Singur Gone, Nandigram going, going - - - - - - going - - -

In any democracy, people have the last word. Whatever be the issues raised, whatever points made by all opposing candidates and parties, the end result is the indicator as to the wish of the people. The “blown out of proportion” problems created by Trinamool and its leader – Mamata Bannerjee has now taken the ultimate beating - that of the people. Clearly the people have voted for the Tata small car factory in Singur and given their -Go Ahead - for the SEZ, which had to be stalled few months back.

How else can one explain the panchayat elections 2 months back and the municipal elections declared just yesterday? In the Panchayat elections, Trinamool suffered a backlash they had not even dreamt of. Maximum seats were won by the CPI (M). – (You can get the complete details in a previous blog written then). And now, the just held municipal elections have sounded the death knell for opposing the SEZ at Haldia. Out of a total 25 wards, the Trinamool had trumpeted a clean sweep. But, Alas! The people decided otherwise. Out of 25 seats, CPI (M) bagged an overwhelming 17 and their front partner CPI won 2 seats, thus taking the total to 19 seats. This victory has great significance as the Left Front had campaigned on the plank of industrialization and development, while the opposition Trinamool took the high road and highlighted the police firing in Nandigram and the govt’s. “ So called forcible” acquisition of land in Singur for Tata Motor’s small car plant. The people have given their choice - industrialization and development is what they want.

And though, Mamata may try to belittle this win by terming it as local and only at the municipal level and not state level – then she would have missed the point totally. It’s at the grassroots level. The issue was raised at the grassroots and is now dying at the grassroots.

For the Trinamool and Mamata the oracle is very clear – Bow out, before you are Thrown out.

Mamata's country tour

Crisis of Confidence

Why is Mamata roaming all over the country with a group of Singur residents whom she bandies around with placards around their necks proclaiming them as – victim’s relatives, when actually she should be in her own state and giving a helping hand to the increasing number of flood victims which are rising with each mm of extra rainfall? Is it that flood victims do not stir any feelings in her or is it that she is on her own trip to somehow muster power on her side and thus is on a nationwide jaunt engaging in confabulations with political heads of various shades.

Apart from the stark reality of Mamata’s total lack of sympathy or the will to do any good for the people of Bengal, her cross country movement also indicates how her so called trump card of Singur, which she has and is still trying to use has died its natural death. Singur, as of today in Bengal is a fizzled out proposition. Mamata realizes this aspect very well and is currently suffering a crisis of confidence. Her support base in her own state has eroded and that has now forced her to look for partners elsewhere. Her hunt to gather power is evident as per news report which appeared on 9th July in the Economic Times. We attach underneath the news report which is self explanatory and brings to the fore, the wishy washy person that Mamata is, and leaves one wondering - Does Mamata really care for anybody except for her own self? :


Mamata meets Jayalalithaa, fans speculation of her quitting NDA


TRINAMOOL Congress leader Mamata Banerjee’s sudden decision to meet Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa in Chennai on Sunday has fanned intense speculation about her possible entry into the newly revived Third Front.
Lately, Ms Bannerjee has been seen distancing herself from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of which till recently, she was a very vocal member. The root cause behind the differences have been over the Presidential candidature.
Ms Bannerjee had initially come out openly in support of NDA candidate Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and even campaigned on his behalf with Third Front leaders like Chandrababu Naidu. But later, she announced that she would like President A P J Abdul Kalam to be reelected.
The timing, coming as it did soon after Ms Jayalalithaa’s announcement on behalf of the Third Front in a similar vein, has raised questions about Ms Banerjee’s long-term plans of staying with the NDA.
Besides, the Trinamool leader’s decision to spurn requests from all NDA leaders wishing to meet her during her visit to Delhi last week has further lent credence to speculation that she was deliberately trying to distance herself from the NDA.
She is on her way back to Kolkata after a successful trip to Kerala, where she traveled to underscore the plight of displaced farmers in the Singur site of the Tata Motors auto project.
The Third Front, which in its new avatar has been christened the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), has several leaders who are close to Ms Bannerjee including Mr. Chandrababu Naidu and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. She has been maintaining close contact with these leaders.
Ironically, she had till early June been trying to convince these leaders to vote for the NDA candidate in the Presidential elections. However, there may be one hitch for Ms Bannerjee. In its earlier form, the Third Front had the active support of the CPM-led Left Front. If that happens again in the future, Mamata may find it difficult to justify her presence in it.
It has never been easy to predict Mamata’s moves. For the moment, she refuses to show her cards. She termed her meeting with Jayalalithaa as merely an attempt to highlight the plight of displaced farmers in West Bengal. She told journalists that she planned to spread the word about her ongoing crusade against the Left Front government in West Bengal to all like-minded political parties.
However, she played safe and refrained from commenting on whether this was the beginning of the end of her journey with the BJP-led NDA.

