Private Land Grab At Kulpi

Since 1998, there have been plans and rumours about setting up of a port (and later, an SEZ) in Kulpi. However, the local people had protested against the Left Front Government’s plans to acquire land under LA Act 1894. Reports also came out saying that studies had shown that the setting up of a third port with no special advantages so close to Kolkata and Haldia was unfeasible. The plan therefore seems to have been put on the back burner after 2007.

Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, which was an active participant in the Kulpi anti-land acquisition movement, however, began getting reports in 2010 of private purchases of large tracts of land in Belpukur and Ramkishore Gram Panchayat. There were rumours that all was not aboveboard, and in particular we got reports of great resentment amongst fishworkers, whose access to the river was being cut off by the new “owners”.

In July 2011, we began getting very bad reports of threats, coercion, cheating etc.  Land was being purchased, it was rumoured, for a shipbuilding yard. News reports revealed that 500 acres were required by Bengal Shipyard, a joint venture between Apeejay Surrendra Group and Bharat Shipyard of Mumbai to set up a shipbuilding (breaking) yard.

So far, villagers estimate that about 1500 bighas of land have been purchased in Belpukur Gram Panchayat (GP), mainly impacting people from Tangrachar and Rangaphala villages. 28 bighas have been purchased in Ramkishorepur GP. Subsequent inquiries have revealed the following:

Coercion, force and cheating in purchase of land

The purchase has all the elements of forcible acquisition and cheating e.g. villagers are complaining that the purchase of 27 acres 95.83 decimals in Rangaphala village has been done fraudulently, with only a few heirs receiving money for land that belongs to a number of heirs.  Female heirs have been deprived. One of the buyers, Mariyam Biwi (Vendor 46), has received the largest amount of Rs 500,833 but, according to the villagers, she is not even an heir.

Some of the villagers say that though they have not sold their land, all the people around them have sold it and they are now being forced to give their land even though they do not want to sell. The price being given by the buyers (approximately Rs 80,000 to 130,000 per bigha) is less than the Government valuation (Rs 150,000). Bargadars have been given less and have been given Rs 25,000- 50,000 per bigha, though they should get half the amount paid to the owner. 

There are 16 buyers, all of which are companies incorporated under the Companies Act 1956. Ten of these have the same registered address, while of the other six, three have the same registered address and two have the same address. According to newspaper reports, the address of 10 of the companies is not even an office but the home of one Sanjay Dhanuka.

The buyers have, in turn, authorised one Subrata Kanjilal (son of Amulya Chandra Kanjilal, 85 Prince Anwar Shah Road, Kolkata -70020) to transact land transfers.  The main middleman is reported to be Arup Chakraborty, who has an office at Kamalgachi, Sonarpur, (between Axis Bank and ICICI Bank ATM on the road towards Baruipur from Sonarpur).

There are a number of agents involved in Kulpi and a number of known anti-socials have entered the area, and are threatening people who are protesting against the use of force and coercion and cheating in these land deals.The land of about 40 patta holders, to which they never got access, has been sold by the present users of the land, against the wishes of the pattadars, breaking the law which says that land for which pattas have been given cannot be sold.

Non-Transparency

None of the local people has been consulted on the project to be put up in the area.  They are totally in the dark about the project that is to come up there, the impact it will have on their environment and social life, and the employment to be lost and created through it. The local MLA, Jogaranjan Haldar, also denies any knowledge of the project as does the District Magistrate.

Loss of employment  

The greatest adverse impact of the land transaction has been on the fishworkers in the area. There are about 2000 such fishworkers in this area, whose access to the river and the riverbank has been cut off by the purchase of this land, as the purchasers have blocked the riverfront. The fishworkers allege that the purchasers have occupied the riverbank which is not land that has been purchased by them. This has also meant that small huts made by them on the riverfront for their livelihood have also been forcibly taken over.  Similarly, unregistered bargadars, poor farmers who used to lease in land and agricultural labour are also losing their employment with no alternatives being given to them.

Administration’s action

The affected people have informed the administration about their problems at various times. An appeal by the fishworkers to one of the purchasing companies appealing for compensation for loss of occupation has been brought to the notice of Minister of State, Government of India and local Member of Parliament (CM Jatua), Sabhapati of Kulpi Panchayat Samity, the Pradhan and two members of Belpukur GP in September and November 2011.  A member of the Zilla Parishad on 10.11.2010, the Karmadhayksha Kulpi Panchayat Samity on 19.10.2010, Member of the Panchayat Samity on 1.11.2010 have also appealed to the purchasers to help the fishworkers. However, no one has bothered to check what the project is and what impact it will have on the people of their area, as well as the legal aspects of the entire purchase procedures.

