Buddhadeb favours consensus on land acquisition policy

Kolkata, March 20: Calling for a consensus among the government, corporate houses and locals to sort out the vexed issue of acquiring fertile land for industries, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddahdeb Bhattacharjee Saturday said the opposition parties were not cooperating in the state's industrialisation.

The chief minister unveiled a three-pronged formula - careful identification of land, attractive prices and a rehabilitation package - to lessen the pain for those whose fertile land is acquired for industries.

"Our policy is that as far as possible do not touch fertile land. But the major problem is that in our state only one percent of the total land is fallow, as against the national average of 19 percent," he said.

"Wherever we acquire fertile land, we identify it carefully so that the minimum number of people are affected. Then, we give attractive prices to the affected farmers and also rehabilitate them," he said, addressing a state summit organised by Bengali news channel 'Chobbis Ghanta'.

"We need consensus among the government, corporate houses and the spontaneous participation of locals wherever we take agricultural land for industries," Bhattacharjee said.

Lambasting the opposition, Bhattacharjee said: "They not only blocked Singur, but are also opposing other projects. They are opposing a power project in Burdwan district and the chemical hub project at Nayachar island."

The Trinamool Congress-led opposition had led a peasant agitation in Hooghly district's Singur demanding return of 400 acres of the acquired land to farmers. The stir ultimately forced Tata Motors to shift the plant for its small car Nano to Gujarat.

After scrapping Nandigram in East Midnapore district as the site for a chemical hub due to another agitation, the government has now zeroed in the Nayachar islands in the same district. However, the opposition has started an agitation there too, claiming the hub will have an adverse impact on ecology.

Bhattacharjee said his government was trying its best to convince the opposition by citing the example of other states where the opposition parties cooperate with the government on issues like industrial investment and development.

The chief minister said during the last two years his government has prepared a land bank, identifying vast stretches in Burdwan, Birbhum, Purulia and Bankura and acquired 4,000 acres, without facing any opposition from the locals who gave land spontaneously.

He said the state was getting big-ticket investment in steel, petrochemicals, IT and IT enabled services and food processing.