A bill seeking to empower the West Bengal government to return land in Singur to farmers was passed by the Assembly on Tuesday amidst a walkout by members of the opposition left parties.

The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, was passed by voice vote along with some amendments brought by the government.

When the Bill was put to vote by speaker Biman Bandopadhyay, the Left MLAs, who cited legal loopholes in the legislation, walked out of the house.

Speaking on the Bill, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said it had been brought to undo the injustice meted out to the farmers whose land was forcefully acquired in 2006 for setting up Tata Motor's Nano car manufacturing unit.

She said her government did not want to divide the 'willing' and 'unwilling' farmers, but the situation had forced them to resort to the measure. Banerjee said the land could be returned if the farmers were willing to get it back.

Stating that the Left members could raise the issue of technicalities in the Bill, she charged that they could not carry out the exercise of returning the land during their tenure.

Banerjee also said she wanted to know from the Left members why they were losing patience so soon.
   
Meanwhile, the Tatas today said they were studying the Singur Bill passed by the West Bengal Assembly.

"We are studying the Singur Bill which was passed today," a spokesman of the Tata Group said.

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Tata vendors wait for Tatas to react to Singur Bill

Vendors of the Tata Nano plant on Tuesday said they were awaiting a reaction from the Tatas on the Singur Bill and would take a decision in consultation with them on the issue of compensation.

"We cannot take an independent decision. We have to take a decision with Tatas and we are waiting for their feedback to us. Our sole intention is to adopt a step that will result in maximum compensation," a top offical of a leading vendor of Tata Motors said on condition of anonymity.

"When the project is abandoned legal steps are not desired as it is a long drawn process. However, we may have to seek legal steps if our compensation is not adequate," another vendor said.

"The onus was only on the Tatas to compensate at least 23 vendors who had begun contruction at the Singur project site.

Now it is to be seen how we will be compensated," the official added.

The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011 was passed by voice vote in the West Bengal Assembly during the day.

The Bill vested the entire 997 acre acquired for the Tata Motors Nano project for return to unwilling farmers.