Entire Bengal Is Becoming singur
Entire Bengal Is Becoming singur

Palash Biswas

(Pl Publish the matter with latest update and send me a copy. Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-33-25659551. Res.)


Entire Bengal Is Becoming Singur. Not only Mamata, Medha and Mahashweta, now the masses comes on front in Resistance.

Mamta Bannefrjee had to break her 25 days`fast as the President of India, the prime minister and a former primeminister assured her that the grievances of singur would be listened. The next day , the state government extended the prohibitary orders time limit. No agitation is allowed in singur and the Chief Minister is boasting of c ontinuing Tata Motors construction works despite so many obstructions. Mamata Bannerjee is recovering in a city hospitol and the doors for talks have been already closed.Hardly had the dust settled over the Singur land acquisition in Hooghly district, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had a fresh troubled spot to cope with as tension gripped the area over land acquisition. In East Midnapore the state government reportedly eyed over 22,000 acres of land for industrial projects.Not only Singur or nandigram, the list of trouble spots seems to be very long. The masses resist Haripur Nuclear power plant in Junput. Recently social activist Medha Patkar visited the area to support the villagers resisting the acquisition.As she is busy in NBA movement, Mahashweta Debi is leading from the front. She visited singur. went to Junput. Today she went to Baruipur where thousands of fertile land to be acquired for accomadation of proposed new headquarter of South 24 parganas.In Barasat, the nephew of Netaji subhash Chandra Bose, Subrato Basu is the local MP. Forward block with CPI and RSP are launching an intense agitation there against land acquisition in 53 Mauzas for Barasat Bangaon Bypass. So the story continues. What stand we take, it is to be seen and noted, my friends.


On this day last year police shot dead 13 protestors in Kalinganagar in Orissa at a demonstration against turning over land for a Tata steel plant. The tribals plan to hold a procession on Tuesday from Ambagadia. Thirteen stone pillars have been erected there in memory of the dead as the impasse continues between displacement and industrialization.

"The government stopped all dialogue after we had one with the chief minister," Ravi Jarika, the leader of Visthapan Virodhi Jan Manch said. "All promises including withdrawal of cases against us were forgotten. It's the government and not us who created this situation in Kalinga Nagar and people anywhere will rise in revolt whenever the government behaves in such fashion."

Until October 2005 the adivasis were willing to negotiate with the government but it was a poor R&R package coupled with an authoritarian approach that led to the confrontation in Kalinga Nagar.

Monday, January 1, 2007 (Sardar Sarovar Dam site):The controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam was finally built up to 121.92 metres, marking a milestone in the development versus environment debate.It is one of India's most controversial structures, which has seen several protests, hunger strikes and court orders.The last was when the Narmada Bachao Andolan fighting for rehabilitation of the 50,000 families displaced moved court to stop further construction of the dam.

But six months ago the Supreme Court gave it the final go-ahead and the dam's height was raised another 11 metres, a height decided after much deliberation by the Narmada Control Authority.


Questions over proposed changes in land use are piling up, even as the commerce ministry and Maharashtra government are rushing to give in-principle approvals and conditional no-objection certificates to special economic zone developers.Among the proposals that have received provisional approval are SEZs on tribal land and ecologically sensitive coastal areas.Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who recently shot off letters to the Maharashtra government and commerce ministry seeking information under the Right To Information Act, said, "I have found 87 cases of violations in allotment of SEZs, from approvals granted for land that falls under the coastal regulation zone and tribal land, which don't even meet the minimum land criteria, being given approvals."Somaiya added, "Worldwide, there are only 393 SEZs but the government has approved as many as 467 SEZs till date, in just 6-7 months."

In kolkata, Chief Minister on Wednesday said no notification has been issued for acquisition of land at Nandigram in East Midnapore district, where police and members of the Save Farmland Committee clashed over the issue. Leader of opposition and Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee claimed in Kolkata that police fired in the air and made a baton-charge in which five persons were injured. Witnesses said police arrived in four vans and baton- charged protestors to disperse them. The people then threw stones, leading to firing in the air, they alleged.

"No notification for land acquisition has been made at Nandigram or anywhere in Midnapore district," Bhattacharjee told reporters at the State Secretariat when asked about the situation in Nandigram.

Local CPI-M MP Lakshan Seth said Trinamool Congress and Naxalites were trying to create trouble in the area.

