Singur

For quite some time, I was watching with interest, the developments in Singur on the Tata Nano project. Of particular interest to me was, will Ratan Tata the patriot win over Ratan Tata the businessman.
Today's news that the Tatas have finally pulled the plug off Singur has convinced me that that the Patriot has won. And in the more-long term sense of it, the Businessman, and by deduction, Indian businesss, has won, too.
Let me explain why I think so. Let us assume, for a moment, that that Tatas had relented to the "comrpomise formula" and decided to hand out a host of freebies to all and sundry. This, after the Govt had given all necessary permissions to acquire land legally, and after the Tatas had paid market rate for the land, and , on top of it, offered jobs to at least one member of each affected family of farmers, in the same plant, irrespective of their skills levels. After doing all this, if reckless politicians start hijacking the project in the name of " fighting for farmers", I would expect a ressponsible businessman and a true Indian like Ratan, to call the bluff, and walk out. If he had not done that, he would have ended up ssending a few wrong messages to many sets of people:
To politicians - any project that generates thousands of jobs to the localss can eb hijacked at will, in the name of fighting for the poor.
To the poor and afflicted - one can perinnially depend on politicians to scuttle any project that usurps their precious land- this after full market compensation, and more.
To Other Business houses - that no State Govt's word can be taken for granted any more when it comes to land acquisition, and therefore, other than the vast wastelands of Rajasthan or the high peaks of the Himalayas. where no human will be willing to relocate and work, it is impossible to put up a viable big project.
To the international community - India is NOT dependable when it comes to the Govt's backing to make sure that all investments are taken to fruition.

Thank God - nothing of this has happened -yet.
Now, I am not pro-business or anti-farmer or any such rubbish. My sole point is - once committed, stick to it, and let not dirty politicians scuttle it. Ratan Tata has made it clear, that there are at least 4 other states vying with each other to offer land for the project and that they are considering that. The message to politicians is - dont try to hijack things; those days clearly are gone. I hope the Mamtas of the world realize this new reality.

My personal opinion is - it is wrong to snatch cultivable land from farmers, for industrial production, in the first place. But once an agreement has been reached, it should be adhered to, and people should not be made to dance to the lewd tunes of Netas.
However, one also has to look at it practically. Assume that the set of farmers that managed not to sell out to factories, and continue farming. How long do you think they can realistically continue that, what with the neighbourhood air and water getting polluted like never before? Is it not then wiser to accept the package of compensation at market rates, plus jobs to ensure continuation fo livelihood? Why do they resist this change? I simply dont understand. Maybe I would never, perhaps I have never been a farmer myself.
The fundamental question is - why should industrialization be portrayed as BAD per se? Is it really THAT bad? Will the economic lot of the Indians be any better off if we continue as farmers rather than industrial workers? Are we, as a nation, seeking to refute the historical imprints of Europe, which gained all the economic clout in the world through the Industrial Revolution. Or more recently, the case of China? Are we trying to bring in a new paradigm that it is still possible to continue farming, and still become an economic Superpower of the future?