Mamata Banerjee scatters mustard seeds to bring Singur back to life

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has initiated the process of returning Singur land back to farmers. The farmland had been acquired to set up an automobile factory to manufacture the Nano cars by Tata Motors but, after a decade, the Singur agitation has come a full circle Mamata Banerjee stepped on the now-flattened land at the deserted Tata Nano site and scattered a few mustard seeds.
On the occasion, she said that "forcible land acquisition for industry" was just a "passing phase".
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 21 October 2016.

Mamata Banerjee reminded the landowners that work to make much of the 997.11 acres arable was still underway and added that 'one has to fight for rights. They aren't handed over on a platter. It is a continuous process.'
One of the landowners at the project site said that she had three bighas of land but, only 5 cottahs were handed over. Moreover, it was a three-crop land, which included paddy and potato and she got a bagful of mustard seeds from the CM. Incidentally, she has never grown mustard before but has been told that mustard usually doesn't need any fertilizer and also needs less water (only two inches a week).
The CM indicated that while farmers can start cultivating mustard immediately, they can in due course move over to potato and paddy also.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Mamata Banerjee realizes need for industries - to send team to Germany to scout around

The West Bengal government has, apparently, realized the folly of driving out the TATA Motors Nano factory from the state. The government is now eyeing investments in the automobile sector from Germany. Therefore, it plans to send officials to visit Germany later this month to scout around for investments in the automobile sector. Germany is home to big names like BMW, Volkswagen and Audi.
In case there is a positive response, chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself could travel to the country from Rome in September to hold discussions with the companies.
She will be in Rome in September to attend the canonisation of Mother Teresa and, if the team that sees any possibility of bringing in investments, the chief minister will visit the country after the programe in Rome.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 7 July 2016.

Obviously the Trinamul government was trying to counter a perception that it was anti-industry because of the Mamata-led movement that drove the Tata Nano factory out of Bengal. The government is apparently trying to address concerns over the lack of big-ticket investments in the manufacturing sector which could be a fallout of the Nano exit.
The chief minister seems to have realized that the automobile sector could open up investment avenues and also create job opportunities. Sanand in Gujarat, where Tata Motors shifted its Nano plant after moving out of Singur, has become an automobile hub with a number of companies, including Ford, Honda and Hyundai.
When Mamata Banerjee was in the Opposition, her agitation had driven the Nano project out of Bengal and realization has now dawned that industrialization is the need of the hour and creating more jobs for youths is important.


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Indo-Russia joint venture company in Bengal grows and sells bananas instead of automobiles

in Industry and West Bengal are absolutely incompatible. A factory meant for automobiles and situated close to Singur where TATA wanted to build the Nano factory, is now producing bananas instead of accessories. It is Ural India's bus and truck unit in Haldia. Fruits and vegetables grown on the premises following lack of orders that brought production to a halt last November. The Ural management has engaged the workers in cultivation to keep them busy and reduce the burden of monthly wages.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 14 March 2016.

Singur was the poll plank of Mamata Banerjee to wrench power from the ruing Left Front but, in spite of her pre-poll promises of returning land taken over for the Nano factory by the TATAs, no land has been returned because the issue is pending in the Supreme Court.
Hence, the Ural experience is a unique one. Economies are expected to develop from a primarily rural agricultural society to an industrialized urban economy. But, in Bengal, everything is topsy-turvy. The factory employees 11 permanent employees and 35 temporary hands. They stay in the premises and grow vegetables to survive.
Ural is a joint venture between UralAZ of Russia and Motijug Agencies of Calcutta and there was no formal arrangement with the workers to grow crops. But, they grow bananas, spinach etcetera and sell them in the local market. They have a system to maintain record of what they sell date-wise and, at the end of the month, the total money they earn is calculated and deducted from the salary payable.


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