Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Singur situation

This refers to the article by M.S. Swaminathan (September 23). With fragmented farm holdings, it is impossible to better the economic conditions of the farmers of Singur even with the best of the technological support. The only alternative is to shift the farmers from disguised employment to other avocations for better living with social security cover provided by either the direct beneficiary or the government. But the problem in West Bengal is more political — oriented to settle scores between two rival parties.

Only an apolitical compromise between the Trinamool Congress and the Left parties will lead to a solution to end the impasse.

K.M. Lakshmana Rao,

Visakhapatnam

Agriculture alone cannot bring in economic growth. It should necessarily be complemented by other sources of income generation, especially those from industry and the services sector. As the Tata unit will seek to give the necessary impetus to industrial growth in the State, the detractors should give up their stance so that the stalemate is resolved immediately

O.D. Damodaran,

Trissur

Nobody can be denied an opportunity to look for rightful avenues to supplement his/her income. The pathetic living conditions of the majority of the farming community in India is a well-known fact. Rather than providing free power and loan waivers, creating employment opportunities would improve their self-esteem. The co-existence of agriculture and industry will improve the quality of life in rural India. At the same time, there has to be clarity on how the land and water sources are going to be protected from industrial effluents.

Nirmala Narayanan,

Bangalore

The article’s stress on the need for providing multiple sources of livelihood to farmers in the sub-marginal category has come at an appropriate time. Hope the illustration on the development of rural areas in China, with the launch of the Township and Village Enterprise Movements (TVM), comes in handy to the West Bengal government at a time when it has kept its fingers crossed on the Tata project.

K. Raji Reddy,

Hyderabad

The article makes one think deeply on the righteousness of the Trinamool Congress’ concerns and struggle. Is Ms Banerjee’s agitation really for the poor masses? Is the struggle worth it and is that what the farmers truly demand?

One could see how important this project is for the State from the gesture of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi moderating the talks. The Nano plant is a stepping stone for the State and it should embrace more such ventures.

Radhee Krishna,

Bangalore

Thanks for some rational and non-political views on the Singur situation. Given that the per capita availability of land in India is limited, it is indeed the role of the government to ration its use. The reference to the TVE programme of China is a good example for government to emulate.

S. Balaji,

Chennai

If the Chinese method of job creation in rural areas is North Pole, Singur’s Nano is South Pole. Jamshedpur did nothing to the tribal people of Orissa and so was the case of Jharkhand, where the bulk of the mining was done. These mainly serve the interests of outsiders. It is well-known to all rural people that agriculture is the least remunerative profession. In spite of that, people oppose industrialisation in hamlets. Kalinganagar, Nandigram, Singur, Paradip, Raigad, Dantewada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Keonjhar, Karaikal, Tuticorin — examples are endless. Hence, I feel, the opposition from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to such projects.

P. Sankaranarayanan,

Bhubaneswar

Development of primary, secondary and the tertiary sectors cannot be mutually exclusive. The ultimate gain from the development of any of these sectors is improvement in the human development indices. The article points to the absolute necessity for having a right mix of the sectors. The Tatas, by convention, have always striven and achieved success in the human development front wherever they have established their presence. Singur will be no exception. Why not the West Bengal government initiate direct talks with the 2,000 or so farmers?

R.Unni Krishnan,

Kochi

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