provisions, advocate-general Balai Ray said after the judgment. “It has also approved the policy of generating employment by setting up industries,” he added.

The bench, however, said private petitioners who moved court for higher compensation could “approach the land acquisition collectorate”.

The court did not go into the government’s contention that the petitioners had no locus standi as it had allowed them to make submissions. The bench gave only the gist of the verdict, saying “details may be disclosed after carefully going through the judgment”.

COMPENSATION PACKAGE ANNOUNCED FOR POWER PLANT IN KATWA, BURDWAN

Consensus minus Trinamul

Aug. 27: The Bengal government’s compensation package for the people set to lose land for a power plant in Burdwan’s Katwa was today unanimously accepted by an all-party meeting not attended by the Trinamul Congress and the SUCI.

Representatives of the CPM, CPI, RSP, Forward Bloc, Congress and the BJP today decided to speak to over 4,600 villagers and convince them about the package.

“All political parties present at the meeting accepted the package and agreed to convince the farmers who don’t want to part with their land,” said Burdwan district magistrate Manish Jain, who presided over the meeting at the Katwa subdivisional office, 180km from Calcutta.

The package offers compensation ranging between Rs 11 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, depending on the plots’ proximity to the main road. Several other benefits were also announced .

The 1,320MW thermal power plant requires 1,033 acres.

Local Congress MLA Ra- bindranath Chatterjee said: “We are happy with the package. Now our job will be to convince the farmers. We will do it because we all want the plant to be set up in Katwa.”

The Congress is the main Opposition party in Katwa.

However, the Krishi Jomi Krishak Khetmajur Raksha Committee, which is fighting the acquisition, said the land would not be handed over.

“We don’t care what the leaders said at the meeting. We are only concerned about our land. Is the leaders’ land being acquired? No. Then why should they decide our fate,” said Debaprasad Chatterjee of the committee.

Nearly 90 farmers in East Midnapore’s Geonkhali today refused to part with their land during the first hearing for land acquisition for a shipyard.

Around 500 acres on the banks of the Hooghly are required for this project.

Last month, over 300 villagers — out of the 600 whose land is to be acquired — had lodged their formal objections to the acquisition.

The farmers who refused to give up land today were from Babupur, one of the four mouzas identified for acquisition.

“We heard 89 unwilling farmers today. They have explained why they are not willing to give up their land,” said Srikumar Tarafdar, additional district magistrate of Haldia.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080828/jsp/bengal/story_9754336.jsp

Ravi Kant's letter to Mamata Banerjee

Tatas to Mamata: Help us make Bengal proud and prosperous

On August 19, Mamata Banerjee had read out parts of a letter sent to her by Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant. The Trinamul Congress leader focused on the paragraph where Ravi Kant mentioned that Tata Motors would require 600-650 acres. Mamata did not make public the rest of the contents of the letter dated August 13.

The full letter is given below:

August 13, 2008

Ms. Mamata Banerjee, MP

Chairperson

All India Trinamool Congress

Kolkata

Dear Ms. Banerjee,

We are very encouraged by the recent reports in the media that you are open to talk to us regarding the upcoming Nano Plant of Tata Motors at Singur. We are pleased to reciprocate this gesture and look forward to our meeting. We believe that such a meeting could serve to eliminate misunderstandings and misapprehensions regarding the Plant at Singur.

With a view to make our meeting more meaningful, we thought we could use this occasion to clarify our position on certain aspects of our project. We hope that this will serve as a worthwhile precursor to our meeting.

Leap of faith

When Tata Motors was looking at setting up its small car project, many States came forward with attractive proposals for location in their respective States. In each case making land available by respective State Government was an integral part of the offer.

We decided to locate the project in the State of West Bengal because our Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata, felt that other things remaining almost equal, we should give encouragement for reindustrialization in West Bengal which for decades had been starved of industrial activity. It was a leap of faith. Amongst several sites offered by the State Government, we chose the one in Singur for its locational advantage — link to Kolkata, airport, port, railway and highway.

Firms on board

We decided that the project should have a capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year with flexibility to raise it to 350,000 per year. As West Bengal did not have adequate high quality suppliers, we thought it appropriate to invite them to come alongside with us (each one of course would have independent existence and would lease land directly from the government).

