technology blogs: Farmers will get back their land: Govt

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Farmers will get back their land: Govt

??|?? July 22, 2012 ?? 08:32pm ??|Contributed by MANOJa

After the Calcutta High Court on Friday struck down the Singur Act brought in by the Trinamool Congress government last year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reiterated her government?s commitment to return land to all those farmers of Singur who did not accept price for their land that was acquired for the Tata Motors factory.

Minister for commerce and industries Partha Chatterjee, too, said the state government will throw its might behind the farmers. ?Our Chief Minister sat on fast for 24 days for Singur farmers. We will continue our fight for their cause,?? Chatterjee said in the Assembly after the verdict.

State agriculture minister and Singur MLA Rabindranath Bhattacherjee said the ruling might trigger frustration among farmers who have been waging a battle to get their land back for the last six years.

Bhattacharjee, however, said he would advise the farmers to wait for the Supreme Court?s judgment. ?I will ask them to keep faith in the government, which is with the farmers of Singur. There is every reason to get frustrated. The farmers would have to wait for some more months to see the judgment of the apex court,? Bhattacharjee, one of the architects of the Singur movement, which changed the fortune of the Trinamool, said.

The leaders of Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee ? a Trinamool-controlled body of ?unwilling farmers? ? will be asked to ensure that farmers do not lose hope, he added.

The minister said the state government would expand the ambit of the financial package announced for the ?unwilling farmers?.

?Now we would try to bring share croppers, agricultural farmers under the scheme that was announced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,? Bhattacharjee said.

The minister alleged that the CPI-M was conducting a campaign to create confusion among the farmers. ?The campaigners are asking the farmers to accept cheques ? something which is not legally possible as the matter was sub- judice. Under no circumstances cheques will be distributed to unwilling farmers at this point of time,? Bhattacherjee said.

The minister said he had held a meeting with the farmers and leaders of Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee last night to discuss the future course of action.

?We had decided that if the judgment goes in our favour, we would reoccupy the land for farming. We had decided to keep patience in case of an unfavourable judgment.?

According to him, farmers of 256 acres of land have so far been found to be ?unwilling? and they did not receive cheques from the government.

Owners of another 70-80 acres of land in the fenced-off area will come under the list of unwilling farmers during further examination.

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