Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A day before polling, Bharat Chandra Das, 73, loitered around what was once Tata’s Nano plant site in Singur in West Bengal’s Hooghly district. Despite the much-hyped land return by the state government, identification and demarcation of seven of his eight bighas of agricultural plot is yet to be done. The one bigha which has been demarcated yields nothing as there are sand and concrete chunks in the soil. Das, a resident of Khaserbheri in Singur, participated in the agitation against the Nano plant.
Das is not the only one. Three years after the return of land, woes of Singur farmers continue with most of them yet to start farming. Singur is part of Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency, where Trinamool Congress is looking for a third term and the BJP has emerged as its prime challenger.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 | Polling schedule, results date, constituency-wise results, how to check live counting
In 2006, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee started an agitation in Singur against the acquisition of farm land by the then Left Front government for Tata’s small car factory. On August 31, 2016, the Supreme Court ordered that 997.11 acres acquired for the plant be returned to farmers. The verdict was considered a vindication of Banerjee’s stand.
The state government removed concrete structures and initiated the process of returning the land in cultivable form. Land documents were returned to over 1800 farmers and seeds distributed. The state government has also been giving a monthly dole of Rs 2000 and 16 kg of rice to 3,200 farmer families in Singur.
Government officials stated that demarcation pillars were put up, but they were dislocated during the laying of fresh soil.
Initially, a small number of farmers started cultivating in small patches, but many of them discontinued after they failed to get produce.
Almost all farmers in villages like Khaserbheri, Joymollah and Beraberi alleged that the land is not ready for farming. “We used to get three crops a year in the eight bighas my family owns. I could only get one bigha demarcated. But that too is useless due to sand and concrete chunks. I have a small patch of land outside (the factory area), about 4 cottahs. That is all I have now. Who will identify my land and make it ready for agriculture?” asked Das, a resident of Khaserbheri.
“We do not want the Rs 2000 a month and rice from the government. We want to till our land. I still have cases against me in court because I participated in the agitation,” said Sudip Ghosh (48) from Beraberi. Ghosh has received papers for his two bighas, but they are yet to be demarcated.
The Singur land agitation led by Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was a major factor behind the party coming to power in West Bengal in 2011. After coming to power, the Trinamool Congress government initiated development projects in and around Singur and handed over land deeds back to the farmers. But despite its efforts, the state government has failed to make the land suitable for tilling. So the farmers received their land back only on paper. With demarcations not done and the soil in an improper condition, the farmers who were part of the agitation are in a soup as they can neither sell nor cultivate their land.
A major portion of the land has mounds of soil, water accumulated in some parts and bushes. Women take cattle there to graze. There are also some tubewells, no longer is use.
In Hooghly, Trinamool has re-nominated Ratna De Nag, two-time MP from the seat and a doctor. The BJP has fielded actor-turned-politician Locket Chatterjee and the CPM has fielded Pradip Saha.
In the 2014 election, Nag defeated Saha by a margin of 1,89,084 votes. BJP candidate Chandan Mitra finished third.
But this time, BJP has emerged as the prime challenger to Trinamool.
In the seven assembly segments in Hooghly constituency — Singur, Chandannagar, Chunchura, Balagarh, Pandua, Saptagram and Dhanekhali — Trinamool holds all gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and Zilla Parishad seats.
BJP’s Locket Chatterjee, however, is confident. “Mamata Banerjee made a lot of promises, but did not fulfill them. I am here to win,” said Chatterjee.
Nag said the “unprecedented development initiatives” of Banerjee are her poll plank. “I am confident that the winning margin will increase,” she added.
Becharam Manna, one of the leading faces of the agitation in Singur and now Trinamool MLA from Haripal, is also confident of a win for the party. “It is not easy to clear the concrete and make land ready for agriculture. It takes time. But the government is doing whatever it can to restore the land and farmers have started tilling again. Many farmers are getting 16 kg rice and Rs 2000 per month,” said Manna.
“Our organisation is strong. Opposition parties have no organisation. About 171 km of roads have been built in Singur, four new bridges have been built, a degree college has come up and a trauma care centre is also coming up in Singur hospital. All these have been done by Mamata Banerjee,” said Manna.