Dear Mamata, we would wish, that instead of parading across the country, you would rather join hands with the ruling Govt. in your state and help to empower people of your own state or if you have better plans of empowering the people of Bengal in which Industrialization does not figure, then lets see you share that with the people. Let’s see some nation building ideas from you and your party. We will wait.

Mamata, you must read this - you really need to change

AK BHATTACHARYA: A PRAGMATIC APPROACH

The West Bengal leadership finally seems to be more transparent on its rehabilitation and compensation policy.

Why is the West Bengal government worried over the adverse publicity the state continues to receive over the land acquisition controversy arising out of the proposed small cars plant of Tata Motors at Singur and a chemical complex at Nandigram? There could be two reasons. One, the media’s expectations from the West Bengal government on governance and how it should handle popular protests over large industrial projects are high. Two, investment commitments of over Rs 50,000 crore are at stake and the state government cannot afford such adverse publicity.

The perception from Writer’s Building, headquarters of the West Bengal government, is that the media has paid disproportionately higher attention to a few deaths at Nandigram and some incidents at Singur than it did for incidents in Chattisgarh or Orissa, where a substantially larger number of people were killed. This may not be entirely true. And even if it were, the fact is that the media surely expected from the Left Front government in West Bengal a better and more mature handling of the troubles at Singur and Nandigram over the local residents’ fears arising out of land acquisition. It was a failure both administratively and politically. The state administration was not proactive enough to anticipate the trouble over land acquisition and take necessary precautionary steps. Nor did the political leadership recognise the potential mischief that the state’s opposition political parties can cause in the wake of those controversies. So, why blame the media for focussing on the problems at Singur and Nandigram?

The more serious cause for concern is on account of the huge investments that the West Bengal government has managed to attract in the last few years. New investments in the state have been around Rs 2,500-3,000 crore a year in the last three-four years. This year, fresh investments might cross Rs 5,000 crore. Over the next decade, the annual investment figure will go up rapidly as the state has already got investment commitments worth Rs 50,000 crore. If, however, problems over Singur and Nandigram get more complicated, prospects of fresh investments will suffer. And the Left Front’s plans to revive industrial investment in West Bengal might receive a major blow. There is near-unanimity among the senior leadership in the Left Front government that increased industrialisation of the state is the way forward to increase job opportunities.

The leadership also recognises the need for implementing a more transparent policy on rehabilitation and compensation for those who lose land as a result of setting up large industrial projects. It is pragmatic enough to understand that there cannot be a fixed model of compensation for all types of industrial projects. If a project is being set up by a newly floated company, the possibility of offering shares of that company to those who lose land can be explored. Similarly, as in the case of the Singur plant, the entire area to be handed over to Tata Motors was redrawn so that fewer farmers lost their land. And if Nandigram was mishandled giving rise to major problems, the government was quick to announce that no such project will be considered in that area.

The short point is that the Left Front leadership has shown a commendable degree of pragmatism in handling such problems. What’s more, it has now begun a process of advance consultation with the people who may be affected by such projects and the opposition political parties in the state. For instance, it is in consultation with the opposition political parties on the proposed four-lane highway project to connect North Bengal with Kolkata. The project to revive the IISCO plant has also been a subject of consultation with leaders of opposition political parties. Gone is the arrogance that one sensed in the way Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s government dealt with the Nandigram and Singur issues. There is an attempt to hold more discussions over such projects within the Left Front partners, in a belated recognition of the fact that this after all is a coalition government. The larger concern that Bengal’s industrialisation programme should not be allowed to derail has brought about a new consultative approach.

