First round of WB government, Trinamool talks goes to Tatas as opposition scales down land demand from 400 to 200 acres
KOLKATA: The first round of the bipartite talks between the West Bengal government and Trinamool Congress, supervised by governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, to resolve the Singur issue ended on a positive note on Friday, with Trinamool scaling down its land demand from 400 to 200 acres.
The state government, on its part, agreed to give the 45 acres held by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation near the Nano site as an alternative. It also offered to finance the setting up of shops on the land by “unwilling farmers”.
The second and final round of the talks is on Saturday morning. Sources associated with the meeting told DNA that immediately after the state government made the offers, Trinamool representatives scaled down their demand.
Apart from the 45 acres offered by the government, Trinamool wants 55 acres outside the Nano project site and 100 acres inside it where construction work is still to begin.
However, industry and commerce minister Nirupam Sen and other government representatives at the meeting ruled this out. They pointed out that although construction work on the 100 acres was yet to start, it could not be returned since it was an integral part of the project.
Gandhi, while trying to persuade Trinamool to give up the land return demand, asked the government to consider additional alternative land.
He later said the meeting was fruitful and constructive. “The meeting will continue tomorrow.”
The leader of the Trinamool delegation and party MLA Partho Chattopadhyay said the meeting was positive and they were heading for a solution.
Source : DNA India