Kolkata, May 21
In one of her first acts after assuming the office of the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee set in motion a process to return 400 acres of land at Singur to farmers.

The Left Front government had acquired 1,000 acres of land for Tata Motors to set up an automobile plant, which was then opposed by Mamata on the plea that farmers were forced to give up their land for a pittance.

The new Chief Minister today reiterated her government’s resolve to return the land to those who had complained of forcible acquisition and said that Tata Motors was, however, welcome to set up a unit on the remaining 600 acres of land.

The Land Acquisition Act of 1894, however, does not allow land that has once been acquired to be returned. It provides for auction of the land, if necessary, to the highest bidder. The Supreme Court, too, has passed at least three judgments preventing the return of acquired land.

While the state’s new Industries Minister has been asked to start negotiations with Tata Motors, she declared that she herself would write to Ratan Rata and invite him to start industries at Singur and elsewhere in the state.

On the second day in office, Mamata Banerjee asserted that a series of review meetings on Saturday had made it clear that “no work” had been done by the previous government. She also informed the police that her convoy would follow normal traffic signals.

The first Cabinet meeting presided over by her decided to set up a mini-secretariat in North Bengal and have a minister to look after the development of North Bengal. The new CM has also expressed her resolve to set up a CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) on the lines of the PMO. The meeting also decided to prepare a special package for welfare of minorities and the Chief Minister asserted that her government would seek the advice of Justice (retd) Rajinder Sachar before finalising the package.

Though Saturday was officially a holiday in government offices, the Chief Minister, other ministers and all departmental heads and several employees were present at Writers’ Building for the better part of the day. The new government has also decided to release all undertrial prisoners detained in various jails for several years and those who were arrested on false charges and on political grounds.

Mamata ’s Cabinet includes a retired High Court judge, a retired Chief Secretary and three retired IPS officers. But the 37-strong ministry boasts of only one other woman besides the Chief Minister. She refused to occupy the chair used by her predecessor when she stepped into the CM’s chamber yesterday for the first time after 1993 when she had been dragged out of the Writers’ Building by the police following her attempt of a sit-in at the Secretariat.