The lessons that the Left Front government has learnt in West Bengal are relevant also for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre. The difference is that no one in the UPA government has as yet shown signs of recognising the importance of consulting the various stakeholders in the system before deciding on infrastructure projects — be they special economic zones or the mega power projects.

The West Bengal leadership finally seems to be more transparent on its rehabilitation and compensation policy.

Why is the West Bengal government worried over the adverse publicity the state continues to receive over the land acquisition controversy arising out of the proposed small cars plant of Tata Motors at Singur and a chemical complex at Nandigram? There could be two reasons. One, the media’s expectations from the West Bengal government on governance and how it should handle popular protests over large industrial projects are high. Two, investment commitments of over Rs 50,000 crore are at stake and the state government cannot afford such adverse publicity.

The perception from Writer’s Building, headquarters of the West Bengal government, is that the media has paid disproportionately higher attention to a few deaths at Nandigram and some incidents at Singur than it did for incidents in Chattisgarh or Orissa, where a substantially larger number of people were killed. This may not be entirely true. And even if it were, the fact is that the media surely expected from the Left Front government in West Bengal a better and more mature handling of the troubles at Singur and Nandigram over the local residents’ fears arising out of land acquisition. It was a failure both administratively and politically. The state administration was not proactive enough to anticipate the trouble over land acquisition and take necessary precautionary steps. Nor did the political leadership recognise the potential mischief that the state’s opposition political parties can cause in the wake of those controversies. So, why blame the media for focussing on the problems at Singur and Nandigram?

The more serious cause for concern is on account of the huge investments that the West Bengal government has managed to attract in the last few years. New investments in the state have been around Rs 2,500-3,000 crore a year in the last three-four years. This year, fresh investments might cross Rs 5,000 crore. Over the next decade, the annual investment figure will go up rapidly as the state has already got investment commitments worth Rs 50,000 crore. If, however, problems over Singur and Nandigram get more complicated, prospects of fresh investments will suffer. And the Left Front’s plans to revive industrial investment in West Bengal might receive a major blow. There is near-unanimity among the senior leadership in the Left Front government that increased industrialisation of the state is the way forward to increase job opportunities.

The leadership also recognises the need for implementing a more transparent policy on rehabilitation and compensation for those who lose land as a result of setting up large industrial projects. It is pragmatic enough to understand that there cannot be a fixed model of compensation for all types of industrial projects. If a project is being set up by a newly floated company, the possibility of offering shares of that company to those who lose land can be explored. Similarly, as in the case of the Singur plant, the entire area to be handed over to Tata Motors was redrawn so that fewer farmers lost their land. And if Nandigram was mishandled giving rise to major problems, the government was quick to announce that no such project will be considered in that area.

The short point is that the Left Front leadership has shown a commendable degree of pragmatism in handling such problems. What’s more, it has now begun a process of advance consultation with the people who may be affected by such projects and the opposition political parties in the state. For instance, it is in consultation with the opposition political parties on the proposed four-lane highway project to connect North Bengal with Kolkata. The project to revive the IISCO plant has also been a subject of consultation with leaders of opposition political parties. Gone is the arrogance that one sensed in the way Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s government dealt with the Nandigram and Singur issues. There is an attempt to hold more discussions over such projects within the Left Front partners, in a belated recognition of the fact that this after all is a coalition government. The larger concern that Bengal’s industrialisation programme should not be allowed to derail has brought about a new consultative approach.

The lessons that the Left Front government has learnt in West Bengal are relevant also for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre. The difference is that no one in the UPA government has as yet shown signs of recognising the importance of consulting the various stakeholders in the system before deciding on infrastructure projects — be they special economic zones or the mega power projects.

