Mamata now seeks industry at Singur

Mamata now seeks industry at Singur

New Delhi, Oct 11: With Tata scrapping its Nano car project at Singur, the farmers' land restoration movement spearheaded by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and SUCI is now pushing the West Bengal government to get a fresh industrial project at the Nano site.

A rally with this purpose is planned for Sunday at Singur by the Singur Krishi Jomi Rokkha Committee, which will see participations from both the parties and locals attending.

"The site where the Tata plant has been built is no more arable. So we want the government to get some other industrial project to run from the site," SUCI's state secretary and central committee member Prabhat Bose told PTI on the phone.

"Vendors who had set shop for the Tata project are also under duress as many of them had taken loans and are now not in a position to pay back their dues," he added.

Clearing its stand the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Bannerjee earlier stated that they are not against any industrialisation as long as industry conducts its business alongside agriculture.

Elaborating the future course of the movement Mamata Bannerjee said the demands are now for jobs.

"Where will the landless farmers go now? We want the government to provide jobs for all those who have sacrificed their land for the Tata project and for the local youth," she said on the phone.

"The movement also demands that the government returns the land to all those who had refused compensation. We are standing by our claims," she said.

Mamata, however, refused to comment if the movement is facing any flak from the masses after the Tata project slipped out of the state.

Bureau Report

Your comment(s) on this article

If Mamata Banerjee is to regain any credibility, she should ask the CPM government, now that the Tatas have left, to reconvert the land to arable land and give it back to farmers who did not take any compensation. All who took compensation should be asked to knock on the doors of Tatas for employment. With economic depression a possibility, we should be thinking of agriculture and food for the masses rather than cute little cars for the masses to drive around in. - K.Venugopal - Mumbai