— Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

SHOW OF STRENGTH: Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee at a party rally in Kolkata on Friday.

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has charged the West Bengal Government with compromising the State's food security by acquiring about 50,000 acres of agricultural land each year for non-agricultural purposes.

She told a rally here on Friday that this was being done in the name of greater industrial growth. Her party would not allow this to continue, she said.

The Trinamool Congress - the main Opposition party in the State — was not against new industries, but they should not come up on agricultural land. "Why are the plots occupied by hundreds of units that have closed over the years not being utilised for the setting up of new industries?" she asked.

The rally was in memory of 13 supporters of the Youth Congress who died in police firing in the city on July 21, 1993. At that time she was with the Congress but broke away to set up the Trinamool Congress four years later. Since then the day has been observed by the Trinamool as `Martyrs Day'.

She criticised the Left Front for not preparing a land-use map to categorise agricultural land even after being in power for 30 years. Instead, the Government was acquiring fertile multi-crop land for new industries.

She said the Trinamool Mahila Congress members would take out a protest march on July 30 to Singur, in Hooghly, where Tata Motors proposes to set up a car-manufacturing plant.

The State Government has issued an acquisition notice for the project and the land would be handed over to Tata Motors on long lease, after the submission of the project report by the company.

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