Mamata wins; Singur Bill passed, Left stages walkout

Kolkata, Jun 14: The much awaited Singur Bill has been passed in the West Bengal assembly on Tuesday, Jun 14. The first lady Chief Minister of the state, Mamata Banerjee won her primary battle as she succeeded to keep her promise to the farmers and to the general people of the state.

The Left parties led by CPI(M) a staged walkout from the state assembly after the the draft was passed as a new bill.

What is Singur Bill?

The bill aims at rescinding the lease of land by state government to Tata Motors and would enable the government to take back 997 acres leased to Tata Motors. Before the elections, Banerjee had promised to return 400 acres land to the poor farmers.

This bill named as 'Singur Land Rehabilitation Bill' propagated in the house on Sunday, Jun 12. The bill would empower the government to take over the land covered by the lease granted to Tata Motors in view of "non-commissioning and abandoning of the small car project and ancillary factories and to return a portion to unwilling owners and utilise the remainder in public interest."

According to the bill, the Tatas must vacate the possession of the land. It also empowered the Hoogly district administration to use forces if required.

The bill also said that the Bengal government would have to pay compensation to the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation as it had earlier acquired the land on behalf of it and paid Rs. 137 crore to the landowners.

OneIndia News