As an ostensible answer to West Bengal’s energy woes, the Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya has announced the creation of a constellation of nuclear power installations in Haripur, West Bengal. The project appears to be a joint brainchild of the Central and State Governments.On August 6, 1945 the nuclear bomb Little Boy killed an estimated 80,000 people. In the following months, an estimated 60,000 additional souls were lost to radiation poisoning. Three days later Nagasaki was targeted by the second nuclear bomb. An estimated 39,000 people were killed instantly with another 75,000 believed to have succumbed to radiation poisoning. American intelligence estimates the casualties to be manifold higher in a similar attack on densely populated Indian cities like New Delhi or Mumbai. Indian experts say the country could face an equally devastating nuclear catastrophe, not because of its nuclear rival, but from within. Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, a former chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) summarized the threats from within as, "There could be lesser accidents which could still release moderate amounts of radioactivity into the crowded areas surrounding some of our less-safe installations at Madras, Trombay or Tarapur. It could be devastating to a large number of people." But armed with US Indo nuclear deal a nuclear power plant has to be established in Haripur.
However, each day the peril looms larger. While scientists, other concerned citizens and worried journalists expressed their anxiety about nuclear hazards, eviction and governmental secrecy, the Chief Minister shrugged off all concerns, declaring them to be rubbish and declaring his determination to go ahead with the project. “We have 235 legislators; the opposition has only 30.” In other words, truth and safety concerns must bow to the might of political arithmetic!!!

Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said no talks could be held if the prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC continued to be in force at Singur. Party chief Mamata Banerjee ended a 25-day-old fast on the issue following requests from the president and prime minister, who said the West Bengal government was ready for talks on all matters pertaining to land acquisition at Singur, and not that of the chief minister, Roy told a Trinamool Congress youth rally.
Leader of Opposition Mr Partha Chattopadhyay today said that Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee (SKJRC) has sought the Prime Minister’s intervention to help farmers in Singur.
A letter has been despatched to the Prime Minister seeking his assistance and mentioning a perceived engaging in double standards on the part of the CM.
“Although the chief minister has assured the PM that he will discuss all issues that Miss Mamata Banerjee has raised, the state government has extended the implementation of Section 144 at
Singur within hours after Miss Banerjee ended her fast,” Mr Chattopadhyay said.

With the Singur fire still smouldering, violence erupted again over a project for Indonesia's Salim Group when police had to fire several rounds Wednesday to quell angry villagers at Nandigram in West Bengal protesting acquisition of their farmlands. Initial reports pouring in from the East Midnapore district said an angry mob also set on fire a police jeep in retaliation at Sonachura as violence escalated over the acquisition of land at Nandigram, about 150 km from here near the Haldia port town, for a chemical hub to be set up by Salim in collaboration with the government.
Reports said several people were injured in the firing even as people in large number were gathering in the area triggering fears of more violence. Heavy deployment of policemen was not possible to deal with the situation as violence was spreading to other villages becuse the agitating villagers obstructed the road and a connecting bridge has been broken. A CPI-M office and a Panchayat office have been ransacked. This vandalism is setting trend and Left underpalays it.

On July 31, the West Bengal government signed an agreement with the Salim Group of Indonesia to implement various developmental projects, including the setting up of a mega chemical industrial estate, including a chemical special economic zone (SEZ) at Nandigram, spread across 10,000 acres in a 50:50 joint venture.Construction of a four-lane road bridge over the Haldi River, from Haldia to Nandigram, has also been planned. The proposed bridge would provide a link between Haldia and the proposed chemicals SEZ in Nandigram. The agreement envisions the setting up of several urban development projects and projects for economic rehabilitation and social development in respect of those who would lose their land to the proposed projects.

