Amid protests against land acquisition by farmers and activists, the first self-help group of women from Singur villages started a canteen to supply food at the Tata Motors small car project site at Singur on Thursday.

The canteen was inaugurated by Vinod Kumar, district magistrate of Hooghly, and Nandini Chakraborty, executive director, West Bengal Industrial Development Council.

Dilip Sengupta, Tata Motors general manager � HR and S Suryawanshi, HR manager, were also present at the occasion.

The WBIDC, Hooghly District Central Cooperative Bank (Singur branch), the Hooghly district administration and Tata Motors are providing financial and operational support to the women. The latter, too, have contributed money to the canteen.

Twenty-five members of the group had received training under the auspices of the WBIDC at the Institute of Catering Technology and Hotel Management in Kolkata. While 15 of them have started the operation, the remaining 10 will join the team in a month.

The establishment of the women-managed canteen is part of the project's ambit to involve the local community and infuse income generation for the families.

Meanwhile, civil construction on the site, which began on January 21, is continuing and the work at present comprises construction of boundary wall and roads inside the site.