Rupees 4 Lakh for closed Bharnobari Tea Estate

The jalpaiguri district administration has granted Rs 4 lakh to workers of the closed Bharnobari tea estate, located around 45 km from here in the Kalchini block.

“I have instructed the block development officer of Kalchini to provide immediate relief of Rs 4 lakh to Bharnobari Tea Estate. It is up to him to decide whether he will send the workers foodgrain or something else,” said Jalpaiguri district magistrate R. Ranjit.

Bharnobari, closed since December 2005, has witnessed 28 deaths in the past 13 months. The Telegraph had recently carried two reports (“Death throws up more murky details”, February 9, 2007 and “Bitter lives under brew shadow”, February 10, 2007) on the plight of the workers, many of whom are on the brink of starvation.

There is more good news for the industry. From Wednesday, pruning of tea bushes, needed for better productivity, will start in the 15 closed gardens of Jalpaiguri district. The workers involved in the task will be paid Rs 68 per day for two weeks from the Centre’s 100-days’ work scheme.

On February 1, the Jalpaiguri district committee of the Congress, led by its president Biswaranjan Sarkar, had met chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee demanding that pruning be included in the 100-day’ work scheme in the brew belt.

Source: The Telegraph