State of affairs: why Nano is vital for Bengal

MESSAGE FOR MAMATA: Farmers who got money for their lands favour the factory.

        

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Kolkata/ Singur: West Bengal was once No. 1 in industrial growth and then the rot began. The state slipped into the number 11 spot in industrial growth—a status proven by the rotting jute mills along the banks of the Hoogly in Kolkata.

The Tata Motors’ Nano car project in Singur is going to meet the same fate as the jute mills, say sceptics. But not industrialists—they say the factory can be back on track if land acquisition and compensation is open and efficient.

When protests against the Nano factory began two years back, honest people were making an honest demand for their right to plough their land. Now farmers know politicians are using them.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who leads the agitation against the car plant, insists maximum land from within the boundary wall of the factory has to be returned to farmers who were “forced” to give their plots. Tata Motors and the government say that is impossible.

Farmers know they are pawns in a political game. Even when they blocked the highway for more than a fortnight, the farmers knew that land prices are going up every day. They are now being offered at least five times more than the original government price. They know that they can make a killing if they stalemate continues.

A lesson in acquiring land

Land or compensation didn’t become an issue when New Kolkata was being built. Biswadeep Gupta, managing director of Jindal Steel, explains how his company went about land acquisition in West Bengal. “We agreed to give farmers Rs 3 lakh per acre and from every family which lost land a person was given permanent employment. In addition to that we gave equity shares,” says Gupta.

The state government could have followed the same model and requested Tata Motors to themselves negotiate with farmers. But the government was desperate to get the Tatas on board and now it’s in a spot. “It would definitely be a setback if Tata Motors is not able to set up the plant,” says state Industries Minister Nirupam Sen.