Kolkata:In a new twist to Singur land controversy, Union Commerce and Industry Secretary G K Pillai said the compensation offered to the farmers to acquire land for Tata Motors small-car factory by West Bengal government was inadequate and the method of land acquisition was incorrect.

"Total compensation package is inadequate," Pillai said on the sidelines of Export Award Function of Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council here late this evening.

When asked whether the farmers were duly compensated in view of the ongoing dharna near the upcoming Nano plant by Trinamool Congress, he said, "The package should have been attractive enough to those whose land was acquired forcefully."

He suggested measures like offering shares and jobs in addition to the price of land as done in other places where land was acquired for setting up SEZs and other projects.

According to him, the method of land acquisition was also incorrect.

When asked whether state government should have made the deal with Tata "public", the Union Commerce and Industries Secretary said, "I am always for transparency.

"All the 2000 files detailing the process of land acquisition for SEZs are available and several NGOs have read them over months and have not found any fault."

Commenting on the role of Tata, Pillai said the company should have been more proactive when the farmers were unhappy and could have avoided such a crisis. PTI BSM AMD SRU 09040053 DEL NNNN
Source : PTI