The Hindu Business Line : `Social negotiation must for distribution of land'

"We have to acknowledge another reality, another truth, namely the need for industrial growth and for the creation of a climate conducive to such growth."

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Kolkata Jan. 26 The West Bengal Governor, Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, underlined the need for "social negotiation" in respect to a "planned distribution of land and industry" in the course of his Republic Day message here on Friday.

Touching on the subject of land for industry, which has stirred the anxieties of most Opposition parties and several other groupings in the face of the State Government's drive towards industrialisation, Mr Gandhi emphasised that "this social negotiation has to be transparent, sincere and inclusive".

He was speaking in the context of requirement of evolving "a long-term norm for land-use and land-conversion" in a State where the "predominant position of agriculture" is "a reality, a truth".

"At the same time we have to acknowledge another reality, another truth, namely the need for industrial growth and for the creation of a climate conducive to such growth," Mr Gandhi observed.

It may be recalled that the Governor had visited the fasting Trinamool Congress, Ms Mamata Banerjee, at the manch where she was staging her hunger strike [lasting 25 days] last month in protest against the alleged forcible acquisition of farmland for the car manufacturing plant at Singur in Hooghly district.

The Governor had then repeatedly appealed to Ms Banerjee to call off her fast and sit for discussions on the issue with the State Government on the invitation extended to her by the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Gram panchayats

"Our Honourable Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has repeatedly said he is prepared for discussions. Opposition leaders on their part have said to me that they are also prepared to sit for a dialogue. They do have some pre-conditions. Even these, I believe, should be a subject for discussion. The lowest rung, that is the gram panchayats, should also be enlisted in this process of social negotiation," Mr Gandhi said.

"The Government is fully aware of the criticality of agriculture in our State," Mr Gandhi said. "There are those who, in recent times, have opposed certain steps in the direction of industrialisation. But even they do not dispute the importance of industrial growth as such," he remarked.

"Both these facts are true; both these positions are real. Therefore, do these two paths, the path of agriculture and the path of industry, preclude coordination? Is a confrontation between them unavoidable?" Mr Gandhi asked.

"In these circumstances, it is imperative for us to maintain a balance, and to ascertain the right path and the appropriate implementation process... .If the burgeoning new generation of employable youth is to be assured of livelihood, industrial growth is also imperative," the Governor said.

Mr Gandhi also expressed his sympathy for those who "so meaninglessly" lost their lives earlier this month in group clashes in the wake of false rumours of imminent land acquisition for the proposed special economic zone to come up at Nandigram in Purbo Medinipur district.

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