Mahashweta debi leads N-Plant protest

Resistance to setting up the proposed nuclear power plant at Haripur in East Midnapore received a boost as Mahasveta Devi, eminent novelist and activist, expressed solidarity with the protestors on her visit to the site on 28 December. Members of Krishi Jomi Bachao Committee of the district accompanied her on the tour. The proposed site of the nuclear power plant has been earmarked by the state government at Haripur, merely 8 km from Contai town, near Junput. About 1,500 acres of land will be acquired if the nuclear power plant comes up here.Many farmers and fishermen of this area will be severely affected, as they will lose their means of livelihoods.
Mahasweta Devi addressed a gathering of farmers and fishermen in Haripur. She said: “Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s government is no longer with the the common people.
The ordinary citizen does not know what is really in the offing. For, secrecy and arrogance have become insignias of the present Left Front Government in West Bengal. But as per media reports, scheduled are 6 nuclear installations of 1650 MW each – involving a projected expenditure of Rs. 60,000 crores. If this is the nuclear paradise that is being planned then this will involve capturing 75 to 100 sq. km of coastal land, leading to eviction of about 50,000 local fishers, farmers, artisans etc. (in the villages of Haripur, Baguran-Jalpai, Saula, Junput, Kadua, Gopalpur, Deshdattabar, Aladarput and Majilapur within the proposed core area of the project). In this declaration of war on poor citizens of our state, the Chief Minister has the NPCL as its ally. It is the NPCL that selected Haripur as the site suitable for the proposed project. The residents of Haripur however chose to differ. Farmers and fishermen of this area will land up in trouble if their homes and means of livelihoods are taken away from them. I express solidarity with their protest.”
Mr Subhendu Adhikari, MLA, south Contai and district Trinamul Congress leader, said: “Let the state government send any number of police to Haripur. They can never take away land from us for setting up a nuclear power plant here.”
Mr Anirul Hasan, a protestor, said: “State government will have to bomb this area to get rid of the inhabitants and acquire the land for setting up the nuclear plant. We shall not give up easily.”
Scientists fear that the marine fishing operations here will be affected due to the pollution that the nuclear power plant is going to cause.
However, Mr Kiranmoy Nanda, state minister for fisheries, in a recent programme said: “As per state government reports or experience of Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, marine fishing will not be affected due to the nuclear power plant.”
The anti land acquisition forum of Trinamul Congress, Krishi Jomi Bachao Committee, has already found their next destination at Haripur and Nandigram to agitate against the land acquisition policy of the state government

When the team of experts arrived on 17th November 2006, accompanied by battalions of armed police, the local residents blockaded the road and prevented them from entering the area. The attempt was repeated on the next day. Thousands of men, women and children from villages around the proposed site blockaded all entry points and vowed to embrace instant death rather than rotting through generations as evicted refugees exposed to nuclear menace. The high power team was compelled to retire and the Government beat a retreat for the moment. The Chief Minister however declared his resolve to carry on the project with the NPCL chairman joining the chorus.

Presently, on the ground, there is a standoff between the local people and the administration.In line with this stupendous arrogance the Chief Minister continued to announce his resolve and did so on the floor of the Assembly on 24th November 2006.

This is where outrage is called for. All citizens of India and the world must recognize the threat posed by the project. It is sheer insanity to build a nuclear power plant on the coast after the experience of Tsunami hit Kalapakkam nuclear power plant. It is ogre-like to plan a slaughter of the ecology of coastal land and water through release of hot water and slow radiation. It is the greatest folly to think that one can safeguard against all possible future disasters – whether natural or man made. (One must remember that the project is being proposed on the coast of a bay with a long history of cyclonic and tidal inundations.) It is monstrous cruelty to evict people and extinguish lives in pursuance of grandiose projects, projects that moreover have been repeatedly identified as poisonous pipedreams. It is criminal arrogance to toss mega-projects on citizens without any prior information sharing and consultation with the people. Should the government be allowed to get away with this?

Left govt’s partner takes right turn in Singur deal

Even though the West Bengal government gave “permissive possession” to Tata Motors on December 27 to enable it to carry out preliminary work like a topographical survey and soil testing for its small car project at Singur, it came under attack on Tuesday from one of its major partners AIFB, who accused it of lack of transparency in the deal with Tata Motors for its car project at Singur.

“There was lack of transparency besides, procedural lapses and lack of coordination for the Tata Motors small car project at Singur,” AIFB general secretary Debabrata Biswas told a press conference on the eve of the party’s three-day central committee meeting beginning here Wednesday.

“Good work has to be done in accordance with procedures. We feel there have been procedural lapses besides lack of coordination and transparency at Singur,” he said. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress, which has been protesting against the acquisition of land at Singur for a Tata Motors' project, on Tuesday said there can be no talks on the issue if prohibitory orders remain in force in the area.

