Singur welcomes railway proposal, but sceptical

SINGUR - Mahadeb Das’ 12-bigha (4.8-acre) land, which fell within the plot earmarked for the Tata Motors small car project here, was acquired by the state’s Left Front government in 2006. Das was not among those farmers who willingly gave up their land for the Nano plant.

“Police beat up my wife, daughter and other family members before my eyes. They (the state government) took away our land without paying any heed to our protests.”

An angry Das refused to collect the compensation amount and joined the peasant’s stir spearheaded by the opposition Trinamool Congress to get back his farmland.

But lately, with the state’s acceptance of a proposal by the railway ministry to set up a coach manufacturing unit on the 997.11-acre abandoned plot, the focus is back on Singur in Hooghly district.

Residents and local stakeholders are both sceptical and upbeat.

“We still don’t know what is going to happen. Can we get back our land if the railways set up a manufacturing unit there? Will it create job opportunities for our future generations?” asked an apprehensive Das.

At the same time, there is hope as Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, “didi” (sister) to her supporters in West Bengal and who led the anti-land acquisition movement, wants industries on the site.

“Now, as didi has proposed a national project, I can sacrifice some land, but not the entire 12 bighas,” Das told IANS.

“But let the entire thing happen first. Whatever is going on now is just paper work.”

The violent agitation by peasants had forced Tata Motors to shift its factory to Gujarat last year, leaving behind a semi-finished structure that has stood desolate all these months as political parties wrangled to checkmate each other on the issue.

The state government’s attempts to rope in Chinese auto-maker First Automobile and power equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals have proved futile. But the state government recently asked the railway ministry to promote industries on the plot after Banerjee evinced an interest to set up a rail coach factory in collaboration with it or on a public-private-partnership (PPP) model.

“The entire thing still seems mysterious to me. I don’t think any of us have a clear idea about the whole issue,” said Kushal Saha, who gave his one-bigha plot for the Nano project.

“Both the parties, the state government and the opposition, are playing a game and we are caught in the political crossfire,” Saha told IANS.

“If they are just eyeing the political mileage in the 2011 state assembly elections, I don’t see any prospect of the project.”

However, Becharam Manna, who spearheaded the protest at ground zero, believes the railways’ project would come up within 600 acres and not on the remaining 400 acres that the farmers want returned to them.

“If the coach factory comes up on 600 acres, it will create jobs for thousands of youths in Singur,” Manna told IANS.

“We want some industrial units. The people are virtually in penury as they had given land for the project but got nothing in return.”

Added Udayan Das, who gave up 16 acres: “The railways can set up industries on 600 acres and the rest should be given back.”

Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata had earlier said if the state government compensated the company for developing the land, it was ready to return it.

(Soudhriti Bhabani can be contacted at soudhriti.b@ians.in)