This would help establish an important auto cluster. These tier I suppliers would have several small tier II and also tier III suppliers spread across the State. This would not only help create an efficient project but also help spread the roots of industrialization quickly across the State including creating additional job and entrepreneurial opportunities.

This would require about 600-650 acres for Tata Motors and 300-350 acres for about 60-70 suppliers or up to 1,000 acres for the entire auto cluster. These suppliers would be free to supply to other auto manufacturers in the State as well as outside the State.

It was encouraging for us that several ancillaries and suppliers shared the vision of bringing in industrialization and growth to the state/region and took up this offer. These include well known and reputed multinational and Indian companies like Bosch, Behr, Gabriel, Exide, Caparo, Kinetic, Sona, Subros, Rico, Rasandik, Lumax, Tata Ryerson and Tata Auto Component who would manufacture sophisticated auto components for not only Nano but for other automobile manufacturers.

As illustrations of the immense potential that auto clusters like the one proposed in Singur possess, I would like to mention the regions in the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu which have witnessed tremendous social and economic upliftment as a result of being part of auto manufacturing hubs.

Misplaced view

There is a misplaced view that “351 acres of the suppliers area are in fact vacant and that this area is planned to be used for commercial and retail purposes”. This has never been our intention. The area is already occupied by credible domestic and international suppliers who have made substantial investments in West Bengal for the first time and who will add to the manufacturing and skills capabilities of Singur town and the State.

Helping hand

In line with the century old Tata ethos, we have begun several projects/activities to improve the quality of life in and around Singur. These efforts are still developing and we are focused at addressing developmental issues for the region in areas of Primary health, education, water and sanitation.

Tata Motors has initiated a programme of training and skills development based on educational criteria and merit. These persons have been trained at the Company’s existing facilities in the country and are on a stipend till they are absorbed in the Singur plants when the operations commence.

Women and other residents in and around the site are being given training in various areas like stitching, catering among others in an effort to help them earn a livelihood through the supply of workers’ uniforms as also canteen and box lunch supplies to the plant.

Further, Tata Motors would support small shops, transport services and similar potential enterprises formed by the residents of Singur. We expect that through the establishment of this proposed auto cluster at full capacity, it would generate employment directly and indirectly of several thousand people. In fact, during the ongoing construction activities over a few thousand people have been engaged for work for several months.

We would very much welcome your association with the activities and look forward to your guidance for improving the wellbeing of residents in Singur and nearby area.

Proud of Nano

The Small car which was unveiled as Nano in Auto Expo in January 2008 has had unprecedented enthusiastic response. We are very proud to inform you that the Nano is a truly indigenous effort — unlike several other products available in the Indian market. It is a product many, including some of our respected industry peers, thought was impossible. It is a product which is likely to change the paradigm of the auto industry across the world.

It is a product which will fulfil the aspiration of lakhs of Indians. And it is a product we all Indians can be highly proud of. It is therefore a matter of great pride that it will first be manufactured out of Bengal and the Singur plant will become a showpiece not only for Bengal and for us at Tata Motors but will also become known across the world. It would be our sincere desire that all of us participate in realizing this dream.

New wave in sight

We are as keen as you are to raise the quality of life of people of Singur area and would be pleased to work with you on finite and pragmatic plans to achieve this goal. We believe that West Bengal has suffered from lack of economic growth ever since industries vacated this State some decades ago, and that the people of West Bengal have been deprived of the prosperity enjoyed elsewhere in the country.

We believe our project will usher in a new wave of investment and bring prosperity to the people in the region and West Bengal. It is very necessary that this be achieved in a climate of mutual understanding and peace rather than misunderstanding and misapprehensions. I am sure that you share the same objective as we do of seeing the state and the people of West Bengal prosper.
We would be pleased to call on you at your convenience and believe that such a meeting can result in a better understanding and convergence of common objectives in the interest of all concerned.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

Ravi Kant

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080829/jsp/nation/story_9756717.jsp

SCENE OF SINGUR SIEGE

Shh! the siege is on

Peace on lips, paralysis on highway

DEVADEEP PUROHIT

Singur, Aug. 24: As the sun set over the straggly industrial skyline of Singur, Mamata Banerjee rose to her feet with peace on her lips and the power to paralyse on call.

