Mamata-industry rift gets wider

He was gentle about it, but Nobel laureate economist Prof Joseph Stiglitz’s contention that a government role in helping industry acquire land could help matters didn’t really go down well with the Mamata Banerjee administration. At the Indian Statistical Institute, where a three-day workshop is on to discuss “Economic Growth in West Bengal: Challenges and Priorities”, after Stiglitz had spoken, state industry minister Partha Chatterjee stressed that the hands-off land policy was for keeps. Back to square one, vis-à-vis Mamata and industry—relations between the two are perhaps at their lowest ebb. There’s confusion on many fronts, not least the land acquisition policy of the government.