Hailstorm runs havoc in estates

A hailstorm accompanied by rain flattened tea bushes and damaged property in four tea gardens of the Alipurduar subdivision last night.

The calamity hit the Tasati, Mujnai Subhasini and Ethelbari tea estates around 10.15pm and left a trail of devastation in just 15 minutes.

The worst-hit was the Tasati tea estate where the bushes were completely shaved off and the management feared that production would not be possible before June.

“Of the 400 hectares, bushes in about 120 hectares have been very badly damaged. The loss, according to our preliminary estimates, will be around Rs 50-60 lakh. The roofs of about 80 houses of our workers had been blown off,” said Tasati manager V.K. Goyel.

Chemicals were being sprayed on the damaged bushes to prevent them from pest attacks and diseases.

An estimated Rs 20 lakh would be required to repair the damaged houses, Goyel said and added a similar hailstorm had destroyed the property in April 2005.

“The hailstones were at least an inch in diameter and inflicted heavy damage on the bushes. We will be hard put to compensate for the loss,” the Tasati manager said.

In Mujnai, a portion of the factory shed was destroyed in the storm. The management had just repaired the shed after it was damaged last year. “We had planned to reopen the factory from today, but last night’s storm damaged the wall as well as the factory shed. We will have to carry out repair work again and need at least Rs 5 lakh which will be hard on us at a time of financial crisis,” said N.N. Chakrabarty, a senior manager of the garden.

At the Subhasini tea garden, at least 100 feet of the factory wall collapsed. The management said it would have to erect a fencing after removing the rubble.

Debarghya Guha, the manager of Ethelbari Tea Estate in Falakata, said 1.59 lakh kg of green leaves worth Rs 2.8 crore were destroyed in the hailstorm last night.

Talwar tips for Mujnai Tea Estate

Alipurduar, Jan. 28: Workers of the abandoned Mujnai Tea Estate will focus on off-season maintenance of bushes from tomorrow to get fresh leaves in the coming season. The work includes pruning and weeding and digging new drains.

The decision was taken at a meeting called by Bagan Bachao Committee, a body formed by the workers of Mujnai, after a discussion with Anuradha Talwar, the president of the Pashchim Banga Khet Majur Committee.

The management of Mujnai had abandoned the garden on November 22, leaving 962 workers in the lurch. Despite several meetings the impasse could not be solved. The workers have not received their wages for the last three months and ration for 22 fortnights.

The absence of the management also affected maintenance of the bushes.

“If the maintenance work does not start now, the workers will not get fresh leaves in the next season, which begins around mid-March. On the other hand, if the bushes yield good leaves, the workers can earn money by selling them,” Talwar told The Telegraph over telephone from Mujnai, 65km from here.

Talwar said she had advised the workers to place four demands to the administration.

Every meeting between the administration and the owner must be organised in the garden, so that the workers get to know the decision and are not “misguided” by trade union leaders.

When the management does come back to run the garden, it must openly declare the steps it will take for the development of the garden.

If the workers invest their money earned from selling leaves in the garden, as it happens in Shikarpur, the management has to pay the amount back to them.

Finally, the workers should submit a memorandum to the assistant labour commissioner, demanding that the garden be declared closed until the management returns so that they could get government relief.

Ashish Biswas, the convener of the Bagan Bachao Committee, said the workers would start maintenance from tomorrow. They would place the demands to the administration by the end of this week.

“We cannot prune tea bushes under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which safeguards 100 days of work. If that was made possible, we would have benefited a lot,” Biswas said.

Managers flee from tea garden

Jaigaon: The manager and three senior managerial employees of Dalsinghpara Tea Estate have fled the garden, apparently on the pretext of going to fetch cash to pay the workers their last month’s dues.

The Calcutta-based Octavius Tea and Industries, which owns Dalsinghpara, has also pulled out the managers of two of its other estates in the Dooars. The managers of Dalmore and Sylee have left under similar circumstances.

The workers of Dalsinghpara said the management had announced on January 5 that the dues chalked up in the fortnight between December 13 and 26 would be paid soon. “Later, on the same day, they announced that the payment would be made on January 12,” said a worker.

