The exit of the small wonder car ‘Nano’ from Singur, West Bengal, according to many, will give Bengal a ‘troubled state’ image. Since the announcement of Tata’s Nano project in Singur, the local mafia farmers backed up with the likes of Mamata and her Trinamul Congress Party started opposing this revolutionary project; claiming that the Tatas along with the Government of West Bengal have taken away local farmers’ land without their complete will and at very low market value. They continued claiming that they want the land back. Now that the Mamata-Farmer alliance has won this battle against the Tatas, they came under a shock when they learned that even as the project is no more in Singur, the land can not be returned to the farmers as it is now dubbed as ‘land for industries’ and according to the government it will be used for industries only.

So, what did the poor farmers gain? Nothing! What did Mamata gain? Support of other such similar poor, uneducated farmers. These are the guys who don’t read daily newspapers, they don’t know whats happening in the other parts of the nation. Forget nation, they even don’t know whats happening in the nearby city. They are just concerned about their ‘roji roti’ – obviously because they are uneducated, lower class, typical Indian farmers.

Now, let’s think for a while as to why they are poor inspite of having such large farms and lands? Possible options are:

1. the land is not fertile enough to produce enough goods
2. local consultants and ‘dalal’s eat up their profits
3. they can’t sell it at a good price into the city markets (because they are uneducated and unaware of nearby news and activities!)

So, what would you do in such a case? If they were the farmers of Mehsana or of South Gujarat, I know what they could have done. They could have sold a part of their acres of land and would have secured enough cash to feed their children and grand children. Why do you think the Patels of Gujarat have at least one member of their family staying abroad? When you have a property, you either build a business on it or you sell it off. And, in some rare cases you wait for the property prices to rise. But, when the right opportunity comes, you sell off. Tata’s Nano project was the best opportunity for those poor farmers of Singur to sell off their propery and make some quick cash to come out of that state of uneducated and poor being. But, enter Mamata – promising something unpractical. Didn’t she know that according to the law, even if the Tatas leave the state, the land can not be returned back to the farmers? I bet, she knew this. But, our poor farmers might not! One politician ruined the fate of an entire state as far as industrialization is concerned. According to some government officials and buruecrats, the lose of this ambitious project has pushed West Bengal 50 years back in this race of globalization.

Such a thing can not happen in Gujarat and also in Punjab and probably not in Haryana, too. The farmers are well literate I’m not saying they all are educated – but they are literate, they know how to use their land to make profits or cash in. We have heard and seen farmers suiciding in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan; but have you ever heard a farmer attempting suicide in Gujarat? Have you heard that a farmer attempted suicide due to economical issues in Punjab?

It is interesting to note that the same left-alliance (the so-called Communists of West Bengal) were hard-core oppositors of industrialisation and that is why the state of West Begal is still in a poor dilemma. Other states such as Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi are progressing very rapidly as far as national issues such as industrialisation, globalisation, economic growth, education, infrastructure, technology etc., West Bengal’s taken a back seat for these important issues. The state politicians are not only back-stepping the state but have lead the future of its young generation into dark! The success of the Nano project could have brought in more projects worth thousands of crores, but that is now an impossible dream for West Bengal. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya tried his best to keep Tata’s Nano project within the state at Singur but it was too late for him. He knew the importance of the project but all is lost now. A bunch of selfish politicians and cheap political aims have push the state 50 years back.