Ravi Kant shoots off a letter to Bengal govt

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Kolkata, Sep 9 : A day after the Tatas said they were "distressed" at the "limited clarity" on the discussions on Singur, Tata Motors MD Ravi Kant sent a letter to the state government, saying "the government should not take any step in future, which will disturb the arrangements agreed between us earlier."

The letter arrived even as the four-member committee, comprising Trinamool Congress affiliate Krishi Jami and Jibika Raksha Committee (KJJRC) representatives and government representatives, met for the first time after governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi brokered a truce between the government and the opposition coalition led by Mamata Banerjee.

On day one of talks, there was no clarity from the committee members on the modalities of returning land to the farmers.

While KJJRC representative Becharam Manna said they are sticking to the demand that 300 acres be returned to farmers from the project area, state industry minister Nirupam Sen reassured the Tatas that no land from the Nano project area will be handed over to land-losers.

Sen read out Tata Motors MD Kant’s letter at a press conference, which states, "We must be clearly told about those future agreements, understanding and commitments, which will go contrary to the agreements and result in not hounouring your commitment."

Sen said the government would do nothing to dishonour the agreement with the Tatas.

So, what will the committee, which has been asked to submit a report in a week, deliberate on? If the agreement between the Tatas and the government cannot be altered, it leaves the committee with little chance of an agreement. The bone of contention is the 300 acres that Mamata Banerjee wants returned from the project site to farmers who didn’t accept compensation.

While Becharam Manna and Rabindranath Bhattacharjee represent the KJJRC, other members on the committee are Hooghly District Magistrate Neelam Meena and West Bengal Industrial Development Corp managing director Subrata Gupta.

On Sunday, Governor Gandhi had announced that the government and the Trinamool Congress-promoted KJJRC had reached a consensus on the Singur issue. He said unwilling land-losers would be compensated with land for land. But he did not give any clarification on the area and site of the land to be transferred.

After the meeting on Tuesday, Becharam Manna said: "At the meeting, we said 300 acres have to be handed over from the project site. We have explained which land and how it has to be transferred.