“Our agitation will continue unless the 400 acres forcibly taken away from farmers is returned to them,” the Trinamul leader declared from a podium around 100 metres from the Tata Motors small-car factory. “I am here and our agitation will continue.”

With her torrent came an early evening shower, the sky over Singur streaked in dark clouds.
By then, the halogen lights inside the Tata plant had been turned on. But the future of the project looked dim as Mamata threatened to continue her siege unless the Tata project was trimmed to 600 acres.

Appearing unfazed by the pullout threat from the Tatas, the Trinamul Congress chief dared the group to leave Bengal. “If other states are inviting you, please go there.… But can you leave with Tata Centre? Can you leave with Tata Indicom?” she roared as the 40,000-strong crowd around podium No. 7 started thinning.

Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh echoed her. “If others are calling, please go. West Bengal will say, goodbye, ta-ta,” Singh said, drawing a huge round of applause.

In sharp contrast to the bustle outside, the factory, where over 3,500 people are at work on any given day, wore a deserted look. “Sunday is a day off. Some work takes place in the morning shift, but today there is hardly any activity inside,” said a police officer.

Tomorrow, will it be possible for the workers to go inside the plant? Tata Motors officials did not want to answer the questions, though Mamata insisted that no one would be stopped from going to work.

She also preferred to label her movement “a satyagraha”. “This is a peaceful demonstration. We want peace…. No one should even look at the Tata plant.”

The promise of peace was a recurring theme during the six-hour session, which started at 2.15pm, soon after she reached the dharna site. But the siege’s potential to disrupt was on full display by the evening. As the numbers grew around the podium, traffic on Durgapur Expressway, which links Calcutta and Burdwan, came to a halt with police closing stretches of the road. Trinamul has erected 21 podiums along the expressway.

After ending the day’s proceedings, Mamata asked the 2,000-odd supporters who had stayed back for the night to lie down on the road. “No one will dare come near you,” she told them as they prepared khichudi for dinner.

People sprawled on the road, the police stopped vehicles at the three toll plazas at Asansol, Panagarh and Shaktigarh on National Highway 2. The expressway is a part of the highway.Thousands of vehicles bound for Calcutta were being held up till late tonight. Vehicles coming towards Asansol from the north will have to be diverted through Purulia, Bankura, Midnapore and Howrah to reach Calcutta, which means the distance will double to 400km.

Those stranded at Panagarh will have to take a detour through Birbhum, Murshidabad, Nadia and North 24-Parganas, adding 150km to the usual journey to Calcutta. Vehicles stuck at Shaktigarh will have to turn back about 15km to Burdwan and take GT Road to reach Howrah and Calcutta, logging an additional 50km.

Carrying Trinamul flags, supporters trickled in since early morning as a police force of over 3,000 stood on guard both inside and outside the plant. While police sources claimed that only 5,000 people had come from the affected villages in Singur, Trinamul leaders said most were from North and South 24-Parganas and East Midnapore districts. Mamata sought to scotch the government’s reported attempt to offer alternative plots to landlosers. “There is alternative land for all the ancillary units just opposite the Tata factory, which CPM-backed promoters have bought in anticipation of huge gains. We can identify such tracts and our panchayat will help transfer them to the government, where the ancillary units can be set up,” she said.

MANY MOODS

How Mamata ran the Singur show on Sunday

My turn

She kept interjecting during the six-hour session of speeches. Everyone from Medha Patkar to Amar Singh had to wait with microphones in their hands.

On guard

“We are not here to break the wall. Don’t even look at the Tata plant,” she kept reminding those who tried to get closer to the complex.

Restless

Most leaders sat through the programme, but not Mamata. She wound her way around the others. “You have to understand that I need to coordinate,” she explained.

Sun shield

She called on people standing under the blazing sun to converge near the stage or to look for shelter or open their umbrellas.

