Date:03/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/03/stories/2008100361881400.htm

National

Crucial talks on Singur project today

Special Correspondent

Buddhadeb will stress that a majority of people want project at Singur
Tata Motors has been evaluating alternative options

KOLKATA: “We should hope for a solution. The people of our State desire and deserve a solution in Singur,” West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi said on the eve of the crucial meeting here on Friday between Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, to discuss the future of Tata Motors project.

Mr. Gandhi was speaking to journalists at Gandhighat in Barrackpore, near here, after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi.

Over the past few weeks, the Governor has been taking initiatives to break the deadlock at Singur and has chaired discussions between Mr. Bhattacharjee and the agitating Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who demands the return of 400 acres of land acquired for the project (out of 997.11 acres) to farmers who had not taken compensation. Yet, the fate of the project hangs in the balance.

“Unfortunate”

Chief Mentor, Confederation of Indian Industry, Tarun Das, in a statement on Thursday, described as “unfortunate” the situation at Singur, the site of the Tata Motors project, and said, “the solution to the recent stand-off lies with Ms. Mamata Banerjee who is representing the agitators and protesters.

The West Bengal government, he observed, “has shown restraint in handling the violent nature of the protests and coercion.”

The State government has tried to accommodate the demands of the protesters by offering additional rehabilitation to the affected people as also compensation, he added. Mr. Das sincerely hoped “that Ms. Banerjee and her colleagues act in a responsible manner (in regard to the situation at Singur) before it is too late.”