Of the 11 farmers who were killed in Nanoor over a decade back, 10 of their family members have already got jobs with the railways. Eight more families from the area, who faced the brunt of the continuing CPI(M) attacks, have also been employed by the railways.
Similarly, in Nandigram, 34 people whose family members were raped or killed during clashes with CPI(M) workers are now employed with the railways. All these families are Trinamool Congress supporters who were killed in Nanoor in July 2000.
?My son was killed when he was just 25 years old. Noor Hussain was just eight years old at the time of the killings. He turned 18 this year, so he applied for a job with the railways. Didi has assured us that he will get it,? said Zakira Bibi, Noor?s grandmother.
During her two terms as the railway minister ? first with the NDA and now with UPA-II ? Mamata Banerjee is said to have provided jobs to at least 119 victims/ family members of political violence in West Bengal. Most of them belong to trouble spots like Nanoor, Nandigram, Keshpur, Sashan, Habra and Gaighata.
Elsewhere in the state, the same pattern follows. Admitting that Mamata had provided jobs to ?political victims? in ?several places in Bengal?, Union minister of state for tourism Sisir Adhikari of the TMC said: ?In Nandigram, 34 people, including rape victims and firing victims, were awarded jobs in the railways. We have sent 10 more applications of people who were injured in political clashes in the area.?
He added: ?Other than Nandigram, Didi has arranged jobs for 22 people from Keshpur who were affected in political clashes. Several from Bankura have also been accommodated.?
The only exception is Singur, where people got shops instead of railway jobs. Ten of the affected villagers in Singur have been given shops in the market area.
When contacted, a senior railway official admitted that there was no provision to give jobs on compassionate grounds to victims of political violence. ?Such jobs have been given by using the discretionary powers of the divisional general managers who can recruit Group D staff according to their choice,? he said.
