Shankar Das

Singur, July 3: The block development officer of Singur today sent a Beraberi gram panchayat member with bags of rice and some clothes to the widow of Shankar Das, the landless labourer who died yesterday, allegedly of starvation.

“We sent four bags of rice, a sari and a dhoti through the panchayat member. We are also preparing the documents needed to provide financial help to the family under the National Family Benefit Scheme,” BDO Prasenjit Chakraborty said.

According to Chakraborty, government officials will soon visit the village to talk to its farm workers, most of whom lost their livelihood after the plots they worked on were acquired for the Tata Motors small-car project.

“It’s a relief that some government aid has started trickling in from the gram panchayat. We are now awaiting financial help,” said Anima, Shankar’s wife.

Efforts are on to involve the villagers in the work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

District magistrate Binod Kumar said the the work could not be started today because of the heavy rain. “We shall begin it tomorrow,” he said.

“All the 59 who have got job cards from the panchayat will be hired to strengthen a 500-metre kuchcha road from the Dobandhi primary school.”

Another landless labourer, Bharat Das, fell ill last night and was admitted to the Singur rural hospital with chest pain. Trinamul Congress MLA from Singur, Rabindranath Bhattacharya, helped the 50-year-old get admitted to hospital.

Bharat’s 10-year-old niece Barnali has also been running a temperature for the past five days.

“But we cannot take her to a doctor since we have no money,” the Class III student’s mother Purnima said.

Her husband has not earned anything ever since the fields he worked on were taken over for the car project. He is not allowed to work at the project site because of his association with the Trinamul Congress.

Trinamul MLA Bhattacharya demanded that the government start relief operations in the village in a big way. A medical team should be sent to the village at the earliest, he said.

Trinamul sources in Calcutta said that Mamata Banerjee, who is in Delhi with families from Nandigram and Singur, has been informed of the death.

House protest

Trinamul today boycotted the Assembly demanding a statement from Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Shankar’s death.