Singur Project crucial for Bengal, says Minister

The Tata small car project at Singur holds the key to an estimated Rs 50,000 crore investment into West Bengal, said the state's industries minister Nirupam Sen on Monday. Sen maintained that West Bengal would get substantial investment within a year of the small car project starting off. But he agreed that the local opposition to the project would have to end first.
Criticising those opposed to the industrialisation of the state, Sen said those opposing the project had simply refused to listen to the appeal of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya."I did not expect that a manufacturing unit would be opposed by opposition parties. Earlier we used to be attacked by the same people who said that despite being in power for 30 years, we have failed attract a single automobile manufacturer," said Sen.
He explained that the state government had managed to bring Tata Motors to West Bengal when the Tatas had almost decided to set up the plant at Uttrakhand due to fiscal sops the state offered. "We managed to match them. I cannot divulge the financial details," said Sen and added, "I have taken a calculated risk." He said the officers in his ministry worked hard for six months with the Tata Motors management to hammer out a mutually acceptable agreement.
Sen also pointed that the state government has already tied up an investment of about Rs 2,000-Rs 5,000 crore for 2007-08, which is about Rs 3,000 crore more than last year. Further, a number of new ventures are in pipeline that amount to more than Rs 50,000 crore. This is in addition to the total investment of Rs 50,000 crore spread across various industries that have started production, he said.
When quizzed about the steps taken by the government to improve the investment climate and promote industrialization following the strong opposition, in Nandigram and Singur, Sen said that the thrust is to build the consensus from the lowest level. "We have asked the District Magistrates to engage people from the lowest level of the administration to build a consensus on industrialisation," said Sen.

We are sure Mamata doesnt agree. Well for her, the govt. which has been ruling Bengal for 30 years by will of the people are fools and do not know how to run the state and specifically do not understand what is best for the people. Well, its time you read the pulse of the people Mamata.

Tata's educate the people of Singur. What have you done Mamata?

Singur Trainees eligible for Employment on successful completion of Training

We spoke to Tata Motors and what more can you expect Mamata? Its easy to crticise. Can you even give employment to 1 person Mamata ? ?


The Tata Motors' operation in Singur is expected to create employment in excess of 10,000 direct and indirect jobs within the plant, amongst vendors and service providers in the vicinity. The company, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the West Bengal Government have jointly undertaken several initiatives to train youth, from the singur villages. When contacted, Tata Motors spokesperson said that " if they successfully clear the training and related tests, they will become eligible for employment."



The Youth from Singur villages who are being trained had earlier registered with the WBIDC to improve their employability.

This exercise on training/improvement in skills for employability started in December 2006 with a focus on ITI-trained youth from the Singur villages. About 36 such youth were found and called for tests, and 17 from among them have been selected and placed in Tata Motors' Jamshedpur facility for extensive 6-month training. Tata Motors has been providing them with hostel facilities and also a monthly stipend during the 6-month period. On successful completion of the training programme and other related tests, they will be eligible for employment in the Small Car project in Singur.


On April 25, 2007, taking such initiatives forward, the Government of West Bengal's Department of Technical Education & Training (DTET), the WBIDC and Tata Motors had signed a memorandum of understanding for an even more extensive training programme for a larger number of Singur residents. The programme includes a 9-month course for freshers, and a 6-month course for those Singur residents whom the WBIDC had earlier begun to train at the Ramakrishna Shilpa Mandir, of the Ramakrishna Mission (Belur Math), Howrah District of the state. To begin with, this initiative is benefitting about 340 individuals, with various educational qualifications.

These two programmes are being run at the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) Howrah Homes, Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Hooghly, and the Ramakrishna Shilpa Mandir. The syllabus has been prepared by the Directorate of Industrial Training in consultation with Tata Motors and approved by the State Council of Vocational Training (SCVT), West Bengal. The expenses for the programme at the two ITIs are being equally funded by the WBIDC and Tata Motors. Tata Motors will help the ITI's, where the youth are under training, with equipment and also train, if necessary, the trainers. The expenses for the programme at the Ramakrishna Shilpa Mandir is being fully borne by Tata Motors. WBIDC is paying a monthly stipend to these trainees.