The management put up a notice on January 14 saying the payment would be made between January 21 and 25. The manager and his subordinates left the garden on the last day.

Currently, the garden is without electricity: the supply has been cut because of non-payment of past bills. As a result, the workers are not being able to run the pumps and are facing an acute drinking water scarcity.

Prabhat Mukherjee, the general secretary of the Intuc-affiliated National Union of Plantation Workers, said Octavius Tea and Industries had taken over Dalsinghpara, Dalmore, Sylee and Nayasylee gardens in June, 2004 after signing an agreement with the Bengal labour department.

“They have not fulfilled a single promise made in the agreement, including payment of the workers’ dues,” Mukherjee said.

“Dalsinghpara has had 15 managers in three-and-a-half years. The current manager is now saying that he will not return to the garden till the owner sends him funds to make the payments,” Mukherjee added.

P.K. Chatterjee, the secretary of the Dooars Branch of the Indian Tea Association, said he was totally in the dark about the chain of events.

Jalpaiguri district magistrate R. Ranjit said the management had agreed to clear one-third of the electricity bills by January 29. “If they do not pay up as promised, we will take action, but I have not heard that the manager had abandoned the garden. I will look into this.”

Tea worker reinstated in tea garden after 23 years dismissal

A worker was reinstated in Mogalkata Tea Estate after 23 years of his dismissal from the garden, thanks to a court order.

Pijush Khariya, 58, however, could not utilise the opportunity because of his age. He, instead, recommended his 20-year-old only daughter Sorpeena for the job.

The garden management, which took over the reins two months ago, allowed the girl to join work today.

A resident of Gudamline of the garden in the Banarhat police station area, Khariya and four others had been sacked from service in 1984 for allegedly gheraoing the then manager. The workers had been demanding their dues, said Pradip Mallick, the secretary of the central committee of National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW), affiliated to the Intuc.

The management had also registered a case against the five workers with the Banarhat police.

“But in a blatant case of favouritism, the garden management had taken back four workers, who were the members of the Citu-controlled Cha Bagan Majdoor Union, the same year. Since Khariya was a member of the NUPW, he was not reinstated,” Mallick alleged.

The police had referred the case to the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Jalpaiguri.

In 2006, the court directed Khariya’s reinstatement in the garden after declaring him “innocent”.

Mallick said Khariya, however, is not staking any claim to his dues of 23 years.

Source: The Telegraph

Sardarjis better off with tea machines

His long white beard fluttering in the breeze, his turban streaked with grime, Ajit Singh walks into the machine room of Ducklangia tea estate in Assam.

Everyone has been waiting for the fitter expectantly. He at once gets down to work and, in a jiffy, points out where the problem lies.

As Nirod Singh, the manager of Ducklangia tea estate, says: “Ajit Singh was supposed to have retired eight years ago. But we requested the marvellous mechanic to continue — he is simply indispensable.”

Nirod Singh, who himself has 36 years of experience in the tea industry and has worked in several gardens in Assam and West Bengal, said most of the gardens have Sikh fitters who are so incredibly competent that they can find the solution to all sorts of problems in any kind of machinery in an instant.

“These Sikh mechanics may not have had a formal education, but they are technically better than the best,” Nirod Singh said.

Not just Ajit Singh of Ducklangia. Surjeet Singh, the head fitter of Kakojan tea estate, crossed his age of superannuation some 10 years ago. Then there is Shingara Singh of Umatara tea estate, Salvinder Singh of Gotonga garden, Manjit Singh of Hunwal estate — the list is endless.

Though many of the Sardarjis in Assam’s tea estates crossed their retirement age long back, they have been asked to continue. There is nobody good enough to replace them.

“Give him any problem with the machinery in the factory, and he comes out with a solution immediately,” said Pran Pratim Bhattacharrya, senior assistant manager of Kakojan tea estate, which has one of the biggest tea manufacturing factories in Asia.

The forefathers of these Sardarjis had landed up in Assam in search of jobs over a century ago. An official at the Upper Assam labour commissioner’s office said the Sardarjis have been working in tea garden factories for several generations.

Source: The Telegraph

Mamta has to act fast to gain tea workers confidence

Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the Dooars has not gone unnoticed, but neither has it been able to trigger any enthusiasm.

