Land acquisition amendment not in next Assembly session : Basu

Kolkata, Feb 23 (UNI) Having faced opposition from within, the ruling Left Front has decided not to place the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill in the coming Budget Session of the State Assembly, but would continue an extensive campaign to convince the people about the need for industrialisation, veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu today said.

'' The Amendment Bill for land acquisition will perhaps not be placed in the Assembly...but inspite of that we will be able to go with the industrialisation move, '' he told reporters after attending the CPI(M) State Secretariat meeting.

The Bill proposes exemption of some industries from under the purview of the state's Land Ceiling Act.

The Front had already launched a prolonged statewide campaign on January 15.

The campaign would be extended for another two weeks in the sensitive East Midnapore district that witnessed violence over the move for setting up of an SEZ in Nandigram.

In an obvious criticism of the delay in taking up the drive for persuading the people about the beneift of industry, the CPI(M) patriarch said this should have been done much earlier.

To a query on the clearance of FDI by the Indonesian-based Salim Group for its projects in the state, including an SEZ for the proposed chemical hub in Nandigram, Mr Basu said, '' You know that we have postponed...'' He, however, did not clarify.

When reporters sought a clarification from state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, he made it clear that no decision had been taken to stall the process of land acquisition for the time being.

'' Land acquisition is going on in many parts of the state, including in Salboni (the place for the Jindal's steel plant). But everything has been stopped at Nandigram, '' he said.

Left Front Committee Chairman Biman Basu also said he was not aware of any Government decision to stop land acquisition or industrialisation. '' Neither has anything been postponed nor are we going overboard, '' he stated.

UNI