Going places

Thanking Amar Singh for his support, Mamata said her party would join the Samajwadi Party’s movements in Uttar Pradesh

THANKS, TATA
The choice of vehicle for most of her supporters: Tata Sumo. Many Trinamul supporters depended on the workhorse from the Tata stable to reach the venues to lay siege to the Nano factory.

The Telegraph,

Issue Date: Monday ,

August 25 , 2008

Police play peacekeeper - Cops armed with ‘planning and information’

DEVADEEP PUROHIT AND KINSUK BASU

Singur, Aug. 24: The message crackled around 2pm: “Mamata Banerjee is past the Dankuni crossing.”

A shuffling of feet followed by a flurry of activity greeted the news at the police “control tower” outside the Santi Ceramics factory, off the supply gate of the Tata Motors plant.

Some officers scurried to inform their superiors while others waited for orders. They were glued to their hand-held Manpacks — portable radio sets — for the final command before taking position.

Some were posted inside the Tata Motors plant, others around the boundary wall, near podium No. 7 from where Mamata launched her indefinite siege.

The police have set up 12 towers around vital installa- tions on the factory premises. They are also keeping watch from 16 points along the gates that are already shielded by the Rapid Action Force and layers of bamboo fences and iron railings.

“Planning and information are our biggest weapons today,” a senior district police officer said as he sifted through a pile of papers.

The printouts — containing details of police postings — had been taken from a computer at the control tower a few minutes ago.

After going through them, the officer began making calls to check whether the men were at their allotted spots.

With the chief minister making it clear that Singur should not snowball into another Nandigram, the police cannot afford a mistake.

“We had a briefing session yesterday, where it was announced that our main job would be to protect the assets of the Tata project and maintain law and order. It was made clear that there should not be any confrontation with political parties and their supporters,” said a deputy superintendent from an adjoining district.

Around 25 deputy superintendents from across the state are now on duty in Singur.

In keeping with their brief, the police refrained from rushing into action when news reached them this morning that some local youths had tried to strike at the Tata Motors wall in Gopalnagar.

There was no damage to the wall and with the police staying away, the incident did not attract much attention.

“The Trinamul Congress has declared that it will hold a peaceful agitation and we are going by their leaders’ word. We are here only to maintain law and order,” said Kuldiep Singh, inspector-general, western range.

Of the 40,000 people who had assembled since early this morning, only about 2,000 stayed back for the night. Most of them squatted around the Trinamul podiums while some lay down on the Durgapur Expressway. But the police did not make any attempt to clear the road.

A 4km stretch of the road is likely to be closed to traffic tomorrow as well. Vehicles are having to make a detour via GT Road to escape Singur.

“We don’t know how long the agitation will continue. If this road is closed for days, we may have to intervene. But we don’t know how we will do that,” an officer said.

Faces from singur

Dharna Dada

Taher Ali Mir, Trinamul activist

Resident: Bhangar, North 24-Parganas

At Singur: To take part in the siege. Reached early on Sunday. Aware that the sit-in may continue for weeks, Mir has come prepared with spare clothes and toiletries

Views: Mir doesn’t want to talk on the farm-versus-factory debate. He only wants his Didi’s wish to be fulfilled Parting line: I have got around 40 people with me from Bhangar. We haveto make this dharna a success.

24x7 Cop

Priyabrata Baksi, OC, Singur

Resident: Originally from Andal in Burdwan

At Singur: On duty. After spending three years in Singur between 2000 and 2003, Baksi was brought back to the same post in August 2006 to maintain law and order in and around the car plant.

Views: Baksi, who moves around with six guards, supports development with a human face Parting line: I am here with the government’s mandate and am working round the clock.

Tata Tourist

Ratan Bahadur Budha, businessman

Resident: Salkia in Howrah .

At Singur: To have a look at the much talked-about plant. With his mother Sunsari and niece Satya, Budha came to Singur on Sunday for a first-hand perspective of the farm-versus-factory tussle.

Views: Budha votes for industry, but not at the cost of farmers Parting shot: I don’t know whether this plant will be there or not. That’s why I came here to see it.

Sales Savvy

Madan Saha, hawker

Resident: Habra, North 24-Parganas.

At Singur: To cash in on the huge turnout. The peanut seller took an early morning train to Singur with a bucket full of peanuts. He grabbed a vantage position opposite the podium and did brisk business.

