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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Singur bill triggers me-too cry by Abhijeet Chatterjee and Indranil Sarkar

Singur bill triggers me-too cry by Abhijeet Chatterjee and Indranil Sarkar

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published Published on Jun 20, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 20, 2011

The Singur land take-back bill has spurred a group of farmers in Burdwan to demand return of their plots that were acquired for a proposed health city.

The 84 farmers had turned down cheques in exchange for 23 acres — all multi-crop land — that had been acquired in 2005 for the project in Goda.

Fifty-seven acres from 350 landowners were marked for acquisition at the rate of Rs 12 lakh an acre.

The Rs 1,000-crore health city was former industries minister Nirupam Sen’s pet project. He was also the local MLA.

The health city was to be developed by the Burdwan Development Authority (BDA) and the Bengal Faith Health Care, a private company, on the outskirts of Burdwan town.

The farmers have demanded that their plots be returned just like unwilling farmers in Singur are set to get back theirs. The average land holding of each “unwilling” farmer in Goda is around a third of an acre.

“We don’t know whether Mamata will have to come out with an ordinance or pass another bill in the Assembly for us but we want our land back. In Singur, the unwilling farmers got justice, so why shouldn’t we?” said Abdul Wara Hidzul Aziz, unwilling to part with his 0.6 acre.

The Mamata government has said the Singur bill is specific to the land leased to the Tatas and the ancillary unit owners.

However, local Trinamul leader Khandekar Fazlur Rehman would not hear of it. “We are not aware of any such statement by Mamata Banerjee. We want our land back,” he said.

The “unwilling” farmers formed a Trinamul-led committee in 2006 to fight for their demand.

Trinamul technical education minister Rabiranjan Chatterjee, who visited Goda today and met the “unwilling” farmers, said he would take up their demand with the chief minister.

“I will speak to Mamata Banerjee and request her to consider whether the land price can be raised. We can also try to arrange for alternative land for the farmers. We can also provide them vocational training so that they can get a job at the health city,” said Chatterjee.

Farmer Hiran Kazi, 26, said the previous government had grabbed his land, now he wanted his plot back from the new government. “The Trinamul Congress won because of its anti-land acquisition movement in Singur and Nandigram. We want our land back just like the Singur farmers,” he said.

Rehman, who also heads the farmland committee, said: “We believe in Mamata Banerjee who really feels for poor farmers like us. We are hopeful about getting back our land and starting cultivation soon. Our hope has been reinforced after Mamatadi returned land to the unwilling farmers in Singur.”

Construction has started on nearly half of the acquired land. The first phase is to be completed by October 31. The project is to be completed by 2014.

The Telegraph, 20 June, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110620/jsp/bengal/story_14135560.jsp


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