| West Bengal votes for Nano | |
| Bs Reporter / Kolkata September 03, 2008, 0:33 IST | |
Around 85 per cent of the people of West Bengal want the Tata Nano to roll out from the Singur plant, indicated a recent survey conducted by industry chamber Assocham.
Of the 2,000 people surveyed by Assocham, who represented different sections of society, 1,700 voted in favour of the world’s cheapest car rolling out from Singur.
Around 70 per cent respondents, in the random survey conducted across 12 districts in the state, felt that the matter has been overly politicised by a section of the polity as a result of which it has been facing problems.
About 50 per cent of those who participated in the survey felt that the issue was mishandled, for which the blame could be placed with the local administration and political outfits, which have being opposing the rollout of the Nano from West Bengal.
Those who voted in favour of the Singur plant also noted that the Tatas should be persuaded to stay back in Bengal and their exit could send wrong signals.
Over 1,580 respondents held a firm view that manufacturing is the answer to gradually remove unemployment in the state and therefore the West Bengal must give a focused attention to manufacturing units rather than encouraging information technology (IT) units as such units are unlikely to create employment even for the skilled workforce.
The survey reports that over 80 per cent of the people said the state requires more such units like the Nano plant that create downstream ancillary units and boost employment options for a large section of the unskilled workforce.
On the issue of the compensation package for the 400 acres belonging to ‘unwilling’ farmers, over 60 per cent respondents emphatically suggested that a tripartite meeting of land oustees, the local administration and promoters of the Nano project should be held immediately to redesign the compensation package.
Nearly 1,000 respondents admitted that given the size of the project, the compensation package needs to be made more attractive to compensate the land losers adequately.
Around 60 per cent felt that Tatas need to shell out a little more to pacify the resenting voices in order to enable them execute the project here itself instead of looking for alternative sites as that could be time-consuming.
Assocham has already submitted a blueprint to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, committing that in the next 3 years, the chamber would mobilise Indian industrialists and foreign investors for additional investments worth Rs 8 lakh crore that will create employment for 3 lakh people, including skilled and unskilled jobs.
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