the tata nano singur controversy history essay

8/16/2019 The Tata Nano Singur Controversy History Essay

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The Tata Nano Singur Controversy HistoryEssayPublished: 23, March 2015

Singur is a town in Hooghly District, West engal, !ndia" #his $lace was $ractically unheardo% and gained international &edia attention a%ter #ata Motors $ro$osed the idea o% setting a%actory to &anu%acture the world's chea$est car( #he #ata )ano" !t was su$$osed to be $ricedat *s 1, 00,000 and the car was scheduled to be rolled out by 200+"

#he o&&unist Party o% !ndia -Mar.ist/ had ust co&e to $ower at that ti&e, -May 1+, 200 /"#he State o ern&ent had allowed #ata to ta4e o er 6 acres o% %ar&land in Singur to buildits %actory" uddhadeb hattachar ee, the then hie% Minister o% West engal, wanted #ata togo ahead with the #ata )ano $ro ect in his state citing reasons o% industrialisation and Statede elo$&ent" West engal was iewed as an anti( industrialised state and uddhadeb

hattachar ee wanted to re%or& that i&age" Howe er, this act was recei ed with &ucho$$osition %ro& the acti ists, the dis$laced land owners and the o$$osition $arties in engal"-Singur #ata )ano ontro ersy, 2012/

#he go ern&ent had ac7uired 1200 acres o% land which included 6 acres %ro& 13000'unwilling' %ar&ers" #hese 6 acres o% land was leased to the #ata Motors to set u$ the )ano

$lant" #he go ern&ent had o%%ered a $rice which was better than that in )andigra& and also $ro ided co&$ensation which had included the sharecro$$ers also"

#here were si. sites o%%ered by the state go ern&ent to #ata Motors" #he co&$any hadselected Singur as the chosen site" Singur is the &ost %ertile belt in that region" 8l&ost wholeo% the entire local $o$ulation there was de$endant on agriculture with a$$ro.i&ately 15000earning their li elihood %ro& it" #he nu&ber o% obs to be $ro ided then was in 1000s whichwas clearly insu%%icient and this had threatened the local in&ates there"

8lso, the de$endants on these land holdings, li4e the artisans or landless labourers could not be co&$ensated nor were they $ro&ised obs in the u$co&ing %actory" 9oo4ing at all this, theo$$osition $arty, #rina&ool ongress Party headed by Ma&ata aner ee also u&$ed into thescene then and started an o$$osition against this" She went on a hunger stri4e and started a&ass &o e&ent" She e en &ade sure so&e o% the locals did not ta4e the co&$ensation to

show that $eo$le ha en't got their co&$ensation"

#he $oor illage &asses and e en the urban &iddle class were dragged into this"

Maoists, S ! -Socialist nity entre o% !ndia/ and so&e ltra le%ts who were traditionallywith the 9e%t also had switched sides seeing the $ublic su$$ort #rina&ool got" 8lso leaders o% other $olitical $arties oined the &o e&ent %or their $olitical &oti es"

se o% Mar.ist ideologies and also artists and acti ists created a bu;; in %a our o% the&o e&ent"


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-Magsaysay and >nan$ith 8ward(winning author/" #here were other intellectuals too? writerssuch as the $oet *uchit Shah? artists li4e Su a$rasanna, who had $itched in" @&inent

$ersonalities %ro& theatre and %il& industry li4e Saonli Mitra, 8$arna Sen etc" were also notle%t %ar behind" #he )obel 9aureate 8&artya Sen had e.$ressed his ideas and iews aboutindustrialisation and he being in %a our o% setting u$ %actories, howe er, he was not seen to

su$$ort the o$$osed ac7uisition o% land by %orce -Sahoo, 2012/"

Due to se ere unrest in the region o% Singur, $olice %orce was used which had ended u$ iniolence and riots lea ing the $eo$le o% Singur stirred u$ against this %orcible ac7uisition" 8ll

this unrest had $ractically sealed the %ate o% the #ata )ano %actory in Singur and any %or& o% $ro ect wor4 to be carried out see&ed i&$ossible" !t was during this ti&e that arious otherstates such as Haryana and Maharashtra a$$roached #ata to set u$ the )ano Aactory at theirstates" Ainally, #ata Motors had to ta4e the decision o% relocating the )ano $lant %ro& Singurto Sanand in u arat and the #ata )ano $ro ect in West engal was ter&inated %ore er"

Media Portrayal in the whole case:

#he !ndian Media has $ortrayed this whole e$isode as B u arat's gainB and B engal's lossB"#his has been seconded by 7uite a &any &e&bers o% the elite class as well as the co&&on&iddle class" #he whole turn o% e ents o% the #ata )ano %actory %irst being set u$ and thenrelocated to Sanand is seen as huge i&age tarnish %or the o ern&ent o% West engal and thethen chie% Minister, uddhadeb hattachar ee" 8lso, the readiness with which #ata Motorsrelocated the %actory to Sanand can be iewed as a %eather in the ca$ o% hie% Minister

)arendra Modi and the $olitical $arty o% >P" West engal which has been ruled since 1 66 by the le%tist $arties' alliance now bears an i&$ression o% a state that is not $ro ca$italistindustriali;ation and this notion has been strengthened by the Singur issue" Aor u arat this

was a win(win situation as not only they established the )ano %actory, but this e ent &adeu arat e&erge as an auto hub and ga e way %or se eral other car &anu%acturers to set u$%actories there"

#he &edia had constantly $ro ected *atan #ata as the icti& and illaini;ed Ma&ataaner ee and all those allied $arties who were against the )ano %actory being set u$ in

Singur" ut the &edia %ailed to $ro ect the real reasons behind why the %ar&ers are so bounded to their lands, why they are so e&otionally and senti&entally attached, why they%ight %or their land and why they are e en ready to gi e u$ their li es %or it" !n the wholeco erage o% the Singur case, only the case %acts $ertaining to iews o% co&&erce and thego ern&ent were o er(re$resented"

#he P! -M/ $arty had ruled West engal %or 7uite a long ti&e" #hey were seen as the $artywhich was $ro its $eo$le and su$$orted the %ar&er but i&&ediately as this )ano Singur issueca&e u$, P!-M/ was instantly iewed as one who had beco&e the 'anti %ar&er' and ust wantto sy&boli;e the state authority" Ma&ata aner ee $ortrayed hersel% as the &essiah o% the

$oor and one who was there to ta4e u$ their issues" 9oo4ing at this scenario, )etwor4 1+ had7uoted saying, BMar.ists caught in ti&e(war$ as Ma&ata uggernaut rolls byB -Sri asta a,2011/" *euters had &entioned that: B@ en the &ost bac4ward districts o% Purulia andMidna$ore indicate that this %ortress o% $o erty now loo4s ulnerable to the unsto$$ableMa&ata uggernaut" *eutersB -Sri asta a, 2011/ " learly this shows that &edia $ortrayedthat Ma&ata aner ee was trying to ca$italise on the situation that the $oor %ar&ers and the&iddle class were 7uite senti&entally attached with their land and she wanted to &a4e this a

$olitical agenda suiting her bene%its"


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o% this $ower? it should ta4e care to not ust sensationalise news but gi e an inside out and aneutral $ers$ecti e $resenting all %acts and lea e the o$inion %or&ing $art to the $ublic"

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the tata nano singur controversy history essay

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