Kolkata, July 9 (IANS) Fertile agricultural land should not be acquired, union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Friday, adding that multiple crop land should be saved ‘at any cost’ to usher in a green revolution in eastern India.
Mukherjee, who shared the dais with Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee at an official function, said: ‘Very soon India will have a population of 150 crore. No country in the world can provide food to so many people on its own. So we have to save all multiple crop land at any cost and usher in a green revolution in the eastern part of the country.’
‘Our country needs food and the vast areas in eastern India have not been touched by the green revolution. This year we have allotted Rs.350 crore in the budget to usher in the green revolution in the eastern part of the country,’ he said.
‘Union Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will hold a meeting with the agricultural ministers of the eastern states Saturday to discuss on increasing the utility of agricultural land by implementing modern technology and infrastructure.’
Mukherjee had on an earlier occasion advised Mamata Banerjee that a day will come when she will be forced to acquire land, despite her leadership in the anti-land acquisition movements in West Bengal’s Singur and Nandigram. However, Mukherjee Friday seemed to have found merit in the Trinamool Congress supremo’s political line.
Banerjee has steadfastly maintained that she was against acquisition of any kind of agricultural land for development projects.
Political experts feel with the assembly polls less than a year away and the Kolkata civic polls exposing the weaknesses of the Congress party, which fought the election alone, Mukherjee seems keen on rebuilding bridges with the Trinamool chief.
