Singur decision good: FM

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday made light of the criticism being faced by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for first announcing an ordinance and then saying a bill would be moved in the assembly to reclaim 400 acres of land at Singur.

“So what? It’s a good decision,” Mukherjee told reporters in reply to a question before leaving for his Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency in Murshidabad district. Banerjee had hurriedly announced an ordinance on Thursday for reclaiming 400 acres of land at the abandoned Tata Motors site, for farmers who had unwillingly parted with it.

Yesterday, she said the government would table the land reclamation bill in the assembly session, which has been advanced to June 13 from June 24. A Left delegation led by leader of the opposition Surjyakanto Mishra had called on governor M K Narayanan and pointed out that such an ordinance could not be promulgated when the house was in session. Since the government was committed to returning the land to unwilling farmers who had waited a long time, the assembly session had been preponed and the Singur bill would be tabled in the house, Banerjee had said.

Asked about the present status of the Lokpal bill and what the government was doing, Mukherjee, chairman of the joint committee for drafting the same, said, “We are discussing it. It is in the process of discussion. Some meetings have taken place. There will be a couple of more.”

Asked about return of Singur land to unwilling farmers, Mukherjee later told reporters in Murshidabad, “Once the bill is passed in the assembly session, the land can be returned in accordance with the law.