Thaindian News

Kolkata, Sep 28 (IANS) Economists in the city are divided over Wednesday’s Calcutta High Court verdict upholding the validity of the Singur land act passed by the Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government to return to the farmers the land acquired in Singur for Tata Motors’ small car project.

Jadavpur University professor Bipul Malakar hailed the judgment and said: “The verdict is for the welfare of the farmers. It will give them freedom to sell their land at any cost.”

“It is an eye opener for the civil society, the government as well as the corporates. The judgment will also boost the anti-land acquisition movement in the country,” said Malakar adding that the parties protesting against forcible acquisition will have to take bigger steps to ensure greater compensation.

Abhirup Sarkar, a professor of the Indian Statistical Institute, called the verdict “historic”.

“The land of the farmers have always been taken for building towns, factories etc. But this is perhaps the first time that land has been returned which now has the court’s approval. The course of history has been reversed,” Sarkar told IANS.

However, Dipankar Dasgupta, a former Indian Statistical Institute professor, said: “This is not good news for the industrial development of West Bengal as well as the entire country. Industrialists will not find it attractive to invest in the state anymore. The verdict is not a very happy news, particularly for the manufacturing sector in the country.”

Within a month of forming the government in May, Banerjee enacted the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, for returning the land to unwilling farmers from whom it was allegedly acquired by the erstwhile Left Front government for auto giants Tata Motors to set up a car factory in Hooghly’s Singur.