The three-bigha land owned by Monimohan’s family in Gopalnagar was acquired for the car project.

“Now, only 1.5 acres of land is left with us. We have also spent most of the money. It is very hard for me to return to farming after having served as a factory worker in uniform. My ATM card, given by the company, has also become invalid. I know that the Nano is being launched from another state. We are all shattered here,” adds Monimohan. While he is happy that some of the local youths have gone to work at the Tata’s Pune factory as apprentices, he at the same time fears that they may return home since there is no guarantee that they will be hired.

For Amar Santra and Muzaffar Mullick, life has come a full circle. Their hand-to-mouth existence has returned but this time they also have an additional burden of debt. The duo, like some of his friends, had bought motorcycle vans and used to ferry workers from Singur station to the Nano factory. Today, there are no passengers.

“This route was opened two years ago when the Nano factory was just coming up here. We were among the 100 unemployed youths, who had bought motorcycle vans to carry workers to the plant and charged Rs 5 per head. However, since last September, when construction work stopped at the plant, number of passengers dwindled. Now, we hardly get any passenger. We return home empty-handed,” says 30-year-old Amar Santra. “Our world changed due to the factory, and now as Nano is rolling out from somewhere else, our hopes are lost forever,” says Ramen Pakhira, whose shop lies close to the factory site.

... contd.