Views: Saha is not fully aware of the issue, nor is he interested Parting shot: I have come here with a stock worth Rs 400 and I will leave the moment my bucket is empty.

THE TELEGRAPH,

Issue Date: Monday ,

August 25 , 2008

Puja on schedule but plant doesn’t purr

Devadeep Purohit of The Telegraph took a close look inside the Tata Motors complex in Singur on Monday, the first working day since the Trinamul siege began.

For a Monday afternoon, it’s unusually quiet at the sprawling Nano plant.

The stretch before the giant press-shop shed, where steel plates are beaten into car doors and other parts, is almost deserted weeks ahead of the rollout deadline.

Four men in white shirts, blue trousers and white helmets, with “Tata Motors” embossed on them, are chatting in a leisurely manner. One of them, in his early 30s, seems a little embarrassed as he explains the situation.

“You see, on a normal working day, even walking along this stretch is a problem, there are so many people around. But look, there is no one today,” he says.

Just over a third of the 3,500-plus workforce has reported for work on the first working day of Mamata Banerjee’s indefinite siege of the plant.

It’s 4.30pm. Most of the shutters are down at the engine shop and paint shop, sheds where the various stages of manufacturing are done before the engine is finally fitted into the painted chassis.

The area outside is not completely empty, though — huge containers of equipment and machinery are strewn all around. The aluminium sheets, iron beams and giant exhaust fans inside the boxes are to be fitted in the paint shop.

Hundreds of payloaders, earthmovers and cranes lie idle.

Outside, however, the decibel has shot up a few levels. On Day Two of her dharna, called to press for the return of 400 acres to “unwilling” landlosers, Mamata has sharpened her attack on the state government and the Tatas.

“No one was stopped from entering the plant, though. The workers probably stayed away out of fear,” a police officer said.

Admitting the loss of crucial man-hours ahead of the October rollout deadline, a Tata Motors spokesperson said: “The attendance of our employees was good and bare minimum work took place inside the plant.”

Sources explained that over 80 per cent of the 990-odd Tata Motors employees were brought in on 25 buses with police escort, but about 80 per cent of the 2,500-odd workers of the various contractors stayed away. “The company executives did some work at the effluent treatment plant, LPG yard and training centre, but no construction took place,” a source said.

Some signs of activity could be detected at the press shop, ringed by tight security. “You can spot the Nano chassis inside this shed,” a factory insider said. But breaching the multi-layer cordon of over 1,300 police and 450 private guards proved a tall order even on an idle day.
The employees, however, moved freely about the sprawling campus, still dotted with lush green stretches and water bodies.

“We are welders, but there hasn’t been any work for us since Saturday night. So we’re just strolling around,” a contract worker said near gate II of the vendor park, earmarked for the ancillary units.

The group of three had ventured out of the hutment on the premises and was heading towards the disputed 400 acres. All the units — Caparo Engineering, Rico Engineering, Sona Koyo Steering Systems — along the metalled road were shut. Cattle from nearby Beraberi and Ghosh Para grazed on the patches of green.

“The work schedule for almost all departments suffered today. We don’t know how long this will continue,” a Tata Motors employee said.

At one corner of the project site, though, it was business as usual. The Shashan Kali temple was open.

“We performed puja like any other day. People came to offer prayers,” said Biswanath Brahmachari, the priest.

THE TELEGRAPH,

Issue Date: Tuesday ,

August 26 , 2008

Buddhadeb Invites Trinamool Chief For Talks

The following is the text of the letter written by West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banarjee inviting her for talks on Singur issue on August 25, 2008:

"Earlier, we have discussed the problems arising out of the small car manufacturing factory at Singur with representatives sent by you, following my appeal. We decided then at that meeting that there would be continued discussions towards a just and proper resolve of the impasse.

You are already aware that in view of Ratan Tata’s statement on the issue, different state governments have called for the project to be shifted to their respective states. You will surely realise from all this how important it is for the state to complete the project early. Surely as a responsible leader of the opposition of the state, you would desire that the project should be completed in this state.

