The historic Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011 was passed in the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday. However, the impasse over return of land is far from over, as the issue is now threatening to move to the courts.
At least two of the stakeholders — willing farmers at Singur and vendors — are weighing legal options to take on the West Bengal government over the Bill that seeks to revoke the agreement between Tata Motors and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), as well as the allotment made to the vendors. Though Tata Motors said it was studying the Bill and would take appropriate steps, officials close to the development did not rule out legal steps.
“The Bill mentions ‘non-commissioning and abandoning’ of the project by Tata Motors and goes on to state that “no employment generation and socio-economic development has taken place and people in and around the area have not benefited in any manner…”
The Bill does not state the reasons for stoppage of operations and shifting of the plant,” the company said in a statement.
| THE SINGUR STORY |
| Allegations made by WB govt |
| NO SMALL car unit commissioned even after four years TATAS abandoned the site; reiterated in their letters FIRM shifted the plant from the said land to another state NO JOB creation or socio-economic development |
| Tata Motors’ clarifications |
| OPERATIONS for setting up of the plant were conducted under very difficult conditions AN APPEAL was made on August 22, 2008, which was rebuffed with an escalation of hostilities TML HAD to reluctantly close operations on October 3, 2008, and eventually move out TML INVESTED RS 1,800 crore in establishing the plant 767 INDIVIDUALS were trained, 102 health clinics were run till the activity was forcibly stopped THE PLANT would have initially directly employed 2,000 persons, and later created employment in excess of 10,000 jobs |
From the vendors’ perspective, the main bone of contention is the Bill has no provision to compensate them. Only the premium will be returned after deducting arrears of rent left unpaid by vendors.
“Amounts of premium paid respectively by vendors shall be refunded after deducting the rent arrears left unpaid by them upon an application being made by them respectively mentioning the amount of premium paid and rent kept in arrears,” the Bill states.
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“I am yet to see the bill as I am in Germany. I have asked my people to study it, but if they don’t compensate us, then we will have to take the help of Tata Motors and the court,” Sona Koyo Steering Systems chairman and managing director, Surinder Kapur, who happens to be one of the 54 vendors associated with the Nano project at Singur, said.
It was Tata Motors that had spearheaded the negotiation with WBIDC on behalf of the vendors. “The main cost is the filling the low-lying land at Singur,” another vendor pointed out. Vendors had invested about Rs 170 crore at Singur.
If the Bill came down heavily on Tata Motors for alleged non-performance at Singur, it was worse for vendors that account for 290 acres of the total 997 acres.
“So far as letters of allotment issued to the ancillary industries recommended by TML (Tata Motors Limited) for the purpose of setting up of the industry/factory is concerned, the object has totally failed. None of the of those industrial undertakings have taken any step for obtaining lease in terms of allotment or at all have not set up any industry and the land has been lying unutilized for more than three years,” the Bill states.
Unlike Tata Motors, the vendors had got permissible possession of land as the matter had moved to court by then and in view of the agitation. “The vendors paid a premium and were given permissible possession. It is true that they don’t never signed lease agreement, but permissible possession is also a kind of agreement and all of them paid the premium of around Rs 15 lakh an acre,” an official close to the development said.
Not just the vendors, the 11,000 “willing farmers” are also exploring legal options. “We gave land for Tata Motors’ small car project. If the unwilling are going to get back their land, why are we being left out. No project has come up. My son received training, but never got a job. If the government doesn’t look into our interests, then we will move court. Some of us have already decided to move court,” Udayan Das, who represents the interest of the willing farmers under the aegis of the Singur Shilpa Bikash o Unnayan Committee, said. Banerjee said in the Assembly, the government was not trying to create a wedge between the willing and unwilling farmers, but circumstances had forced it to.
The Bill was passed on voice vote, amidst a walkout by the Left Front MLAs on technical grounds. The Bill will now go to the Governor and then to the President.