In her first public meeting at Singur after the Supreme Court’s verdict quashing the acquisition of land in the area by the erstwhile Left Front government, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will on Wednesday hand over the first lot of cheques and title deeds to farmers who refused to accept compensation earlier
Last week, the Chief Minister initiated the process of returning the land to farmers in Singur by issuing a notification, and said that the State government would ensure that the farmers got physical possession of land as per the Supreme Court’s order. She said the compensation would be provided from the Treasury in line with the court’s verdict.
Trinamool Congress secretary-general and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told The Hindu on Sunday that nearly 1,000 affected farmers had applied for return of land and compensation. However, the State government needed to complete a land survey, as per the court order, to ascertain land rights.
As for whether new industrial units will be set up in Singur, Mr. Chatterjee said only the farmers could take a call on the matter. He denied media reports claiming that the Chief Minister might seek a “referendum” asking the people to vote for agriculture or industry in Singur.
“Farmers will indeed decide what they want. We have been true to our commitment of returning the land to farmers in Singur,” Mr. Chatterjee said.
He said the farmers eligible for compensation would be selected after verification by the State administration, and criticised the erstwhile Left Front government for awarding compensation to undeserving candidates. “It has come to our notice that during the Left regime, several people who are not landowners were awarded compensation. We will ensure that only genuine applicants receive compensation,” he said
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