On January 18 this year, about 38 persons from Rangaphala village of Belpukur GP informed the Kulpi police station (PS) about the cheating and the coercion taking place, their reluctance to allow fencing of the land and the possibility of deterioration of law and order in the area. On July 5, the Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity informed the BDO, Kulpi block, about the problems of the area and its people and appealed for his intervention

On July 7, some of the local people accompanied by PBKMS activists met the District magistrate and informed him of the problems. So far, no action has been taken by the administration to ensure that land deals take place in fair, transparent and non-coercive manner, without an adverse impact on the poor fishworkers and agricultural workers of the area. 

Related Post: Letter To District Magistrate

Kulpi: Letter To District Magistrate

[Below is the letter that PBKMS sent to the South 24 Parganas District Magistrate, N.S.Nigam, in West Bengal on July 8, 2011, about land grab by private agents in Kulpi]

Thank you for talking to members of Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity yesterday to get a first-hand account of the problems that they are facing in Belpukur GP of Kulpi block due to forcible acquisition of their land. As requested by you yesterday, we have prepared a note on the problems there, which is enclosed for your information and action.

To state the problem in brief, about 500 acres of land in Kulpi block are being bought up a number of companies who are patently fraudulent. It is rumoured that a ship building yard is to come up there. However, there is no transparency on this matter with even the local MLA being in the dark. There has been no consultation with the local people on this project, even though their lives and livelihood are being affected adversely by this acquisition. Who are the actual owners of the land and the implementers of this project also remains clouded in mystery.

To further aggravate matters, in Rangaphala and Tangrarchar mouzas the land purchasers are using a number of middlemen, many of them anti-socials and are using force and threats to take land from unwilling sellers. In addition, a number of cases of cheating actual owners and heirs have been there, including fraudulent purchase of land of poor pattadars. Registered bargadars and owners have also been underpaid.

About 2000 fish workers are also being deprived their access to the river front and the river by the purchasers. They are losing their livelihood and facing destitution. A similar fate is facing unregistered bargadars, landless agricultural workers and small farmers who used to take this land on lease. No compensation is being paid to them though they are losing their livelihood due to the land being purchased and fenced off.

We request your intervention in this matter, especially as the area is now quite tense, with the purchasers and their agents using threats and physical force against those who are protesting about the illegal and forcible land purchase. 

Related post: Private land grab

Join Our Discussion On Charter Of Demands For Unorganised Workers

Asanghathit Khetra Shramik Sangrami Mancha, a platform of unorganised sector worker unions (of which Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity is also a member) invites you to a consultation with trade unions on a charter of demands that we have presented to the present State Government. Our demands are focused around the following areas:

• Fixing and implementation of minimum wages for workers in the unorganised sector
• Provision of subsidised foodgrain to all unorganised sector workers, along with reforms in the public distribution system;
• Guaranteed employment for all rural workers as per provisions of the MGNREGA and enactment of an urban employment guarantee act, along with regular payment of old age pensions under IGNOAPS.

Representatives from major trade unions in the state will be present and shall comment on the Manch's demands and plan of action. 

                   Venue: Academy of Fine Arts Annexe Building, Kolkata.

                   Date/Time: 9 July, 11.00 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Looking forward to your presence and participation,

Swapan Ganguly       Somnath Ghosh

Related Posts/Documents:

Charter of Demands (English)

Charter of Demands (Bangla)

Minimum Wage for Unorganised Workers (Bangla)

Letter To West Bengal Industry Minister on Singur Land Return

[The Farmers Will Get Their Land Back, But What About The Agricultural Workers In Singur?

While welcoming the new Government’s initiative to return land to the unwilling farmers, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity(PBKMS), an active member of the Singur movement, claimed that return of land to unwilling farmers would not relieve the misery of the sharecroppers and landless labour of Singur who had lost their livelihood.

Anuradha Talwar and Swapan Ganguly, State Committee members of PBKMS,  have written to Shri Partha Chatterjee, Minister of Industry and Commerce,  asking him to also take additional measures to cover the needs of landless agricultural workers and sharecroppers.  They claimed that there were many sharecroppers on the 650 acres which would now be within the plant. Return of 400 acres means that agricultural workers who were getting 300 days of work per year on 997 acres will lose 60% of the work they got on the entire plot. 