Farmers panchayat held on SEZ in Jhajjar

Singur is now gets an infinit momentum crossing the geography as a farmers' panchayat here to discuss the proposed Special Economic Zone of Reliance Group on Sunday said villagers should be allowed to retain the title of their lands and the compensation amount increased.The project, a joint venture between Reliance and the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, is to come up on 25000 acres of land in Jhajjar and Gurgaon districts.

Farmers from several villages gathered in Sondhi village of the district under the aegis of 'Kisan Jagrukata Samiti' to discuss the SEZ issue. Some of the speakers alleged that the terms and conditions of the SEZ were framed in a manner to benefit the particular industrial house and the rights of those who were to be uprooted from their ancestral land were not protected. The farmers also demanded that those handing over their land for the SEZ should not only get one plot each inside the SEZ but one-fourth of the jobs in the project too must be reserved for local people.

The organisers said similar panchayats would be held in various other villages.

Status Report on Singur

The West Bengal Government on Tuesday released a status report on land acquisition at Singur for Tata Motors' small car factory in a bid to record transparency in the face of an Opposition sponsored movement.The report was published five days after Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee called off her 25-day-long hunger strike which she started in protest against 'forced acquisition' of land from farmers.Giving details of land acquisition, the status report said altogether 997.11 acres of land had been taken over in five mouzas of Singur in Hooghly district. It also specified the dates and gave break-ups of the amount of land acquired in different mouzas.Out of a total amount of Rs 119 crore earmarked for giving compensation to the land-owners, Rs 83 crore had already been disbursed, the report said.

The Singur Krishi Jami Raksha Committee, a platform of 20 political organisations, led by Mamta Banejree had been alleging that the government had taken away about 400 acres out of the total acquired area without the consent of the owners. It demanded the land 'forcibly acquired' from the farmers restored them immediately.

However, denying persistently that any force was used in the land acquisition process, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had assured to release a status report to make public all details of taking over plots.

Tata deal exposes BJP's double standard
Ejaz Kaiser

Raipur, December 29, 2006 Hindustan Times

http://www.hindusta ntimes.com/ news/181_ 1883309,00090003 0012.htm

The Bharatiya Janata Party, it seems is 'running with the hare and hunting with the hounds', if its role in supporting firebrand Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee in opposing the Singur land deal in West Bengal against the Tatas and on the other hand earmarking over 6,000 acres of land in tribal Chhattisgarh where it is ruling, to the Tatas is any indication.

However, things are not all hunky dory as the tribals in Lohandiguda block in Bastar are putting up stiff resistance in giving their land to the Tatas, though the Raman Singh BJP government claims that villagers had passed a resolution in the Gram Sabha for land acquisition for the project.

Bastar district collector GS Mishra told Hindustan Times that the Gram Sabha unanimously passed a resolution mandatory under the Panchayat Raj Act and now there is no impediment to acquire land for proposed Tata steel project in Bastar.

However the process apparently appears to have collapsed after the villagers in Lohandiguda alleged that votes in Gram Sabha to yield land to Tata were wrongly obtained.

"Why should I give up my agricultural land which is the source of my livelihood since generations? " asked a tribal Keshu Markam.

Maharashtra story

Take the example of the 1000 hectare Gorai SEZ proposed by the Essel Group. The group's application was received by the state government on 14.3.2006 and was taken up by the commerce ministry's board of approval three days later at it meeting on 17.3.2006. The project was given an in-principle approval on 13.6.2006, following a conditional state government recommendation on June 9, 2006.

The state government in its reply to Somaiya noted that the party was "...yet to give information particularly (on) ownership of land, details, zoning, etc., for processing the case for formal approval." It, however, issued a conditional No Objection Certificate on 9.6.2006 and that the proposal was "yet to be? recommended".

In another case, Somaiya claimed that the ministry has approved of a SEZ in scheduled tribal lands in Maharashtra. A proposal by Diwan Investment Pvt Ltd (name subsequently changed to Privilege Power and Infrastructure).

In its application September 2005 application the company had applied for a multiproduct SEZ of 1011 acres in Maharashtra. Here too the government of Maharashtra said the project was yet to be recommended as details of land ownership were not clear.

Union commerce ministry officials were not available for comment. An official spokesperson said a response may be available only next week on account of the ongoing holiday season.