A day after her tour of two closed estates, tea workers feel that the Trinamul Congress chief has to deliver first, in the manner of some major breakthroughs, to win their confidence.

“We have become accustomed to false promises from leaders. Unless her party succeeds in establishing an efficient platform that would work towards reopening the gardens, it will be tough for it to garner support here,” said Phanindranath Das, a worker of Sikarpur-Bhandapur, 30 km from here. Mamata had visited the garden yesterday.

He added that in no way would workers of his garden follow the lines of Singur and Nandigram. The reference was to Mamata’s announcement that her party would launch a movement similar to the ones in south Bengal against land acquisition.

Das agreed with Sania Bhumij, a worker and unit secretary of the Citu-affiliated Cha Bagan Mazdoor Union of Raipur, that actor turned Trinamul MLA Tapas Pal had been the real crowd puller.

“It is true that hundreds of residents, especially women, had rushed to the dais. But their intention was to see Tapas Pal. He is well-known here,” said Bhumij, one of those who had elaborated their problems before Mamata yesterday. Bhumij, however, said she and many other workers would not mind joining any movement that might benefit them. “In case a central agitation is organised and it is useful to us, we would definitely participate,” she said.

Others like Biplab Sarkar of Bharnobari, which is likely to open on June 29, said the Trinamul leader’s visit has been a “little too late”.

“She has taken up the issue five years after the crisis started, at a time when the Centre and state are seriously working to end the impasse,” said Sarkar.

He said another factor that would make the party’s task harder was the absence of any Trinamul trade union in the tea belt. Trinamul leaders of the region admitted that they had a number of hurdles ahead.

“It is true that we need to take up concrete activities in the closed gardens to bring people under the banner of the Save Tea Garden Committee,” said Gautam Deb, the Darjeeling district president of the party. Deb has been made chairman of a 15-member core group that will give regular reports to Mamata on the tea gardens.

“We will meet in Cooch Behar on June 24 to chalk out our strategy,” he added.

Source: The Telegraph

Tea workers change tea gardens

Over 100 permanent workers of Redbank Tea Estate in Banarhat, Jalpaiguri, have joined the adjacent garden of Surendranagar as casual labourers, sparking a row between Citu and Intuc-affiliated unions.

The workers come from Salboni, a division of the Redbank tea estate with 150 hectares of plantation. This morning, an altercation broke out between the two unions when members of the Citu-affiliated operations and maintenance committee (OMC) of Redbank went to the Salboni division to dissuade the labourers from going over to Surendranagar.

“When we went there, a few toughs, whom we suspect to be accomplices of the owner of Surendranagar, threatened us,” said Debabrata Pal, a member of the OMC. “We protested but turned back to avoid any law and order problem. We consider this to be a plot by the owner to create a rift among Redbank workers.”

Both the gardens are owned by Rabin Paul. But while Paul has regained control of Surendranagar after almost four years, Redbank is still run by an OMC. Redbank has gone into liquidation from March 28 this year and the OMC members put the blame for the situation on the “irresponsible attitude” of Paul towards the garden.

Leaders of the Intuc-affiliated National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW), which enjoys the support of the workers of Surendranagar, said labourers are increasingly preferring them over the Citu. “Of the 113 permanent workers of Salboni, more than 100 are with us now,” said Pradip Mullick of NUPW. “Instead of plucking tealeaves and handing them over to the Citu-dominated OMC at Redbank, they prefer to work as casual workers at Surendranagar.”

In total, there are over 800 workers at Redbank.

The NUPW leader also claimed that it was Citu supporters who had tried to create trouble this morning. “But the workers thwarted their ploy,” Mullick said.

The workers in question said they had switched gardens on their own. “We used to get around Rs 15 to Rs 20 per day from the OMC for plucking tealeaves at Salboni, but at Surendranagar we are earning Rs 53.90 every day even as casual labourers,” said one of those who have crossed over.

Source: The Telegraph

Leopard found dead in tea garden

Siliguri: The body of a full-grown male leopard was found in a tea garden here today.

Environmentalists, who suspect that the animal was poisoned, have demanded a probe into the death, the cause of which is yet to be ascertained. Forest officials, too, have not ruled out foul play.

