Singur Timeline (18 May 2006

A TIMELINE A TIMELINE A TIMELINE A TIMELINEof of of of SINGUR SINGUR SINGUR SINGUR

(18 May 2006 – 15 June 2008)

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Mazdoor Mukti

Publication

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PROFILE

“Singur is in Hooghly district, 45 kilometers from Kolkata. The nearest railway stations areSingur, Kamarkundu and Madhusudanpur. The farmland earmarked for the project standsalongside an arc of the Durgapur expressway near the Ratanpur crossing with NH-1. The sixmouzas whose land falls under the Tata project site are GopalNagar, BeraBeri, Bajemelia,Khaserbheri, SingherBeri and JoymollarBeri. They stand on the other side of the project sitecompleting the expressway's arc into a circle. According to a govt. Statistical Handbook onSingur block, 83%of the land is irrigated and the crop density is 220%. The crops producedare mainly paddy and potato but jute and a variety of vegetables are also grown in the fields.There are five modern cold storages and a host of wholesaler's sheds (arat) in Ratanpur-Singur town. “According to the People’s Survey carried out by Sanhati Udyog in November, thelandholdings in Singur are small with very few owners having more than 2 bighas (0.66acres). Hence, there are more than 11,000 land holdings. Of a total of 6,000 families that willbe affected, about 3500 farming households work on their own fields and can be called pooror subsistence farmers. According to them there are about 1200 unregistered sharecroppingBargadars. But a Status Report on Singur circulated by the CPM Delhi State Secretary, P SGrewal talks of only 237 recorded Bargadars and about 170 unrecorded. “According to the Sanhati Udyog Report there are a large number of migrant workforces. About 1000 wage-labourers, arrive daily from Bardhaman, Bankura and other parts of theHooghly district to earn their livelihood from agricultural activities. Around 800 labourers,mostly adivasis from Jharkhand, are seasonal migrants who work the fields for six-eightmonths and earn just about enough to feed their families back home for the whole year.There are also several permanent migrant families who had come two or three decades agoand settled down in Singur. “A majority of non-farming households in Singur are employed in agriculture-relatedoccupations. 450-500 cycle-cart drivers transport crops and agricultural inputs to and fromthe fields, nearly 200 households are engaged in animal husbandry and over 150 householdsare vegetable vendors in Howrah, Sealdah, Chuchura and the two local markets. The coldstorages in Rantanpur employ about 500 labourers.”

BACKGROUND

In May 2006, the West Bengal Government decided to acquire 997 acres (initially 1013 acreswere asked for) for the Tata Motors small car factory in Singur of Hooghly district.. Almost6,000 families, including many agricultural workers and marginal peasants will loose theirland and livelihoods. Though the State Government has decided to compensate the landowners, no policy has been taken for the landless agricultural workers, unrecorded

bargadars

and other rural households who are indirectly dependent for their livelihood on land andagricultural activities. Almost all the land owners had also expressed their unwillingness togive their land from the inception of the project, but these appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

The Tata Project:

According to news reports in the month of May 2006, just after thevictory of the Left Front in the election of the Legislative Assembly for the seventh timeconsecutively, a meeting was held between Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, CM of West Bengal andRatan Tata, the Chairman of Tata Company. In this meeting, it was officially announced thatover 1000 acres of the land of Singur block would be acquired since the Tata Motors wouldbuild a small car plant. It was also said that the land acquisition would take place shortly asTata Motors wanted to launch a new One-lakh-Rupee car model by the year 2008. Accordingto Mr. Nilotpal Basu, CPI(M) MP (as stated by him to a delegation that met him on the 7thDecember), the Tatas had been shown 5 different pieces of land and they chose Singur.The only official document publicly available on the project, the Gazette notification undersec 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 between 19th and 24th July states that the “land asmentioned in the schedule below is likely to be needed to be taken by the Government/Government undertakings/ Development Authorities, at the public expense for a publicpurpose viz., employment generation and the socio economic development of the area bysetting up a Tata Small Car project”.