A senior state government official explained that the no objection certificate issued to the Essel group was pending the availability of details such as land ownership.

He said that if any part of the proposed zone was found to be on the recreation and tourism zone or covered under the CRZ, then the NOC would automatically be revoked. This, he said, would also apply to the proposal by Diwan Investment Privilege Power.

Explaining the government's stand, a senior state industry department official said, "The in-principle approvals by the BOA and the conditional NOC by us are essentially enabling procedures. These are merely to allow the developer to sign an agreement for the sale of the land pending final government approvals. The Centre has issued a letter to us that we may do so in the interest of the state. Also, we tend to fast track these proposals as we do not want any projects from our state to suffer because we had not issued a recommendation or clearance. But the developer still comes under the purview of all applicable laws."

Another case is that of Pune-based Kumar Builders. The company had applied for a SEZ status for its 49.1 hectare development coming up near Pune.

Initially, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation had expressed reservations and the state government's screening committee had decided not to support the proposal. However, the builder later submitted clarifications on the basis of which the state is reconsidering the proposal.

While Somaiya contends that the ministry rushed the case through despite MIDC's reservations, the state government official said the case was taken up for reconsideration only after receiving the developer's clarifications on the objections raised.

Lalit Jain, chairman, Kumar Builders, said, "Will respond tomorrow."

In another case, the Hiranandani Builders had applied for an IT SEZ in Powai. While Somaiya said the government had permitted the SEZ in a no development zone, the state government official explained that under the state rules for NDZs, IT parks with low FSI was allowed as IT is considered a non-polluting industry.

He explained that although the industry department had approved the proposal, the developer would have got the Urban Development department's approval before getting a final nod.

Singur and the Official Left's Crisis in India
by Pratyush Chandra
December 31, 2006

The Singur events are signs of a crisis borne out of a disjuncture between the Left Front's pragmatic policies and the legacy of the movement and class interests that empowered it. For a long time, the open eruption of this crisis was evaded by the West Bengal government's success in convincing its mass base of its ability to manoeuvre state apparatuses for small, yet continuous gains. It justified all its limitations and inefficacy by condemning the faulty centre-state relationship and a larger conspiracy to destabilise limited reformist gains - for instance, those from reforms in the Bargadari system.The allegation of conspiracy seemed tangible only to the extent that parliamentary politics drives every opposition party to encash the difficulties incumbent governments face - by peddling popular grievances for advantages in electoral competition. This is the way a representative democracy disperses and defuses challenges to its stability. For illustration, one needs to just review the history of the exit-entry of governments and their economic policies over the past 20 years. There were economic grievances that contributed to the opposition's success in destabilizing governments and forming alternative ones, yet there was a remarkable continuity in economic and financial policies. Because of the Indian State's ability to contain popular opposition within the precincts of electoral democracy - the ritual of elections - it could evade any fundamental political economic crisis and did not have to deter from its neoliberal commitments.

Once the Left in West Bengal chose to play by the rules of parliamentary democracy, it faced the continuous threat of defeat in electoral competition. The internalisation of the need to evade this threat transformed its character, thus leading it to aspire beyond being a class party of workers and peasants. It had to become an all people's party - a party that could internalise the dynamo of the status quo, negotiating between diverse, dynamic and antagonistic interests. In other parts of the country too the rise of coalition politics and the possibility of electing representatives decisively regimented the official left's radical rhetoric.

A cosmetic radicalism though is advantageous in the states where it is the incumbent power. It can mobilise its traditional class base, by playing on victimhood, by ritualistic national strikes etc. The patent logic of the West Bengal government has been that in the absence of a friendly centre, it can do nothing but make the best out of the adverse conditions. Alongside, it has been increasingly using the threat of capital flight to justify its concurrence with the national economic policies.

Behind these usual mechanics of stabilizing its position in the representative democratic set-up resides an essential dilemma or crisis for the official left. The historical legacy of the peasants and workers' movements that congealed its rule and continue to provide it stability has been both a boon and a bane. This has gravely severed its ability to use traditional means of state coercion for containing its mass base, forcing an informal accommodation or para-legalisation of the Left's traditional mass organizations - their transformation into ideological state apparatuses. Herein lies the danger.