“We cannot say anything until the post-mortem report reaches us. However, we are not denying anything either,” said P.T Bhutia, the conservator of forests (wildlife), north Bengal.

The carcass was discovered early this morning by some workers of Fulbari-Patan tea estate in Khaprail, 7km from Siliguri.

A veterinary team conducted the post-mortem after which the animal was consigned to the flames.

Foresters at Sukna, which comes under Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, said the autopsy report was expected in a week.

Recounting the incident, Ranjit Mitra, manager of the tea estate, said: “At 8.30am, the workers informed us about the leopard after which we sent for the foresters at Sukna (located 5km from the garden), who came and took the body away.”

He said about a month ago he had heard about a wild animal, possibly a leopard, roaming the tea estate.

“However, no sighting or disturbance was reported in the garden during the past few weeks. Also, the size of the paw of the earlier animal was much smaller than the one found dead today. It is quite likely that this could be a different leopard,” Mitra added.

The manager denied allegations that the animal might have been poisoned by the workers because it had been preying on their poultry.

Animesh Bose of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, however, feels otherwise. “We suspect some foul play. The forest department should investigate and take necessary action,” said Bose.

“A few weeks ago, villagers had lynched a leopard at Nagracata in Jalpaiguri. So, nothing can be ruled out,” he added.

Leopards generally give birth during summer — from April to June — in tea plantations located close to the forests. The animals avoid the sanctuaries during this period so that other big cats or leopards do not maul the newborn cubs. But this leads to tension in the gardens as the mother leopard starts preying on poultry reared by the workers and strays into human habitation.

Environmentalists alleged that though the leopard is listed in Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act and is a critically endangered species according to the World Conservation Union, it has not been covered by any conservation programme in India till date.

In 2005, the Wildlife Institute of India released an estimate (not a census), which said there were around 7,500 leopards in the country.

Source: The Telegraph

Leopard found dead in tea garden

Siliguri: The body of a full-grown male leopard was found in a tea garden here today.

Environmentalists, who suspect that the animal was poisoned, have demanded a probe into the death, the cause of which is yet to be ascertained. Forest officials, too, have not ruled out foul play.

“We cannot say anything until the post-mortem report reaches us. However, we are not denying anything either,” said P.T Bhutia, the conservator of forests (wildlife), north Bengal.

The carcass was discovered early this morning by some workers of Fulbari-Patan tea estate in Khaprail, 7km from Siliguri.

A veterinary team conducted the post-mortem after which the animal was consigned to the flames.

Foresters at Sukna, which comes under Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, said the autopsy report was expected in a week.

Recounting the incident, Ranjit Mitra, manager of the tea estate, said: “At 8.30am, the workers informed us about the leopard after which we sent for the foresters at Sukna (located 5km from the garden), who came and took the body away.”

He said about a month ago he had heard about a wild animal, possibly a leopard, roaming the tea estate.

“However, no sighting or disturbance was reported in the garden during the past few weeks. Also, the size of the paw of the earlier animal was much smaller than the one found dead today. It is quite likely that this could be a different leopard,” Mitra added.

The manager denied allegations that the animal might have been poisoned by the workers because it had been preying on their poultry.

Animesh Bose of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, however, feels otherwise. “We suspect some foul play. The forest department should investigate and take necessary action,” said Bose.

“A few weeks ago, villagers had lynched a leopard at Nagracata in Jalpaiguri. So, nothing can be ruled out,” he added.

Leopards generally give birth during summer — from April to June — in tea plantations located close to the forests. The animals avoid the sanctuaries during this period so that other big cats or leopards do not maul the newborn cubs. But this leads to tension in the gardens as the mother leopard starts preying on poultry reared by the workers and strays into human habitation.

Environmentalists alleged that though the leopard is listed in Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act and is a critically endangered species according to the World Conservation Union, it has not been covered by any conservation programme in India till date.

In 2005, the Wildlife Institute of India released an estimate (not a census), which said there were around 7,500 leopards in the country.

Source: The Telegraph

CITU to protest against closing of tea gardens

The Citu’s Darjeeling district leadership is set to launch a movement in the hills and the Terai, demanding the reopening of closed factories and gardens as soon as possible.

