Buddha hints at extra land for Singur farmers

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Kolkata, Aug 26 : The Centre is ready to offer an economic package for the aggrieved farmers of Singur whose refusal to part with their land has put a cloud over Tata Motor’s small-car project, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee indicated on Tuesday.

“I am requesting the Opposition to please come and talk,” he told a gathering of industrialists assembled by a Delhi-based chamber.

“…We are ready to discuss with so-called unwilling farmers… We are ready to formulate a package for those farmers who have no other livelihood, and we are ready to discuss it,” he said.

“Maybe the number is more, but the government has a moral responsibility to accommodate these people… but legally I just cannot give back the land,” he said, urging the Opposition to negotiate a solution.

The chief minister’s sense of urgency and desperation was apparent when he talked about the Opposition leaders and said, “I am trying to convince them. We are not egoistic. We should reach a consensus, otherwise how can we solve it? I am optimistic that I will be able to convince them.”

The chief minister was replying to a question from Sajjan Jindal, the biggest investor in West Bengal now with his Rs 35,000-crore integrated steel plant.

Jindal, as the current president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India, had organised Tuesday’s interactive session with the chief minister, and brought down Assocham’s management committee for a meeting at its birthplace. Jindal’s 10 million tonne steel project is coming up in Midnapore without any of the problems faced by the Tatas.

Highly placed government and party sources said the “package” that the chief minister referred to at the meeting comprised an enhanced financial compensation for Singur farmers.

The government is said to be working on an enhanced rate for all landlosers, including those who have already taken the compensation and those who are still refusing to accept it, sources said. The extra bill could add up to Rs 30-40 crore.

Mamata wants the government to return around 400 acre that she claims belongs to farmers who did not want to part with their holdings. Apart from being legally impossible, these 400 acre are scattered all over the site and so cannot be returned without scrapping the entire project.