PBKMS demanded that 50% of the land’s value should be given as compensation to sharecroppers; for agricultural workers (especially women who have lost the most employment as per their study) compensation in terms of minimum wages should be given for the number of days of employment that they have lost work in the past five years. 

For future loss of employment, PBKMS demanded complete and proper implementation of 100 days of work. In addition, it demanded a special scheme guaranteeing another 100 days of work to be given by the State Government for the next 10 years. The agricultural workers’ union also demanded titles to homestead land for the agricultural workers in Dobandi and in other hamlets in Singur who do not even have land rights to their homes at present.

PBKMS claimed that it would be very difficult for agriculture and industry to co-exist unless proper environmental safe guards were put in place by the Government. It asked the Government to take steps to restore the agricultural land to its previous quality and has asked framers to be compensated for loss incurred so far.

In addition, the letter asked that the innumerable false cases be withdrawn. A number of PBKMS activists are also  accused in four such cases. The letter follows.]

To Shri Partha Chatterjee,

Minister of Industry and Commerce,

Government of West Bengal,

Writers’ Building,

Kolkata- 700001

Date:-03 June 2011

Dear Partha da,

We have been trying to call you unsuccessfully on your cell phone for the past two weeks. As we have not been able to make contact with you, we are resorting to this fax.

Firstly, we would like to congratulate your Government on the high priority it is giving on return of the land under the Tata factory to the unwilling farmers in Singur. However there are certain issues that we would like to bring to your attention, which we had also raised as active members of the movement within the Krishi Jami Raksha Committee (KJRC) during the Singur movement in August 2008, when talks began with the previous Government. One of the relevant documents that we had submitted then to the KJRC is attached. We would like to reiterate these demands below: -

Return of land to unwilling farmers will not relieve the misery of the sharecroppers and landless labour of Singur who have lost their livelihood. Many were sharecroppers on the 650 acres of land which will now be within the plant. Return of 400 acres means that agricultural workers who were getting 300 days of work per year on 997 acres will lose 60% of the work they got on the entire plot. For this we demand that the following be added:-

In addition to whatever has been or will be given to willing land owners. 50% of the land’s value should be given as compensation to sharecroppers.

For agricultural workers (especially women who have lost the most employment as per our study) compensation in terms of minimum wages should be given for the number of days of employment that they have lost work in the past two years. This amounts to 600 days or Rs.45000 per agricultural worker.

For future loss of employment, we demand complete and proper implementation of 100 days of work. In addition, we demand a special scheme guaranteeing another 100 days of work to be given by the State Government for the next 10 years.

Titles to homestead land must be given to the agricultural workers in Dobandi and in other hamlets in Singur who do not even have land rights to their homes at present.

For the 10-12 families who have been displaced by the project and have been resettled in Dobandi, we demand titles to their house sites, drinking water facilities, drainage and other facilities that will make their present house site inhabitable along with compensation for the problems caused by dislocation.

It will be very difficult for agriculture to co-exist with an automobile manufacturing unit or any other industry due to the polluting environment created by industry in Singur. During construction of the Tata plant itself, just the use of high powered floodlights during the night had impacted the crops in the surrounding Singur villages, as the lights caused a huge increase in pests.   Auto assembly plants can also be a significant source of hazardous pollutants discharged to air, water and land, depending on the nature of operations on site. Besides the actual assembly plant, much of the hazardous pollution would tend to occur in the ancillary units supplying the assembly plant with components that are finally assembled to make a car. Besides returning land to the unwilling farmers, we therefore demand that adequate environmental safeguards depending on the kind of industry that comes up there, be put in place so that farming can actually be done around the plant.

The land inside the plant has also been adversely affected in the past 5 years and needs investment to become fit for agriculture once again. The people of these villages have also suffered huge loss of income due to the previous Government’s intransigence. We therefore demand that the Government compensate the farmers for the loss they have incurred as wqell as pay for the restoration of the land to its previous quality.

Innumerable false cases have been imposed on the people of Singur, leading to harassment and expenses. We demand that these cases should be withdrawn.

We hope that our concerns will be suitably addressed by you while addressing the issue of return of land to the Singur farmers.  We would also appreciate it if you could give us a suitable date and time to meet you.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely

(Anuradha Talwar)                                                                            (Swapan Ganguly)