Once these organizations are identified with the officialdom, the grassroots are increasingly alienated and the scope for their independent assertion amplifies. In the history of Bengal's left, this has happened many times - the most formidable one was definitely the Naxalbari movement. Another example was the self-organization of the Kanoria Jute Mill workers beyond bankrupt bureaucratic trade unionism in the mid-1990s. Singur is the latest case.

One can definitely question the motives of mainstream non-left political parties - like the Congress, Trinamool (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which compete with the Left Front to represent the interests of the neo-rich and landed gentry (which includes many absentee landowners) owning bigger portions of land, using 'kishans' - hired labours, bargadars, etc for cultivation. (EPW, Nov 18, 2006) This class, who the West Bengal government claims have consented to land alienation in Singur, joins such movements essentially to obtain various kinds of concessions - a higher price for giving up land to the State and perhaps also for increasing the price for future real estate speculation around the upcoming industrial belt. Moreover, until now the Left Front has succeeded in representing these class interests, which are the main offsprings of the limited agrarian and other economic reforms during its rule. But as opportunism is intrinsic to these interests, they are determined to utilise every available mechanism to gain concessions from the regime. Singur is a test case for the official Left's pragmatism - being a local agency for reproducing the general conditions of capitalist accumulation, the Left Front government has to articulate larger neoliberal capitalist designs within the local hegemonic set-up, i.e., it will have to facilitate the representation of local hegemonies within "neoliberal state" aparatuses.

But there is a larger section of the landless, poor peasantry and those frequenting nearby towns for work; for them, the struggles like that of Singur are existential ones. There have been instances of reverse migration also with the closing down of traditional industries. These sections do not possess any faith in neoliberal industrialisation based on flexible, informal and mechanised labour processes. Recently in many parts of the country, these sections of rural poor have been the object and subject of radical mobilisations. It is the fear of their politicisation at the wake of its drive for competitive industrialisation, which is the real worry for the accommodated left in West Bengal, especially the CPM, which has traditionally resisted the mobilisation of the landless in the state, even by its own outfit.

However, the efficacy of capitalist parliamentarianism - the political arrangement suitable for the (post)modern "Eden of the innate rights of man" - lies in reducing class conflicts to lobby politics and competition for representation. Hence, the effective status quoist strategy would be to pose the systemic crisis merely as a temporary crisis of representation. The Left Front and the official opposition in the form of Trinamool and other mainstream parliamentary parties are effectively cooperating in this task. Efforts in this regard include the way the Singur struggle is being projected in corporate media and in political statements - as a Mamata-Buddhadeb tussle or even as manipulation by rival corporate interests etc. In order to make this strategy vital, the interests (rentier, concessionary or compensational) of local hegemonic classes need to be posed as universal and representative. This could happen only by subjugating the existential, need-based interests of rural poor and proletarians - these interests question the very logic of development within capitalism. Thus their subjugation through within-the-system representation effectively counters whatever counter-hegemonic potential such struggles have. The attempt to reduce the whole struggle to the issues of compensation and other kinds of concessions is part of this strategy. This allows an escape route for both the government and the official opposition - so that symbolic gestures negotiated between these parties can be posed as successes, which can be eventually played as trump cards in electoral competition.


Is Rs. 8 lakh Per Acre Good Enough In Sigur?
An Email , R singh writes:
Dear Ranganathan,
In your question and my message “Mega Frauds Of Tatas” several issues have cropped up.

1. Sigur adjacent to one of the prominent industrial belt like we have Faridabad.

2. Farmers are paid only Rs.8 lac per acres (4840 sq.yard) this is less than Rs.200 per sq.yard. In Faridabad going rate is in the range of Rs.20,000 average or 100 times the price paid to farmers in Singur and 200 times Tatas are ready to pay or walk away. Let also tell you that recently farmers in Gurgaon are now getting even Rs.5 crores ($1million) per acre while HUDA paid only Rs.2 million or $45,000 per acre.

3. Since 12 people are displaced per acre Rs.0.8 million is just $2000 per head or less than Rs.1 lac per head. This is not good enough to pay for a child’s education for 6-7 years.

4. It is also important that West Bengal government vigorously implemented “Land Ceiling” depriving farmers of land in millions of acres.

5. Now they are thrown out farmers of their properties entirely. This is greatest Human Rights Violation. West Bengal ought to have “Reclaimed” land acquired under Land Ceiling.
posted by Palash Biswas at 8:56 AM 0 comments