The trade union does not seem to be bothered by the fact that they have very little support base in the hills.

“Some planters in Darjeeling and the Terai are evading their responsibilities by keeping their factories closed and selling tealeaves to other gardens. The same thing happened in the Dooars, where several estates have shut down,” said Ananda Pathak, the president of the Citu’s Darjeeling district committee, at a newsmeet here today.

Pathak named Ringtang of Sonada and Merryview of the Terai, where the owners are reportedly selling tealeaves to other gardens, instead of making the produce at their own factories.

“At Ringtang, the 1,200-odd workers are paid only against plucking of tealeaves. Dues like provident fund and gratuity have been pending over years. Labourers at Merryview do receive their wages, but the factory is closed,” said Pathak, who is a senior leader of the Citu-affiliated Darjeeling Jilla Chai Kaman Mazdoor Union.

According to Citu leaders, the management of Ringtang closed down the garden two years ago, when they launched a movement for the workers’ right then. Since that time, nothing has improved at the estate, they said.

“We had demanded that the management should run the estate properly. Instead of listening to us, the owner left the garden and now the factory is closed,” said Ajit Sarkar, the Darjeeling district Citu secretary. “At present, around 6,000-7,000 kg of tealeaves is sold from four divisions of the garden everyday.”

The leaders sought government intervention in re-opening Sepoy Dhoorah, another garden in the hills, which has been abandoned for more than five years. They also said the Tea Trading Corporation of India should hand over three of its gardens, Putung, Peshok and Vah-Takvar, to the state. “These gardens have been shut down over years and the Centre has done nothing to reopen them. Many prospective entrepreneurs are interested in taking over the estates,” Sarkar said.

Source: The Telegraph

700 deaths total in closed tea gardens

Siliguri: More than 700 people have died in the 13 closed gardens of the Dooars in the past 14 months.

A copy of a survey revealing the data was handed over today to Anuradha Talwar by the Jalpaiguri administration.

“Conducted by the district health department in 13 closed gardens, the survey says 765 people have died between January 1, 2006 and March 16, 2007,” said Talwar, the state adviser to the food commissioner appointed by the Supreme Court. “Apparently, there is some double counting in the report which needs to be corrected. Nevertheless, the death toll would be somewhere around 700.”

Asked whether most of the deaths were from starvation, Talwar said: “The survey shows that death was due to several diseases. We cannot make any comments unless we analyse the report.”

Bhusan Chakraborty, the chief medical officer of health in Jalpaiguri, while confirming the number of deaths, said something similar. “We have conducted a survey that shows the death of more than 700 people in these gardens. But we are yet to evaluate the report and the causes of death.”

The immediate reasons seem to be gastro-enteritis, cardio-respiratory failure and anaemia, a source said.

Talwar, who is back in the district to conduct a second recce of the closed gardens in north Bengal, visited Raipur Tea Estate, 5 km from the Jalpiguri town, today.

“The workers can no longer live on relief and want the garden to reopen,” she said. “The state, on the other hand, has not found prospective investors, which has aggravated the problem. A proposal to run the garden under a cooperative or an operating management committee has been accepted by the workers.”

A meeting, Talwar said, will be held on May 18 to discuss the issue. She said she would request the trade union leaders to come together to form a committee to run the closed estates.

The adviser to the apex court also said the house-to-house survey initiated by the district administration in the closed tea gardens is on. “Some of the officials informed me that a proposal to conduct a death audit has been conceived,” she said. “Under this, officials would check out the reason behind any death in the estates and other details associated with it.”

Sikarpur and Bhandapur, Chinchula, Mujnai and a few other closed estates are expecting Talwar in the next two days.

Source: The Telegraph

Govt. aids three closed tea gardens

The Bengal government has decided to extend financial assistance to labourers of three closed tea gardens of the Dooars under the Financial Assistance to Workers of Locked-Out Industries scheme, officials of the labour department said here today.

So far, 10 of the 13 closed or abandoned tea estates in the region have been on the labour department’s list. “The three new gardens included in the scheme are Dekhlapara, Kalchini and Raimatang,” said Md Naseem, the joint labour commissioner posted in Siliguri. Under the scheme, every permanent worker of the gardens will receive Rs 750 every month from the state.

