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Involve locals in Singur project: Medha

Antara Das

Government asked to make public all documents related to Tata project

Singur (West Bengal): The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is a British legacy and until this law is amended, all procedures and processes of acquiring land for industrialisation should be suspended, social activist Medha Patkar said on Friday.

This was one of the proposals she came up with after attending a `people's hearing' organised by the Sanghati Udyog and Singur Krishi Jana Raksha Committee here, where Tata Motors is planning to set up a small car factory.

"It is not that the local community is opposed to industrialisation per se, but they have their own viewpoint on development," she said. This must be taken into account if the stated public purpose of Tata Motors in acquiring the land was "socio-economic development of the locality."

Make public MoU

Ms. Patkar requested the West Bengal Government to make public the project report, the Memorandum of Understanding, and the correspondence between the Government and Tata Motors as well as other industries.

"The Government must involve the local community in a dialogue, a right guaranteed to them under the 73rd Amendment," Ms. Patkar said. "The system of Prior Informed Consent must also be followed by every single government."

Minimum displacement

Arguing for a proper rehabilitation policy, she said there should be minimum displacement and that too, with the approval of the locals. She also favoured an all-party consensus on the kind of industrialisation that should be adopted.

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