Bhattacharjee at the Assocham meet. (Kishor Roy Chowdhury)

Calcutta, Aug. 26: The Bengal government today owned up “moral responsibility” for the Singur farmers left without livelihood following land acquisition but iterated that returning their land was legally not possible.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the government had worked out a package for the aggrieved farmers, which it would like to share with the Trinamul Congress.

“We have prepared some project. We are ready to discuss that. But they (Trinamul) are sticking to (the demand to return) land only. This is absurd,” Bhattacharjee said.

Speaking at a programme organised by industry body Assocham, the chief minister said: “We are ready to give a package to those who have no livelihood.”

But he stuck to his stand that the land could not be returned. “That would mean chopping the project. I cannot afford to do that. I cannot roll back,” he said.

Many industrialists urged the government to start direct talks with the landowners instead of letting Trinamul represent them.

Bhattacharjee said: “It is not possible to bypass political parties. A good number of them (landowners) are absentee landlords. Some of them don’t have papers. But a few of them are opposing politically. So it has to be resolved politically.”

Officials, he added, had visited Singur several times to try and convince people about the small-car project. Political meetings have also been held.

The chief minister told the industry body that the government had discussed the plant’s location and map with the Opposition before the process of land acquisition began.

“We held several discussions with the Opposition. We told them, we are ready to discuss anything — the price of land, compensation, anything with them. There was no major difference on these issues. But the problem started when work began on the field.”

Almost 85 per cent of the construction work is now complete.

“Other states are inviting the Tatas to pull out and move…. I just cannot allow that to happen. I have to stick to my position. At the same time, I am trying to show the Opposition leaders reason. The car is scheduled to roll out in October. I just cannot let them (the Tatas) down now,” he said.

He iterated how the project would benefit Bengal. “It is not between two parties, it is for the interest of the state. Other automobile factories are also waiting to come. I am trying in my own way to maintain contact with the Opposition… trying to understand, convince them that we are not egoistic.”

The chief minister is hopeful of a consensus but said it had to be realistic and legal.

Assocham president Sajjan Jindal, too, was optimistic. “There are some big projects coming up. Land acquisition is a problem everywhere. I am hopeful the negative sentiment will not last long,” he said.