In view of this, keeping the project completely unaffected, acting within the legal framework of the land, and safeguarding the interests of the landless families affected adversely by the land acquisition, I would like to have a direct discussion with you to find out a formula that will be acceptable to all."

I hope that in the interest of the quick implementation and completion of the project and to ensure that the reflection of our state’s image remains untarnished, you would withdraw your present movement and agree to sit for a discussion again."

Why This Agitation In Singur?

By Nirupam Sen

THE Trinamul Congress is at it again. It has re-embarked in its familiar role of creating chaos over the small car factory project of Tata Motors in Singur. A so-called movement to save land is crossing democratic boundaries and fomenting violence. A technician working on the project was roughed up with iron rods recently. He had to be hospitalised in a serious condition. A few days ago, another worker was attacked on his way home from the project site. The workers in the Nano factory, who live in rented accommodation in the area, are being subjected to threats to vacate their lodgings; even the owners who have rented out such accommodation are not being spared. On the way to the factory site or on their way back after work, workers are being intimidated, threatened and beaten up regularly. Public announcements are being made telling the workers to stay away from the project. The Trinamul Congress is now making the workers their soft target, with the aim of scuttling the project.

This small car project has drawn attention and created enthusiasm not only in the state of West Bengal, but also in India, and worldwide. The aim of the project to manufacture a low cost small car has generated amazement. Huge work is going on in Singur around this project. Thousands of workers, engineers, and technicians are involved in this project round the clock. It has had a major impact on the local economy. Shops, markets and banks have sprung up in the area. A few days ago, the car manufacturing giant MUL (Maruti Udyog Ltd) had organized a car fair in Singur. A report confirmed that they managed to sell as many as 20 vehicles in a single day. A few months ago, a newspaper reported a huge hike in motorcycle sale in that region. These examples clearly highlight the impact of the project on the lifestyles of the people in that area, even before the start of actual production. Numerous local workers are working at the site, along with workers from different parts of the state.

UNPARALLEL EFFORT FOR EMPLOYMENT

The state government, after discussion with Tata Motors, and the other ancillary industries involved in the project, has drawn up a vast plan to employ the youths of the families who lost their land for this project. Advertisements were put up for various job-oriented training programmes for younger family members of those whose land had been acquired. A large number of youths enrolled their names, and till date, 2793 young men and women are there on the roll. Moreover, 575 others, from landless families, are on the list. Steps are being taken to provide them with suitable training according to their qualifications, and to employ them on completion of training. Out of these, 855 are women. A significant section among these people is already employed in different sectors. More than 900 youths, both men and women, are already part of different rehabilitation projects. The programme to provide employment to the rest is also on. Women have formed self-help groups to run canteens. 40 local women are learning tailoring; preparations are on to provide them with sewing machines. Tata Motors has sent the majority of ITI trained persons in the area to their Tatanagar and Pune factories for advanced training. Preparations are on to provide training to those who are less educated, poor and land-less to enable them to work as car drivers and security and maintenance staff. Efforts are on to employ them not just in the main factory, but also in the ancillary units. There are also plans of assistance in place for those who want to pursue self-help. I do not know of such a wide range of effort even before the start of production in a factory in any other state of India.

Tata Motors recently announced that the construction is on schedule, and will be completed within one or two months. The preparations to create disruption around the project were timed just after this announcement. The aim is to tarnish West Bengal’s image in front of the country and the wider world since attention is focused on this project. The unfortunate truth is that, a section of the media in the state is party to this ill venture.