After completing the programme, the trainees will undertake a test to be conducted by the DTET, and successful candidates will receive the State Council of Vocational Training (SCVT) certificate from the DTET. These successful candidates will then undergo a 15-month hands-on training at the Tata Motors plant to endow them with multi-skill abilities and enhance their employability. On successful completion of the training programme, they too will be eligible for employment in the Small Car project in Singur.

Arrangements will also be made to impart relevant training to other individuals, in the WBIDC list, appropriate to their educational background and skills and based on a selection process.

Mamata and her stupid arguments

Singur farmers will not "Chew Cars"

The tantrum of Indian politicians is not a new phenomenon, but surely Mamata Bannerjee takes the cake. It is indeed sad, that such hue and cry has been made for a non-starter issue dubbed “Singur”. Means, have we lost our navigation? Why are we going off course? Does anybody disagree to industrialization? Don’t we all know that if our country has to keep on growing and maintain the current growth rate, then we need to go all out and set up more and more industries? So, what is it that Mamata is trying to do? She seems just hell bent to rouse a rabble and thereby create a vote bank for her. For her own petty selfish gains, she is willing to sacrifice better future of thousands of farmers and their families.

Mamata and her logic defy any and all sense. It certainly is a well thought out plan, or why else did the Trinamool Youth Congress take out a procession demanding return of land of farmers at Singur on 18^th, when it was known that on 19^th the Govt. would announce the compensation package for the so called effected farmers? Clearly, Mamata had in her mind to refuse straightaway any package that the Govt. was to announce. Undoubtedly, the package is - as described by the patriarch Jyoti Basu – “This is the best package in the country”. The announced package is black and white and not a portion exists which sounds garbled or gives the impression of hidden mines. Just to encapsulate what the package is and how it benefits all, I summarize it below:

• Farmers who are elderly & directly dependent on tilling land cannot be considered for training for employment. Govt is considering putting up shops etc in the 47.11 acre of land that they have at their disposal in Singur and giving it to those farmers as alternate means of sustenance.

• 350 nos. of project affected youth are being trained at different ITIs for 6 and 9 months. These youth will get direct employment at the mother plant

• 150 more such youth will be selected for training in Ramakrishna Mission. The selection process will start from Sunday 24^th June.

• To train, as “Test Drivers” 100 people will be given training at Hooghly Motor Training School.

• 40 Ladies have already been trained in sewing at Beraberi High School, who will make uniforms and gloves for the small car plant personnel.

• NIIT at Salt Lake, Kolkata has already trained 40 men & women for 2 months. WBIDC has borne expenses of such training. 30 of them have already got jobs.

• 40 men & women have also been trained at NIIT on Hardware and some of them have already got jobs.

• 25 nos. of ladies have been trained in cooking and have formed canteens. More women are expected to join for such training and will open up more canteens.

• 50 people will be trained in gardening and landscaping

• Govt aims to make people self-dependant and entrepreneurs by making them become suppliers of vegetables, detergents etc that will have huge requirement on a daily basis once the project comes up.

• Government will also have an arrangement with Mother Diary for supply of milk by the local villagers

• 400 women will be trained on making cable & circuit board required for the car lant. Pune model training will be followed. Initially 100 women will be trained.

Such a well thought out package is the very first of its kind. The elderly have been taken care of, the youth have been looked after, the women too have been handed economic freedom and the bright future of the Singur farmers ensured.

But then follows the bluffmaster Mamata. It is obvious that Mamata never heard of the saying – First think, and then speak. Mamata doesn’t even bother to think or for that matter to even hear. She gives instant stupid reactions. And that’s exactly what she did after the package was announced. She just went ahead and rejected outright the package announced. Her ground of refusal was a clutter of baseless allegations bereft of any sense or sensibility. She really defines the Height of stupidity and to recap her ludicrous logic:

• "It is a rotten package and a deal to give passage to the Tatas in Singur," She claimed that the Tatas were fronting the Singur project while a foreign company had equity in it. "There is equity of a foreign company in the Tata Motors' small car project at Singur,"

• We don't need driving schools. Let them train their own people. Farmers don't need to drive cars. They know how to drive tractors and till the land.

