Electrification of Labor Houses

The much-hyped first meeting between labour minister Mrinal Banerjee and stakeholders of the tea industry held here today failed to yield specific results, save some discussion on electrification of labour lines.

After the meet, at a news conference, Banerjee spoke at length on the electrification issue, but left abruptly when the questions veered towards another important topic, the implementation of the Plantation Labour Act.

“The process of giving individual meters to tea workers had indeed suffered a setback,” admitted Banerjee. “Now we have instructed the planters to ensure that all of them apply for the connections by October.”

Following protests from trade union leaders that workers pay higher tariff for electricity due to bulk connection in estates, the state government had promised individual connections to them.

“Only 76 gardens in north Bengal have applied so far and the system has been implemented in only 16,” said Chitta Dey, convener of the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers. “We doubt whether the process will be completed by December 31, 2006, the proposed date of completion.”

He added: “Citing specific cases, we also asked the minister to intervene on the improper implementation of the Plantation Labour Act, about 65 per cent of which is not followed by the planters.” Convener of the Defence Committee for Plantation Workers’ Rights Samir Roy said Banerjee promised to revive the non-functional housing advisory and medical committees in the estates.

“He also promised that his department would come up with a new definition of abandoned gardens,” Roy added.

The planters, however, seemed happy and termed the minister “pro-active” in his attempts to solve the problems of the tea industry.

Source: The Telegraph