AIM TO SCUTTLE THE PROJECT

Are the demands raised by the Trinamul Congress or the so-called ‘Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee’ (Committee to Resist Land Acquisition) at all realistic? The demand is to restore the land that has been acquired to the so-called ‘unwilling’ farmers. It is a fact that quite a few landowners are yet to accept the sum offered as compensation. A total of 997.11 acres of land have been acquired. Eleven thousand owners of 690.79 acres of lands have accepted their payments. Owners of roughly 300 acres of lands are yet to accept the compensation. The number of these owners may be a little more than 1100. This data clarifies that the overwhelming majority of the landowners have accepted their payments. Out of those who have not accepted compensation, many could not do so due to legal complications around ownership issues. If we assume for the sake of argument that all those who did not accept the payments for their land are ‘unwilling’, is it possible to release their land after acquisition? The lands of those ‘unwilling’ landowners are not contiguous plots; rather these are small plots spread all around the project area. Even a child will understand that releasing those plots will mean dumping the whole project. It may be argued that equivalent amount of land from one side of the project site be released in lieu of the plots. This is not only illogical, but also unfair. This means A, who is ‘unwilling’ will have to be transferred the land of say B, who voluntarily sold the land. Why should B accept that? B could argue that if her/his land is not required for the purpose of industry, the land must be returned to her/him. This is impossible both legally and morally. There had been legal battles over these types of issues in the country’s highest courts. The Supreme Court had given a clear verdict in this regard, which says, a piece of land cannot be returned to its previous owner once it has been acquired. Even if the acquired land could not be used for the purpose it was intended to, it must be used for purposes related to public interest. Excess land, if any, may be auctioned by the government to the highest bidder. These directives are stated in the verdicts against civil appeals No. 6456 and 4113 of years 1999 and 2000 respectively. In a case between the state of Kerala versus N Bhaskar Pillai and others, the question emerged, “whether the government can assign the land to the erstwhile owner.” The Supreme Court in its verdict in 2004 said, “It is a settled law that if the land is acquired for a public purpose, after the public purpose was achieved, the rest of the land could be used for any other public purpose. In case there is not other public purpose for which the land is needed, then instead of disposal by way of sale to the erstwhile owners the land should be put to public auction, and the amount fetched through the public auction can be better utilised for the public purpose envisaged in the directive principles of the Constitution.” So, it is not a hard task to understand the motives of those who are raising demands for return of land that has been already acquired. They want to scuttle the project in its totality. The so-called ‘movement’ at present is being driven with this aim. There is no scope of doubt about this.

LAND ACQUIRED IS LESS THAN REQUIRED

It is being said that the amount of land acquired is much more than the actual amount required for a motor-vehicle factory. It is a well-known fact that land was acquired not only for the main factory, but also for some 55 small to medium ancillary units. Those who are involved in contemporary motor-vehicle manufacture know the requirements of this composition of main and ancillary industries. The specialist organisation set up by the central government, NATRIP [National Automotive and Research and Development Infrastructure Project (http://www.natrip.in/)] has framed some concrete proposals regarding the amount of land required for this kind of project. According to NATRIP, a main plant capable of producing one lakh (hundred thousand) cars per annum would need 450 acres of land. A 25 per cent increment of land has been proposed for each lakh units of production thereafter. This proposal excludes the amount of land required for the ancillary units which will manufacture the spare parts. Tata Motors has projected to produce 3.5 lakh cars per annum. So, they would have needed a lot more land for their main plant itself, according to the NATRIP proposal. In this case, around 645 acres of land has been allotted for the main plant. Around 250 acres of land has been allotted for the ancillaries. It should be noted that the Maruti factory at Gurgaon is on 650 acres of land, and their ancillaries are spread over another 600 acres of land, producing the same 3.5 lakh cars per annum. This is a total of 1250 acres in contrast with the 997.11 acres of land allotted for the Tata project in Singur. So, it is clear that the amount of acquired land is less than the actual requirement.

ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION NEEDED

Despite all these facts and figures, the state government wants a steady and acceptable solution in this regard based on discussions with all concerned. If the opposition party’s main goal is to financially rehabilitate the poor and marginal farmers, solutions can be worked out through dialogue. The state government will definitely stand by those who are completely dependent on their land, and might lose all they have as a result of land acquisition. In this case, discussions can surely be pursued for their alternate economic rehabilitation. Issues concerning the overall development of the area also need to be considered. The goal is to accelerate and implement the possibilities of industrialisation in this state. Help from one and all is needed in this regard. A lot of effort and help from a great mass of people is needed to do anything constructive. But to destroy, a few people are enough. No political party of the state thinks that the state does not need to industrialise. Despite this, the behaviour of the chief opposition party and some of the other smaller political outfits is against any process of development and employment generation. They are eager to project a negative and destructive movement as a democratic one. All democratic people should vocalise their opposition to such negative directionless movements.