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200618 May:

Announcement of Singur Deve-lopment at the Chief Minister - Tata JointPress Conference in Kolkata. Ratan Tata saidtoday that his aim was still to turn out thesmall car at a price of Rs 1 lakh, which hehad announced some three years ago, andthat it will be another two years before thevehicles actually roll out. With chief ministerBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and surrounded bytop group executives, he said Tata Motorshad decided to locate the project at Singur inHooghly. For the first time, Tata revealed thatthe project, to be spread over 700 acres withanother 300 kept aside for ancillaryproduction, and will create 10,000 jobs, directand indirect. “We have come to believe thatBengal is the most investor-friendly state inthe country. Someone had to turn that belief into reality. The investment is a reflection thatthe Tata group has faith in the investmentclimate and the government of Bengal,” Tatasaid. Bhattacharjee, who let Tata do thetalking, was modest. Asked what is expectedof the government in the next five years, hesaid: “I will only try to be a performer.

25 May:

The struggle of a substantialnumber of the people of Singur against theland acquisition began from day one whenthe Tata company representatives and theofficials went to see the land. The peoplerefused to let them reach their fields andblocked their way and the Tata team had tobe rescued by the police.

26 May:

Angry farmers of Singur todaydemanded that the chief minister assurethem of jobs in it. If their demand is notfulfilled, they will continue their agitation andnot let the government take their land.

30 May:

Mr. Nirupam Sen, state comm-erce and industries minister was greeted withblack flags in Singur today by members of Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee, an apoliticalorganization of farmers and labourers of Singur. The farmers were protesting againstthe state government allowing Tata Motors toset up an automobile plant on agriculturalland.

1 June:

About 3,000 villagers today stag-ed a demonstration in front of the office of the Singur block development officer againstthe government’s move to acquire farmlandfor the Tata Motors project. The Tatas havechosen the site in Hooghly district, about 45km from Calcutta, for their small-car project.Local Trinamool MLA Rabindranath Bhatta-charyya was with the protesters throughoutthe demonstration to express his support.The villagers, under the banner of theKrishijami Banchao Committee (Save Farm-land Committee), brought out a process-ionaround noon. Waving sickles, ploughs andbrooms, they shouted slogans against chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee andindustries minister Nirupam Sen. The prote-sters carried placards with slogans like

Krishi jami aamader bhitti, tabu Budhhar eki kukirti

(Farmland is our livelihood, but look atBuddha’s [Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s] mis-deed) and

Jamir dalal Nirupam Sen Singur theke door hato

(Land broker Nirupam Senstay off Singur). Sen had visited Singur onTuesday (30 May) to explain to the villagersabout compensation they would get for landgiven to the government. He had also tried toconvince farmers that it made more sense forthem to sell their land instead of using it forcultivation. The protesters, with about 1,000women at the head, gathered at the BDO’soffice and demonstrated for two hoursagainst the government’s move to dispossessfarmers of their farmland. They submitted adeputation to BDO Abhijit Mukherjee whosaid he was yet to receive a governmentorder for acquisition of land and was not in aposition to shed light on the issue. Thevillagers came to talk about land acquisitionbut I told them that the district magistrate isempowered to deal with the issue.

17July:

Work on acquisition of land forTata Motors’ factory for producing small carsat Singur has begun with the West BengalIndustrial Development Corporation submit-ing its proposals to Hooghly DM Mr VinodKumar. The state government will acquire alittle more than 1,000 acres through theWBIDC for transfer to the Tatas. “Theproposal reached my office last week. At themoment, the WBIDC wants only 25 per centof the enterprise’s requirement. We will issuea land acquisition notice in the near future.Farmers whose land is to be taken will have amonth’s time formally to lodge their claimsand to raise objections, if any,” said MrKumar. The proposal will go to the land andland reforms department tomorrow, afterwhich it is to be placed before the ministerconcerned for the go-ahead to be given.When it comes through, notifications will beissued. The state government has said it willhave acquired land within six months of thenotices being issued. In another devel-