His subordinates at Jalpaiguri, where all these gardens are located, assured that the process has been initiated. “We will soon issue forms to workers of these estates. After they are filled, the forms will be scrutinised and sent to the higher level for sanction,” said Kallol Dutta, the deputy labour commissioner of Jalpaiguri. “Once the funds start coming in, we will help the workers open bank accounts, where the money will be transferred.”

Officials said they were trying to break the deadlock at the estates through tripartite meetings. “So far, at least 30 meetings have been convened for every closed estate, but to no avail,” said the joint labour commissioner. They have fallen through mostly because the management officials of closed gardens have not attended the meetings, he alleged.

The labour department has also got in touch with the provident funds (PF) officials to recover the workers’ dues.

“During the recent visit of our secretary here, it was decided that the issue will be taken up with the PF department. We are checking the dues of the workers who were on the payroll of these gardens and taking joint steps to recover the money,” an official said.

The labour department, however, said no new instructions have reached them after the finance minister’s visit to Jalpaiguri last week, when he made a number of promises to workers.

Source: The Telegraph

Asim's sops mismatch tea solution

A slew of sops announced by Asim Dasgupta in Jalpaiguri yesterday has produced mixed reactions.

While workers have refused “to be taken in” by the finance minister’s aid schemes, planters have protested against the “coercive action” suggested by Dasgupta against them.

“We are not ready to be taken in by his promises till they are implemented,” said Biplab Sarkar, an employee of the closed Bharnobari tea estate today. “We want to see if the minister keeps his word.”

The minister has sanctioned Rs 16 crore for closed estates for the next three months and if at the end of the period there is no breakthrough, another allotment would be made.

Dasgupta had also said the state would soon, in association with the provident funds department, initiate action against planters who have fled from estates leaving crores as PF dues.

These two major announcements apart, Dasgupta has also promised a host of aid schemes for the workers.

But all these could not convince Sania Bhumij of Raipur, another closed estate. “The declarations mean nothing to us till some concrete benefits trickle in,” Bhumij said. “There were others who had visited the gardens earlier, but nothing came out of them.”

Residents at Redbank, where Dasgupta went yesterday, however, spoke differently. “Officials of the relief department have started working for the distribution of foodgrain,” said Debabrata Pal, the head clerk of the estate. “Even the process of assessing the repair cost of houses has started.”

Notwithstanding the Rs 16 crore fund, the suggestion of punitive action has not gone down well with the planters. “We feel any coercive action will only lead to adverse reaction,” said N.K. Basu, the principal adviser to the Indian Tea Planters’ Association. “The government should think about the situations that prompted some planters to abandon their property.”

Chitta Dey, the convener of the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers, has welcomed Dasgupta’s efforts, but added: “We want the chief minister and his colleagues to monitor the progress of the plans spelt out by the finance minister.”

Source: The Telegraph

CM doesn't know about Starvation deaths

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today denied any knowledge of starvation deaths in closed tea gardens in north Bengal.

“We’re aware that there may be problems due to malnutrition and lack of sufficient food for workers in 13 closed gardens of north Bengal. We know that they’re going though a difficult time, but the state government has no knowledge of any starvation deaths in these estates,” said Bhattacharjee.

According to the chief minister, he has met twice the district officials there — once in December last year and in January — and has ordered the formation of a task force to monitor the estates. “I’ve directed the task force members, including the secretaries of health, labour, planning and development and rural development departments to visit these gardens without delay and submit a report to me,” the chief minister said.

M.N. Roy, the secretary of the rural development and panchayat affairs department, visited some of the estates today to take a stock of the situation. Accompanied by B.L. Meena, the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri, and other administrative officials, Roy visited the Raipur, Sikarpur and Bhandapur, Kanthalguri and Ramjhora estates.

“He is here to find out to what extent the developmental schemes for workers have been implemented,” said Banamali Roy, the sabhadhipati of the Jalpaiguri zilla parishad.

The workers complained to Roy about the low-scale activities under programmes, like 100-day work and mid-day meal schemes.

