Industrialisation in Bengal on rough terrain

The UPA government’s Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill could be the last nail in the coffin for industrialisation in West Bengal.

West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen said if the Bill was passed by the Centre in its present form, it would mean the end of industrialisation in West Bengal. “It is impractical, we have opposed it. It may be possible to acquire land for industries in states where landholding is high, but not in West Bengal,” said Sen.

The average landholding in West Bengal is 5-7 acres and non-agricultural land is less than one per cent of the total land. In Singur, the original site for the Nano mother plant, about 40 km from Kolkata, 997 acres were held by 14,000-odd farmers. Another anomaly pointed out by the minister was that the amendment to the Bill allows an investor to purchase 70 per cent of the land and for the balance it could turn to the government.

However, Sen said that for the balance amount the government would have to pay a 60 per cent solacium.

“If the land-losers know that they will get more money if the land is acquired then why would they sell directly to the investor?” pointed out Sen.

Despite widespread resistance in Nandigram and Singur, the West Bengal government is not in favour of direct purchase by investors. “This approach is against the farmers. Investors will just appoint middlemen to deal with the farmers, who will be net losers,” Sen said.

Citing the Singur example, the minister said that in the case of acquisition, the state government would not only ensure adequate compensation, but look into employment, rehabilitation and community development projects.

Rarely do the ruling Left Front and the Opposition Trinamool Congress concur on any issue, especially if it involves land acquisition, but both sides are opposed to the UPA government’s Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill.

The Trinamool Congress, which led the agitation in Singur that led to Tata Motors pulling out its Nano project, was also opposed to the Bill as it felt that direct purchase of land could be done by pressurising or intimidating the land-losers.

Stung by the land acquisition resistance, which reflected in the Left Front’s worst poll performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the West Bengal government is in the process of chalking out a rehabilitation and resettlement policy. “We have prepared a departmental draft, but there should be a public debate,” Sen said.

The salient features of the policy would include land-for-land, training, upgrading skills, employment generation and annuity for those farmers whose only source of income is land.