Singur Now – A hub of agricultural productivity

Kolkata, Aug 31: A year ago today – on August 31, 2016 – the Supreme Court of India passed the historic judgment t declaring that the land acquisition made by the previous Left Front Government in Singur was illegal and unconstitutional. It asked the present Trinamool Government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to return the lands to its owners. Thus the 10-year struggle of Ms Banerjee against illegal land acquisition ended in a victory for the farmers, according to a party release here today. Ms Banerjee had hailed the Supreme Court’s decision and said she had “tears of joy”. On September 2, 2016, Singur Utsav was observed in every block of the State today to commemorate the Supreme Court decision quashing land acquisition in Singur. Rallies were taken out by Trinamool activists and supporters in various parts of the State. Cultural programmes were held too. ‘Singur Vijay Diwas’ was observed at Vidhan Sabha, too, the release said. On September 14, Ms Banerjee handed over land parchas (land deeds) and compensation cheques to farmers in Singur. Around 9,117 land deeds were handed over. Around 800 compensation cheques – to unwilling farmers – were handed over by the Chief Minister and her Cabinet colleagues. “In the first lot 9,117 parchas were given. All l and will be returned in cultivable form within eight weeks,” she said during her visit to Singur. The Chief Minister said the government will be setting up check dams and small tubewells for irrigation in Singur. She stated that soil testing is going on and all fertilisers for making the land fertile and cultivable will be provided to farmers. On October 17, the Bengal CM said that the process of giving physical possession of land in Singur will begin on October 20 and will be completed in 15-20 days. On October 20, Ms Banerjee formally re-commenced farming on the plots of land in Singur which were given away to Tata Motors’ Nano project by the Left Front government, by sowing seeds of mustard on those plots. By November 2016, the land was returned and by January 2017, the 300 or so farmers whose land had not been affected by the steel and concrete structures had already begun producing crops of the golden skin potatoes that farmers in Bengal’s Singur are renowned for. Rabi and Boro crops have also been grown in Singur. The Government also encouraged the use of organic fertilisers in Singur. About 230 acres of paddy fields sown in early February using new, low-water techniques have produced knee-high crops. Sesame, maize, cucumbers and banana have also been planted, the release added. A new power network now runs 63 freshly drilled wells for dry season irrigation and sprinklers and drips are in use. The state government had also provided farmers with high-yielding seeds, fertilizer and Rs 10,000 toward new farm equipment and extra workers to help with labour. With all these steps taken, Singur will be a model in agriculture and horticulture sectors, the release stated. UNI