Source: The Telegraph

Two more deaths at Bharnobari Tea Estate

Bharnobari Tea Estate (Alipurduar): Even as some funds trickled into Raimatang, Chinchula and Kalchini tea estates, the condition of the locked-out Bharnobari continues to be as bleak as ever.

Two persons have died at the Bharnobari estate over the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 72 since its closure in December 2005.

Laxman Munda (48) of Bharnobari out-division died yesterday, while Binu Kharia (32), a resident of Jonathan line, died this morning. According to medical reports, both were suffering from malnutrition. Binu used to stay all by himself as his wife, Jayanti, works in Delhi and their son stays with a relative.

With the 2,250 labourers not getting paid for more than a year, the families can hardly hope to have one square meal a day, let alone treatment for ailments. Six residents here, including three children were admitted to the Latabari health centre yesterday suffering from malnutrition.

Just to make ends meet, a few labourers have been forced to take up jobs in dolomite quarries in Bhutan, while some others have left for other parts of the country for work.

Tapan Nag, the secretary of Swadhikar, an NGO, said: “Under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, workers of closed gardens are supposed to get 100 days’ work, but labourers here got work for 26 days only and received wages for 21 days.”

According to Nag, Antyodaya cards have not been distributed among labourers as a result of which everyone is not getting equal amount of foodgrain. P.D. Pradhan, the subdivisional officer, however, said: “Though the cards have not been distributed, the workers have been receiving ration regularly.”

A team of Krishi Jami Raksha Committee from Calcutta visited the garden today as part of their survey of closed estates in the Dooars.

Source: The Telegraph

Hope kindles at Ramjhora Tea Estate

Alipurduar: The proposed visit of governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi to the Ramjhora tea estate, 75 km from here, on March 1 has triggered a flurry of activity in the region.

No sooner did the governor’s office ask for a report on closed tea gardens of the Dooars, than officials made a beeline for two of them. However, the report compiled for Gandhi’s office covered six closed estates in the Alipurduar subdivision.

R. Ranjit, the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, Bhushan Chakroborty, the CMOH of the district, and P.D. Pradhan, the subdivisional officer (SDO) of Alipurduar, visited Bharnobari and Ramjhora tea gardens yesterday.

In Ramjhora, the death toll has reached five in the past 10 days. Tikhey Lamijen Sarki, who had been suffering from a fractured spinal cord and had not been able to afford a treatment, died yesterday.

The governor’s visit has spelt some good news for the workers. Special rations have been announced at Ramjhora. An ambulance has been kept as a stand-by to carry the “very sick” to the Birpara hospital.

Pradhan, the SDO of Alipurduar, said: “We will provide special rations to the workers of closed tea gardens. We are conducting health camps too. The 100 days work scheme has already been introduced.”

Ramesh Sharma, a worker and a Congress trade union leader, said: “It is good that the governor will talk to us. We hope that this time he will do something for us, otherwise many more people and children will die. Most of the garden workers are eagerly waiting for Thursday.”

Source: The Telegraph

Death toll rises in Ramjhora Tea Estate

A 59-year-old woman died in Ramjhora Tea Estate yesterday, taking the toll in the garden to four in the past seven days.

Families of all the four deceased have alleged that death was due to starvation, the symptoms of which were anaemia, nausea and dysentery.

Around 75 km from here, Ramjhora has been closed almost for five years.

Jyotirmoy Halder, the block medical officer of health of Madarihat-Birpara, admitted that most of the people are starving. “They need food before being treated for other diseases. We have told the workers to inform us immediately when any of their family members fall ill. We will take them to Birpara State General Hospital at our own expense, but family members have to accompany them.”

Like Fulmani, who died yesterday, her sister Juhungi Dey is also suffering from “stomach ailments” and she has been advised to take admission to the Birpara hospital.

“We wanted to bring her, but nobody from her family was ready to accompany her,” said Halder. “We generally hold camps in the local gram panchayat office twice a week. We have asked workers to attend them.”

Aboni Das, the sabhapati of Madarihat-Birpara panchayat samiti, and Matias Lepcha, the joint block development officer, visited the garden today. Administrative officials distributed 24 kg of rice and Rs 60 to 12 families, whose members are ailing, under the Antyodaya Yojna.

