Great! Now that the position has been made a little more clear, where do we go from here? Agreed, farmers who have depended, perhaps for generations, should not be denied their right to their work and earn their livelihood the way the want to. But at the same time, Bengal needs to achieve far more growth in terms of industrialization. As we can see from the more dynamic states like Maharashtra, Andhra or Tamil Nadu, opportunities for good industrial growth backed by well nurtured growth in agriculture is bound to bring in new economic opportunities to the people, and alter the quality of their life too. I appreciate that we should not palm off productive farm land but a sincere way out is to urgently study acceptable alternatives. Of course why would any industrialist or entrepreneur accept infrastructure which would cut into profits? But would it mean Bengal should lose out on opportunities now and in future, because this would be seen as an example?
Since the Chief Minister means well, may be we should be seeing some visionary solution from him. I will be sorry to see the Steel Plant going away... it would have offered huge employment opportunities. Kolkata needs it.
