 "Mamata Banerjee, Singur")
It was a tightrope walk for Mamata Banerjee as she balanced the roles of a victorious leader of the movement against forcible land acquisition for the Tata Motors project in Singur and that of the head of a state that needs industry.
She was attending an event on Wednesday celebrating the recent Supreme Court verdict quashing the land acquisition for the project on the grounds that it was illegal. If the first half was dedicated to project affected farmers, the highlight of the latter half was the offer of an alternative piece of land to the Tata group from the state's land bank.
“Tatas couldn't set up a factory here. Let us take it sportingly. I am giving you one month's time, will you set up a factory in Goaltore (West Medinipur)? We have 1,000 acres there," Banerjee said, and then broadbased the offer.
"Whether it is Tatas or BMW, I can give you land from the land bank. We have land in Kharagpur, Panagarh. Our message is clear. We want more IT and manufacturing industries in Bengal. I can give you land that belongs to us. But if you ask for land here (Singur), I can't give because I don't have land here," Banerjee said. The reason behind extending such an offer to BMW, however, is Banerjee's recent trip to Germany, where a delegation led by state Finance Minister Amit Mitra met the company’s officials. "Please contact Amit Mitra if you are interested," Banerjee said. To send out the message that all is well with the Tatas, she also said, "Tomorrow we are signing an agreement with one of the Tata companies for ITI training. There are many Tata companies operating in Bengal," Banerjee said.
When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, "We do not have any comments at the moment.”
In 2006, when Banerjee was in the Opposition, she went on a hunger strike to protest against the project. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, then chief minister, had said the state government had initially allocated land in Kharagpur, but Ratan Tata, then Tata group chairman, had requested a site closer to Kolkata. Eventually, Singur was selected. The rest of Wednesday’s event had the semblance of the Singur movement, which ultimately led to the relocation of the Nano project to Sanand, Gujarat, in 2008.
The dais was located on National Highway, exactly where Banerjee had led an indefinite siege in 2008. And, as in those times, a part of the National Highway 2 was blocked. There were some deviations, however, from the past. There was now a 4,000-sq ft dais that could accommodate 300 people.
Activist Medha Patkar, who had supported the movement then, was there as well. As were many from Bengal’s intelligentsia, some of who now occupy important positions in the government.
Not just the "unwilling" and "willing" farmers, who number about 13,000, but around 100,000 people had gathered to welcome Banerjee. Around 800 cheques were handed over to the "unwilling" farmers and 9,117 land deeds were ready to be returned.
The "unwilling", who had been thriving on Banerjee's sops – Rs 2,000 and 16 kg of rice at Rs 2 a kg per head – would continue to receive it till the land was made cultivable by the government. Additionally, all the households would get Rs 10,000 as aid for farming, and the state government would set up a Customs Hiring Centre that would facilitate loans for buying equipment.
With the state's annual investor summit about five months away, Banerjee did her best to balance priorities as she summed up by saying, "There is no competition between industry and agriculture. They are like brother and sister."
She was attending an event on Wednesday celebrating the recent Supreme Court verdict quashing the land acquisition for the project on the grounds that it was illegal. If the first half was dedicated to project affected farmers, the highlight of the latter half was the offer of an alternative piece of land to the Tata group from the state's land bank.
“Tatas couldn't set up a factory here. Let us take it sportingly. I am giving you one month's time, will you set up a factory in Goaltore (West Medinipur)? We have 1,000 acres there," Banerjee said, and then broadbased the offer.
"Whether it is Tatas or BMW, I can give you land from the land bank. We have land in Kharagpur, Panagarh. Our message is clear. We want more IT and manufacturing industries in Bengal. I can give you land that belongs to us. But if you ask for land here (Singur), I can't give because I don't have land here," Banerjee said. The reason behind extending such an offer to BMW, however, is Banerjee's recent trip to Germany, where a delegation led by state Finance Minister Amit Mitra met the company’s officials. "Please contact Amit Mitra if you are interested," Banerjee said. To send out the message that all is well with the Tatas, she also said, "Tomorrow we are signing an agreement with one of the Tata companies for ITI training. There are many Tata companies operating in Bengal," Banerjee said.
When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, "We do not have any comments at the moment.”
In 2006, when Banerjee was in the Opposition, she went on a hunger strike to protest against the project. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, then chief minister, had said the state government had initially allocated land in Kharagpur, but Ratan Tata, then Tata group chairman, had requested a site closer to Kolkata. Eventually, Singur was selected. The rest of Wednesday’s event had the semblance of the Singur movement, which ultimately led to the relocation of the Nano project to Sanand, Gujarat, in 2008.
The dais was located on National Highway, exactly where Banerjee had led an indefinite siege in 2008. And, as in those times, a part of the National Highway 2 was blocked. There were some deviations, however, from the past. There was now a 4,000-sq ft dais that could accommodate 300 people.
Activist Medha Patkar, who had supported the movement then, was there as well. As were many from Bengal’s intelligentsia, some of who now occupy important positions in the government.
Not just the "unwilling" and "willing" farmers, who number about 13,000, but around 100,000 people had gathered to welcome Banerjee. Around 800 cheques were handed over to the "unwilling" farmers and 9,117 land deeds were ready to be returned.
The "unwilling", who had been thriving on Banerjee's sops – Rs 2,000 and 16 kg of rice at Rs 2 a kg per head – would continue to receive it till the land was made cultivable by the government. Additionally, all the households would get Rs 10,000 as aid for farming, and the state government would set up a Customs Hiring Centre that would facilitate loans for buying equipment.
With the state's annual investor summit about five months away, Banerjee did her best to balance priorities as she summed up by saying, "There is no competition between industry and agriculture. They are like brother and sister."