Bhushan Chakroborty, the chief medical officer of health for Jalpaiguri, however, avoided the starvation issue.

Instead, he said: “We are conducting health camps in the local gram panchayat office. The people of the garden should visit the hospital otherwise it is difficult for us to attend to them.”

For the past few weeks, Ramjhora has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Workers claim that 133 people have died of starvation and malnutrition in the garden since its closure on August 11, 2002. Once upon a time there were 1,103 workers here. At least half the number has left for Bhutan, 12 km from here, to work in dolomite factories.

Despite chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s instruction to the district administration to take care of the workers of closed gardens, labourers of this estate have not yet received the Rs 500 FAWLOI (financial assistance for workers of locked out industries) for the last 10 months.

Ramesh Sharma, the secretary of the garden unit of National Union of Plantation Workers, said: “The relief is not sufficient for a family. The only way out is opening the estate.”

Gherao

Workers of Bharnobari Tea Estate gheraoed the members of the operations and maintenance committee (OMC) to protest against the alleged selling of made tea from the factory secretly.

The garden is lying closed for more than one year. The workers claimed that the OMC was supposed to take their permission before selling 24,000 kg of tea lying in the factory.

Source: The Telegraph

Kalchini and Raimatang tea estates run out on patience

Kalchini and Raimatang tea estates (Alipurduar): A British-era club is demolished and the entire structure removed, brick by brick. A district magistrate is forced to cut short his inspection by angry workers venting their anger after 36 people died at a tea garden in one year.

Over the past couple of years, the abandoned estates of Kalchini and Raimatang have witnessed many such scenes. Located less than 40 km from Alipurduar town, in Kalchini block, both are owned by Buxa Dooars Tea Company limited and have been closed since February 2006. Even before that, the gardens had remained shut on and off for four-five years.

The 2,001 labourers of Kalchini tea estate and their dependants are unrepentant about the day-light looting of European Club in September 2005. They say they have also cut down trees in the garden and sold them for money. Electric poles have had the same fate. Political leaders say things will only get worse if the estate is not opened soon.

“How long can they keep their cool under such trying conditions,” said Prem Lama, the pradhan of Kalchini gram panchayat. “The company is neither selling the garden to a new owner, nor coming back to restart production. And all the while people are dying of various diseases, children are dropping out of school and nobody has enough to eat.”

A visit to the Goodam labour line of Kalchini showed the desperation to which the labourers are driven. Bisram Oraon, a worker, has been suffering from tuberculosis for more than a year and is now completely bed-ridden. “I visited the government hospitals a number of times, but got no help. Now I have to depend on medicines from a local ayurvedic practitioner,” he said. While Bisram’s daughter has to juggle between her studies (she will sit for her Madhyamik this year) and work at the garden (arranged by the operating and maintenance committee), his son sells firewood collected from the forest for a living.

Observers fear that the garden’s factory and other establishments, spared till now, may be the next target of the labourers. Patience is indeed running thin in Kalchini as the garden hospital remains closed and parts of the estate are hit by water scarcity. In fact, workers of Kalchini out division have to travel to Mechpara Tea Estate, 3 km away, for drinking water.

The 1,258 labourers of Raimatang Tea Estate have to walk even further in search for water, all the way to Bhatpara Tea Estate, 6 km away. Repeated appeals to the administration for deep tube wells have fallen on deaf ears. After his unpleasant experience at Raimatang in January this year, Jalpaiguri district magistrate R. Ranjit had met the Kalchini block development officer and sanctioned five tube wells for the garden, but none has been installed so far.

Records at the Raimatang garden hospital show 36 deaths in the last one year.

As the workers are forced to live in rickety huts that threaten to buckle in during heavy rains or violent storms, law and order threatens to become a major problem. Already a group of boys has destroyed a few staff quarters and taken away the material.

The garden staff are in the same boat. “The workers shout at us without realising that our condition is the same as theirs,” said Bashu Ghatak, a clerk at the garden. “We do not even have any alternative source of income, which the workers have.”

Ghatak, however, does not have many sympathisers among the workers.

Source: The Telegraph