• What will we do with cars? Do you think farmers will chew cars for dinner?

Now Mamata, what is your source of the first allegation - that a foreign company had equity in the project and that the Tatas were merely fronting it? First if you do have any such information, why didn’t you share it with the people and the media on day 1 itself? Secondly, if what you say is true, then can we have the exact details - the name of this foreign company and its share in the project? As per your statement, it sounds like – this foreign company owns the project since you say – Tatas were fronting the project, thereby ownership obviously is of the foreign company. And Mamata, if all this is true, then why did you hide such vital information from the public all this time, and moreover why are you giving a show of spilling the beans at this point in time? Or is it that questions of national interest and security concerns are secondary to your personal vote bank politics?

As for your second rationale – I would describe it by way of a famous Bengali saying – “Even a donkey would laugh” You say – Farmers don’t need to drive cars. Why Mamata, - are farmers not good enough to own and drive cars? Do we smell here a casteist flavor of politics? Is it like, – farmers like scheduled castes should never prosper, will never ever be able to own cars and so why should they even learn driving? Well for starters Mamata, if the farmers learnt driving, it will add to their skill set and provide an additional means of earning a livelihood.

Going ahead - you reiterate – They know how to drive tractors and till the land. Mamata, do you have any idea as to how many farmers in West Bengal own tractors? And the farmers, who have tractors, are of a different scale and unfortunately the Singur farmer never fell in that class. The land owning has to be huge, huge to make it economically viable to own and maintain a tractor. It seems your idea of farmers has its roots in the cowboy ranchers as shown in Hollywood movies. Mamata, just to enlighten you - most Indian farmers rent out tractors before sowing and get their land tilled.

And last but not the least - Do you think farmers will chew cars for dinner? No we don’t think farmers will chew cars for dinner, but yes we do think that the day the Tata car factory is operational, the farmer is employed and owns his car, that day the farmer will not have to think what he is going to chew for dinner. That day he will surely have his hot piping dinner.

18th june - Singur gets freedom from Mamata and her antics

18th June – Last day of Mamatas charade of fighting for people of Singur

Its V-day for the people of Singur, and as per sources the villagers are celebrating. On the other hand it’s a sad and glum TMC camp and office. When reporters today reached the party office, they found it empty and none of the floating junior party members had any answer as to where their so called firebrand leader and her close coterie were. The media later found out that a party meeting of the high command was on; in some unconfirmed venue, and that the party was deliberating how to overcome the current situation - which has cropped up post the patriarch Jyoti Basu made a media statement as to the Singur settlement.

We attach below the news that appeared post Jyoti Basus’ meeting and briefing the media:

Alternative package best in country: Basu
Kolkata, Jun 15 (PTI) Veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu was today
all praise for the alternative compensation package prepared by state
Industry Minister Nirupam Sen for the "unwilling" farmers whose land
have been acquired for the Tata Motors' small car project at Singur.
"This is the best thing in the country," Basu told reporters
after attending the party's state secretariat meeting here.
The package, however, would be disclosed by Sen after hearing
of a land acquisition case in the High Court on June 18, he said.
Asked if Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee found the
package unacceptable, he said it can't be helped. "Is she aware of
the package?" he asked.
The West Bengal government had yesterday turned down the Trinamool
Congress' demand that the land of the unwilling farmers at Singur
be returned but said an alternative proposal was being worked out
by the state government.
After a meeting with Banerjee on June 4 to find a solution to
both Singur and Nandigram problems, Basu had said that her demands
should be looked into by the state government. Both had then expressed
confidence on reaching an amicable settlement of the issues.
Basu veered around to the state government stand that the land
for Tata project was already acquired and that Banerjee's demand
for return of land to unwilling farmers could not be conceded.
"During my meeting with her, she told me that there is a land
measuring 600 acre oppositite to the Tata site. But on inquiry I
found that it is private property," Basu said responding to a question
by a reporter.

So Mamata, what’s your next trick going to be?