Farmers will not allow their land to be returned to zamindars: Buddhadeb

KOLKATA: Questioning the call for ‘change' by the Trinamool Congress, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Thursday if this meant the return of the land distributed to the poor farmers by the Left Front government over the past years to the zamindars and jotedars, farmers across the State would never allow it.

“The farmers will never let go off the land they have been given, however loud the call for change. If the Left Front is stopped from returning to power, the farmers will be in peril; this they will never allow to happen,” he said at an election rally at Haroa in North 24 Parganas district.

“Since the Left Front had come to power, 84 per cent of farmland across the State has been distributed to the poor farmers. This has led to significant successes in agricultural productivity. Had it not been for the Left Front this would not have been so but we need to take the process further ahead. Nearly 20,000 acres of land have been distributed to poor farmers in the last five years. The struggle for land is not over,” the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Bhattacharjee also cautioned on efforts by the Trinamool to create violence across the State — “from the Darjeeling hills to the Jangal Mahal region where they have joined hands with the Maoists”.

“If you return the Left Front to power I give you my word: we will come down firmly against all sorts of violence and unrest that is being incited. This will all have to stop and peace will have to be restored across the State or else West Bengal will be headed for disaster,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

“We have gained in experience by being in government these past years. We have got an understanding of the needs of the people. The people are unable to cope with the rise in prices of essential items. So the next Left Front government will have its sights set on strengthening the rationing system. We have so far been providing rise at Rs. 2 a kg to nearly 2.60 crore people. Now we will be looking at raising this figure to close to 4 crore,” he said.

Jobs to youth

“Another area of focus will be providing jobs to the youth of the State,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

“The youth, passing out in lakhs from schools and colleges, are looking at us for jobs. If we cannot set up new factories — we will not be able to create new job opportunities. Thus the need for more industries — small, medium and big,” the Chief Minister added.

Source-www.hindu.com