Barely a month after taking charge as the chief minister, Mamata Bannerjee has issued an ordinance taking back 400 acres out the total 1000 acres given to Tata to build the Nano factory in Singur.
The ordinance marks the carrying out of one of her biggest promises to the electorate in Bengal during the just concluded state elections.
According to the order, the land will be reverted to the same farmers from whom it was acquired. Details of compensation etc.. are not available.
The Singur land campaign — in which the farmers successfully opposed the government taking their land for enabling Tata Motors to put up a humongous Nano factory complex, market the turning point in Mamata’s campaign to outst the 34-year-old Left front government in West Bengal.
An ordinance is a government decree issued as a stop-gap arrangement before a proper law can be passed by the legislature. Most ordinances are valid for 6 months, after which they have to be either re-issued or endorsed by the legislature.
Mamata’s flip-flop on Nano — with her statement welcoming Tata to set up the factory on the remaining land — has been criticised for being pure political opportunism.
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