Tata Motors can't dump Singur: Dasmunsi

TATA, DON'T GO: Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi called for fresh efforts to solve the Singur land row.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Maharaj or Dada, Ganguly's legacy lives on

Featured Slideshows

New Delhi: Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi spoke out on the Singur land row on Sunday.

Dasmunsi took on the Tata Motors for planning to leave Singur after what he calls "destruction of acres of land" in the place.

He was speaking at a rally at Sanapara in Hooghly district's Singur, which is about 40 kilometers from Kolkata.

“We will not accept the fact that Tata Motors want to leave Singur after destroying thousands of acres of land in Singur and the Hooghly River. This is not right on their part,” said the Information and Broadcasting Minister.

He called for fresh efforts to solve the conflict of opinions and interests so that the project is viable and yet does not hurt anyone’s sentiments or legitimate demands.

Dasmunsi expressed that an all-party meeting should be called to discuss the impasse. The answer, he said, lies in a combination of three formulae - land for land, adequate compensation and employment.

Instead of being adamant and insisting on pulling out of the project at Singur, Dasmunsi advised that the Tata Motors administration should seek an acceptable solution.

Dasmunsi, who is also the president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress, said the ruling Left Front government should offer better economic compensation to the farmers who had lost their land in Singur.

He called the threat to abandon the Singur project as an irresponsible act that made it look like a child’s play.

Citing the numerous constructions and piling work done at the site as an hindrance to cultivation, Dasmunsi said that it would leave the land unfit for cultivation for a long time. So returning the land would serve no purpose at all.

Taking on Tata Motors for often repeating the October deadline for rolling out the prestigious Nano car, Dasmunsi criticised the obsession with the scheduled dates.

He said that if October was not feasible, November would still work and that Tata Motors as well as the government should exhibit patience.

Tata Motors has suspended work at Singur plant where it was supposed to roll out the world's cheapest car Nano.

The work has been stopped since some of Tata Motors workers were allegedly threatened and manhandled by a section of farmers to protest the acquisition of their land for the Nano project.

Dasmunsi said the Congress would meet Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Monday and discuss the matter with him.

Faulting Tata Motors for not having been involved in the discussions at Raj Bhavan brokered by the Governor to find a solution, Dasmunsi said that the West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen had to explain their absence.

Dasmunsi also blamed the ruling Left government in the state for politicising the issue.

(With inputs from Agencies)