Bengal decision on SEZ highly belated: Medha

Nandigram, Mar 17(UNI) Even though the West Bengal Government decided to shelve special economic zones pending a central policy, social activist Medha Patkar today said the decision was ''highly belated'' after the loss of lives in Nandigram.

''The decision to put on hold the SEZs should not have been delayed. But the state government was callous in going ahead with the idea at the cost of innocent lives,'' she told reporters after visiting the people, injured in Wednesday's police firing, at the local hospital.

West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta announced while presenting the state budget in the Assembly yesterday that all the proposed SEZ would be kept in abeyance till the Centre came out with a definite policy.

Holding Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for ''all the damage'' done to Nandigram farmers, Ms.Patkar said ''I find no reason how Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is still continuing in the chair after the genocide at Nandigram.'' ''I shudder to think how women and children were tortured here.

Police booted women in the abdomen and threw the children on Wednesday. I don't know how this is still happening,'' she said.

Ms Patkar said the Left Front Government could not evade responsibility for the death of many innocent villagers.

UNI