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Singur farmers to get land from October 20: Mamata

At a meeting in Nabanna on Monday, Banerjee said: “I myself will go to Singur on Thursday to hand over plots to a set of farmers. I will visit the plots along with the farmers. Since it is not possible to handover land to all the 4,000 farmers on one day, it will be done in phases.”

Banerjee was earlier scheduled to visit Digha in East Midnapore on October 20 to hold an administrative review meeting in the district. However, that meeting has been rescheduled to November 20. A day before that, the Chief Minister will reach Kolaghat to attend a programme where cycles will be distributed among school students.

Appreciating the work of all departments and people involved in transforming the land into cultivable condition in a short span of time, Banerjee said: “The task of transforming the land into cultivable condition was big. They were constantly involved with the work and worked with due diligence will be awarded for completing the task before the set deadline.”

The Chief Minister further said that the state Agriculture department would give Rs 10,000 to each farmer to buy agricultural tools and seeds free of cost to cultivate their land The farmers won back their land after the Supreme Court passed its judgement stating that the acquisition of a 997 acre plot for Tata Nano’s proposed factory in Singur was unjustified.

The Court had ordered to return the land in cultivable condition within November 22. The Mamata Banerjee government has shown remarkable alacrity in initiating the process of handing over  plots in cultivable condition before the deadline set by the Apex Court. On Thursday, owners of around 25 acre of land in Gopalnagar will get physical possession of their respective plots.

Since it is not possible to give physical possession of lands to all 4,000 farmers in a single day, the state government has decided to hand over around 40 to 45 acre per day.

Accordingly, it has been decided that the task of handing over of plots would be completed by November 10, sources said. Banerjee headed a high-level meeting in Nabanna on Monday afternoon where the date to initiate the handing over of land to farmers was finalised.

The date has been fixed based on the report submitted by state Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee, which stated that 870 acres are in cultivable condition. Though the hard part is over, none of the departments and agencies involved in the task are free yet, he said. The decision was been taken at Monday’s meeting.

Sources said that five podiums will be set up at different locations at the plot where cultural programmes will continue during the Chief Minister’s visit. Ministers and senior officials will be present at Singur on October 20.

Besides giving Rs 10,000 and seeds to the farmers, the Agriculture department will also help them to engage with experts and get advice on better farming. Initially, farmers will get seeds for cultivation of certain vegetables which would help them get a good returns within a month.
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