Do you think the Tatas will return?

The job of a security guard at the chemical unit fetches Pakira Rs 2,500-Rs 3,000 a month. Missing a day means missing a days salary.

He was among the 101 youths from Singur who had signed up as apprentice in Batch No 1 of the Tata Motors technical training programme. He has carefully preserved the appointment letter,dated January 15,2008,proclaiming him TTM Tata Motors Team Member. At the end of 2009 though,almost a year after the Tatas had pulled out,they were asked to submit their letters to the company office in Singur and TMT was scratched out. It didnt take much for Pakira to understand the message.

I do not have a future now8230; There are days when my six-member family starves as I find it difficult to feed them two square meals a day. We have lost everything. Joining the company with the original letters of appointment would have meant a permanent job, he says.

What makes it worse is that Pakira and others like him also gave up their land,accepting in return compensation money that,in the absence of proper jobs,has quickly run out. We had a little mud house before the Tata Motors venture began. We had willingly given away our land in the hope of graduating from being agricultural farmers to salaried employees. We took the compensation offered by the government and built a small house. But since the Tatas pulled out,we have not been able to complete the construction of the roof. When I took training in Pune,my wife borrowed money and worked day in and day out to run the family. We bore the hardship with the belief that once I get the job,we will pay off the debts, rues Pakira.

Almost 600 youths of Singur are in the same position as him. In mid-2009,their hope was rekindled when 0-batch of the training module of Tata Motors comprising 14 odd youths from Singur was called to Sanand in Gujarat. However,even that proved shortlived when one of them,Narayan Ghosh,a resident of Ghospara in Singur,returned after he fell ill. Says his brother Saktipada Ghosh: He was paid Rs 6,000,not much after staying so far from his place. He now works in their small glass shop in Singur bazaar.

Gautam Ghosh,another youth of the 0-batch,is all set to return from Sanand. Says his 80-year-old father Madan Mohan Ghosh: For the past eight months,Gautam has been working there. He earns around Rs 6,000,and spends more than Rs 3,000 on accommodation and food. He is unable to send us more than Rs 3,000. This money he can earn in Singur,working as a daily wage labourer or a security guard. We had given land for the project and we are completely bankrupt now.

Bappaditya Ghosh,a member of the fifth batch,of Bera Beri in Singur,joined the Tata training programme in early 2007 and continued till 2009,assured by officers that he would be absorbed in the Sanand plant.

I am unemployed now, he says. I used to work for a small company in Hooghly district but quit the job as I had dreams of being an employee of the Tata group. Now,I am not getting a job anywhere. I have started looking for the job of daily labourer.

Those trained under other schemes started by Tatas face an equally uncertain future. Jogamaya Pakira,a resident of Joymollah village,was among the 40 women who were trained to stitch clothes which the employees would wear.

We trained for eight months,we were given knitting machines. We made several clothes but the officers told us that the clothes do not have any use now, says Jogamaya. Do you think the Tatas will return?

Farmers wait for Mamata to return their 400 acres of land. Five of them have already committed suicide. As Assembly election draws near there are moves to exploit the situation by rival parties

Over 2,000 unwilling families,whose land was acquired by the state government for the Nano project,had refused to accept compensation. The project was cancelled,but the land was not returned. Penniless and desperate,at least five farmers have committed suicide so far while the villagers attribute the deaths of over 15 middle-aged farmers to depression and cardiac arrest.

Gobinda Manna 75 was once an affluent farmer with eight bighas of land. The government offered him Rs 24 lakh as compensation,which he refused. Now he is almost starving,yet refuses to take the money as he wants his land back. According to local residents,Manna sold his house to make ends meet and now lives in a mud hut.

I would rather die than accept that money. I want my land back. I have full faith in Didi Mamata Banerjee. She will give my land back next year. I am waiting for that day, he says.

Sandhya Das,a 31-year-old widow,of Khaser Bheri in Singur,has nearly lost her eyesight as she works more than seven hours a day decorating bindis with tiny golden balls. It takes at least an hour to make one packet. Sandhya makes 12 packets in three to four hours all for Rs 3. To be able to earn enough to educate her daughters,Sandhya has to work at least seven to eight hours to earn at least Rs 6 a day. Her husband,Prashanto,had committed suicide in May 2008,giving up hope that he would get back his 4 bighas of land. He had refused a compensation cheque of Rs 12 lakh.

I live with my in-laws as I cannot afford to live alone. I have asked several political leaders of the area to arrange a job for me,but nothing has been done as yet. My daughters are in Classes VIII and V. We do not get work under the NREGA as jobs are unavailable here. When we had land,my husband used to work 16 hours a day to make ends meet, she says.

Shyamali Patro,wife of Bhola Patro,a share cropper,of Baje Melia in Singur,moves from door to door begging food for her children. Her husband Bhola committed suicide in December 2008 after he was out of job for more than a year. The portion of the land where he used to work fell under the proposed project site. Shyamali has finally got a maids job in an ICDS centre in Goplanagar this month. It pays her Rs 40-50 per day.

My husband tried to find work as a daily wager. One day he hanged himself. I ran from pillar to post to get a job so that I could feed my two children, sobs Shyamali.

Asha Patro,wife of Sankar Patro,of Khaser Bheri in Singur,runs the kitchen of her six-member family by packing rice and puffed rice in packets. The 45-year-old woman earns Rs 40 per day,only if she can make more than 200 packets a day. Otherwise,she is paid half that amount. Her husband,a share cropper,used to also run a tea stall on the highway. The land he used to till fell under the project area. Sankar committed suicide in 2008 after he was beaten up by the local police for resisting the demolition of his tea stall.

My husband committed suicide after his stall was demolished. Mamata visited us after the incident and promised my son a job,but my son is still unemployed, says Asha.

Dhirendra Nath Das of Khaserbehri used to live very close to the project site. After his 3.5 bighas of land was acquired by the state government,he was so depressed that he gave up eating and even stopped talking to people. In February,2008,he suffered a heart attack and died. We had not accepted the compensation money. My sons work as labourers in Kolkata, says his wife,Sandhya.

Caught in a quagmire,these families wait for the day when Mamata will return their 400 acres of land. As the Assembly polls draw near there are fresh moves to exploit the situation by rival political camps. The Trinamool Congress is trying hard to hold together the farmers by promising to give them back their land. The families of the deceased,however,have not got any reprieve so far. The CPM plans to bring the farmers to Kolkata and organise a blockade to demand that the Tatas be back here.

Officials of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation are tightlipped on the matter. Subrata Gupta,MD,WBIDC,refused to comment on the situation.