Dasmunshi says Bengal government has to take care of Singur farmers

Malda (West Bengal), Oct 5 : Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said here today that the West Bengal Government would have to take responsibility of the farmers who had parted with their land for Tata Motors small car project at Singur.

Dasmunshi said, "Since the affected farmers will not be able to cultivate their land until it is restored to its original form, so the responsibility of looking after the affected farmers lies with the state government."

The Union Minister said the present fate of farmers in Singur is due to the "whimsical steps" of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front Government over the "Nano" project.

However, Dasmunshi does not believe that the pull-out of Tata Motors from Singur will affect industrialisation in West Bengal.

Dasmunshi, who is also the President of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, said, "Bengal is not so weak a state. Left Front government is trying to create a ground for elections on Singur issue."

Meanwhile, Tata Motors officials on Sunday conducted a site inspection at three places in and around the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad in Karnataka which is trying to woo the automobile major to set up its Nano car project in the state.

A team led by Tata Motors' Managing Director G Ravikant and accompanied by Karnataka Industry Minister Murugesh Nirani visited Belur industrial area, Mummiatti and another area around the airport near Hubli.

The team also met Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and discussed the offer made by the state to the company to shift the Nano car project to Karnataka. On October 3, Ratan Tata formally announced his decision to pull-out the "Nano" project from Singur in West Bengal following a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Kolkata.

Besides Karnataka, three-four other states have offered land to the Tatas to set-up the project in their states.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday in a letter to Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata formally invited him to set up the "Nano" small car manufacturing unit in the state.

ANI