Singur
and the Political Economy of Structural Change
Feb
17th 2006, Mritiunjoy
Mohanty
The
paper explores the controversy that has surrounded the
West Bengal Government's land acquisition programme
in Singur and situates it within the overall context
of economic growth and transformation. It argues one
of the most adversely affected groups as a result of
the acquisition is relatively large farmers for whom
agriculture is a source of accumulation and not livelihood
and subsistence. This might explain in part why the
resistance has been so strong. The paper argues that
equitable and sustained growth is possible only by reducing
the share of agriculture in the labour force and therefore
that the West Bengal Government's strategy has to focus
on maximising the generation of non-farm rural employment.
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