Other States - West Bengal   

Singur land can be returned, says former Minister

KOLKATA: There are legal provisions for return of the 400 acres of land acquired from farmers allegedly against their will for the re-located Tata Motors' small car project at Singur, former Land and Land Reforms Minister Abdul Razzak Molla said here on Wednesday.

“There is a law that the land can be returned, I will be happy if the land is handed back”, he said.

Mr. Molla was Minister in the previous Left Front Government.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had, shortly after the first Cabinet meeting on May 20, announced her government's decision to return 400 acres of land (out of the total 997.11 acres acquired for the Nano project) to the farmers from whom the plots were acquired.

Mr. Molla who is a member of the State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and recently censured by the party for certain remarks following the Left's poor showing in the recent Assembly polls, also said that the Left Front could not return to power because the land at Singur was not returned to the farmers.

He would continue to work towards protecting the interests of the farmers as MLA and would oppose any party “whether the CPI (M) or the Trinamool Congress, if they go against the farmers' interests”.

“I may not be free (to express my views) at Alimuddin Street (where the CPI (M) office is located) but I am free in the Assembly”, Mr. Molla added.

If his suggestions were sought by the Chief Minister he would offer them, he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Problems on aligning Metro, BRTS resolved
Mukul reviews work progress
Justice Sachar to visit Kolkata at Mamata's invitation
Singur land can be returned, says former Minister

Copyright © 2011, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu