A group of ITI-trained Singur youths leave the Tata Motors project site after work on Tuesday. Picture by Amit Datta

Singur, May 13: The movement against land acquisition for industry started here.

But unlike Nandigram, where not an inch was acquired but violence has become endemic, the buzzword here is development.

On the eve of the polls in Singur, where around 1,000 acres were taken over for the Tata small-car project, the land war is not forgotten. But as the deadline for the Nano rollout draws closer, the mood is more of anticipation than apprehension.

The last time Singur witnessed a demonstration was when Swraj Paul, who is setting up an ancillary unit at the project site, came here in April: a handful of protesters stood on the roadside and waved black flags. It was more tokenism than a show of strength.

“We were initially opposed to parting with our three cottahs of land,” said Ganesh Hazra of Gopalnagar, who had initially joined the Save Farmland Committee to oppose land acquisition by the government. “Eventually, we did give our land and got Rs 25,000 for it. The money helped me get my daughter married and now I’m a guard at the factory.”

Not just that, chuckles Hazra, the two cottahs he has across the road from the Tata Motors plot will now sell for at least Rs 1 lakh.

Unlike Hazra, who had initially opposed the land acquisition, 60-year-old Shambhunath Kamley had happily handed over his two cottahs to the government.

“We made a few thousand from our small patch of land,” Shambhunath’s son Anup said. “But with the factory coming up, we have set up shop outside the premises and are now serving meals — rice, dal and vegetables — to the workers. Our options have suddenly opened up now and we are thinking of expanding our business. Even my five-year-old nephew wants to go to Gopalnagar High School.”

For the people of Singur, what matters most now is the employment opportunities that the factory has opened up.

“I received training in the Tata factories in Pune and Jamshedpur and have been temporarily provided work here,” a young man said as he parked his new BSA-SLR cycle outside the factory gates.

“I was without any work after I passed my ITI course from Belur Vidyamandir, till the factory started. Even if I’m not absorbed here, I know that with the training that I have received, I’ll land myself a job somewhere.”

This is precisely what the CPM is hoping to cash in on. “The fruits of development have started showing,” said Sundar Koley, the CPM candidate for the panchayat pradhan’s post in Gopalnagar.

“About 40 youths from my ward are engaged in loading and unloading materials. Many more are supplying stone chips for the project. The mood is turning.”

Members of the Trinamul Congress-led Save Farmland Committee, however, feel this “development” is a “temporary phenomenon”.

“When the factory is ready, all the work the local residents are engaged in will dry up,” said Becharam Manna, the convener of the committee, who is contesting for a place in the panchayat samiti.