Tea Workers demand dignity treatment

Jaigoan: Workers of the Bharnobari tea estate, 16 km from here, today demanded that they be treated with dignity even as NGOs lined up to distribute relief.

Members of Alipurduar Welfare Society today gave away clothes, blankets and rice to the workers of the garden, abandoned since December 2005. They also distributed vitamin tablets, anti-malarial drugs and medicines to check gastrointestinal problems worth Rs 15,000.

“We do not want relief. We want to be treated with dignity befitting Indian citizens and earn by ourselves,” said Manbahadur Chhetri, the convener of the operating and maintenance committee.

However, he said, after The Telegraph reported the plight of the garden — 28 people have died there during the 13-month closure — the administration seems to have woken up from its stupor. “We have been sanctioned six days of work under the 100-day employment guarantee scheme. Of the six days, we have already completed four days of pruning,” Chhetri said.

Madhav Pal, one of the doctors at the medical camp set up at the garden today, said he had examined nearly 200 people, “most suffering from anaemia and gastric disorders”. Alipurduar Nagarik Mancha and Ganatantra Adhikar Raksha Sanstha also distributed relief among the workers.

Source: The Telegraph