Bengal
Salboni land owners not happy on land return
- The Statesman
- 17 Dec 2014
JSW Group has agreed to give back 294 acres it purchased from farmer s
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 16 December:
The proposal of giving back 294 acres of Salboni land at free of cost that the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group had purchased from the farmers has evoked mixed reaction among the landlosers and local residents.
A section of agitators who mainly belong to the Trinamul Congress are hopeful that Salboni might show the way to the Tatas. “At least the farmers will get back their land at free of cost. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has kept her promise to return unutilized lands to the farmer by making pressure on the company which was apparently not kin to implement its mega project on due time. This happens at a time when a similar effort is caught in legal tangle in the Singur case”, said Biswajit Mondol, a Trinamul Congress leader.
Another section of farmers, who are conducting protest agitation in front of the main gate of the proposed plant site under the banner of Salboni JSW Bengal Steel Ltd Landlosers' Welfare Association for the last couple of weeks, are not in a mood to wind up the agitation.
“We want our own land back, not the ones that the company wants to give us from one corner of the project area. WBIDC had also acquired 189.62 acres from the farmers for this project and we also want the government to return this land” said association secretary Parishkar Mahato.
The JSW Group on Monday agreed to return 294 acres it purchased from about 485 farmer families at Salboni, two weeks after it suspended plans to build a steel and power plant on the acquired land.
The company had actually acquired 4334 acres of land. Among these lands, 3035 acres were vested lands which were purchased from the government. The state animal husbandry department had 799.97 acres of land. “But, in the proposal, the company is agreed to give back only 294 acres of land to the farmers who had given their lands for the company’s Rs 35000 crore project”, said Mr Mahato.
Sushanta Mahato, who works as a temporary electrician at the JSW Salboni site is also upset with the company’s proposal. “My brother and I gave one acre for the project. I don't want the land back. Instead, I want the project to come up so that I get a job,” said Sushanta.
Arup Bagchi, a local resident also expressed his sorrow saying, “We thought that this project would help us by various ways. But, the abundant of this project has snatched our all hopes and dreams”.
A CPI-M leader said, “The chief minister has no credit on this move. The JSW group had purchased the land on its own, and it is free to return it. The Tata Motors had received the entire plot in Singur on lease from the state government. But land acquired by the state government cannot be returned because of the controversial 2011 law passed by the Trinamul Congress government.”
BJP state president Mr Rahul Sinha said I would sent wrong signals to the investors throughout the country. “ The Jindals will finally back out from the state. Mamata Banerjee made the biggest mistake by creating trouble at Singur which had forced the Tata Motors to go away and now the inve3stors in the country will think that West bengal is not the right place to invest.”
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 16 December:
The proposal of giving back 294 acres of Salboni land at free of cost that the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group had purchased from the farmers has evoked mixed reaction among the landlosers and local residents.
A section of agitators who mainly belong to the Trinamul Congress are hopeful that Salboni might show the way to the Tatas. “At least the farmers will get back their land at free of cost. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has kept her promise to return unutilized lands to the farmer by making pressure on the company which was apparently not kin to implement its mega project on due time. This happens at a time when a similar effort is caught in legal tangle in the Singur case”, said Biswajit Mondol, a Trinamul Congress leader.
Another section of farmers, who are conducting protest agitation in front of the main gate of the proposed plant site under the banner of Salboni JSW Bengal Steel Ltd Landlosers' Welfare Association for the last couple of weeks, are not in a mood to wind up the agitation.
“We want our own land back, not the ones that the company wants to give us from one corner of the project area. WBIDC had also acquired 189.62 acres from the farmers for this project and we also want the government to return this land” said association secretary Parishkar Mahato.
The JSW Group on Monday agreed to return 294 acres it purchased from about 485 farmer families at Salboni, two weeks after it suspended plans to build a steel and power plant on the acquired land.
The company had actually acquired 4334 acres of land. Among these lands, 3035 acres were vested lands which were purchased from the government. The state animal husbandry department had 799.97 acres of land. “But, in the proposal, the company is agreed to give back only 294 acres of land to the farmers who had given their lands for the company’s Rs 35000 crore project”, said Mr Mahato.
Sushanta Mahato, who works as a temporary electrician at the JSW Salboni site is also upset with the company’s proposal. “My brother and I gave one acre for the project. I don't want the land back. Instead, I want the project to come up so that I get a job,” said Sushanta.
Arup Bagchi, a local resident also expressed his sorrow saying, “We thought that this project would help us by various ways. But, the abundant of this project has snatched our all hopes and dreams”.
A CPI-M leader said, “The chief minister has no credit on this move. The JSW group had purchased the land on its own, and it is free to return it. The Tata Motors had received the entire plot in Singur on lease from the state government. But land acquired by the state government cannot be returned because of the controversial 2011 law passed by the Trinamul Congress government.”
BJP state president Mr Rahul Sinha said I would sent wrong signals to the investors throughout the country. “ The Jindals will finally back out from the state. Mamata Banerjee made the biggest mistake by creating trouble at Singur which had forced the Tata Motors to go away and now the inve3stors in the country will think that West bengal is not the right place to invest.”
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