Garden siege over power demand

Alipurduar, Aug. 31: More than a thousand workers of Subhasini Tea Estate confined the garden manager to his office for 10 hours today demanding the restoration of electricity lines that had been disconnected five months ago.

The siege that began at 7.30am was lifted at 5.30pm after the manager, Anindya Roy, assured the protesters that he would sit with the trade unions on Thursday to thrash out the issue. Work in the garden in Kalchini was hampered throughout the day.

According to Abdul Hamid, the unit secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad’s Progressive Tea Workers’ Union, the management had begun to deduct Rs 350 a month from the workers’ wages as electricity charges from October last year causing widespread resentment among the workers.

Earlier, the management had charged a worker between Rs 200 and Rs 225 a month for power consumption. But the workers protested the sudden rise in deduction from their wages and said they were ready to pay Rs 100 a month for electricity supply for 12 hours a day. Earlier, the supply was for 24 hours.

“The management did not heed our plea and instead disconnected the power lines from every worker’s quarters from April 1 this year. Since then we are living in tremendous hardship, especially the elders and the students. So we decided to gherao the manager till some assurance was given,” Hamid said.

The PTWU leader said the workers had submitted a proposal that electricity meters be installed in each quarters and the amount consumed would be paid for. But that demand was also rejected by the management, he said.

The garden has 1,200 workers.

Around 3pm, police from Hashimara outpost arrived at the garden office and tried to persuade the protesters to lift the gherao but failed.

As the manager was feeling uneasy — garden sources said the agitating workers did not allow him to drink water or use the washroom — the police asked the central leaders of the Parishad from Hashimara to come and negotiate. After the talks with the Adivasi leaders, the agitation was withdrawn.

While the manager was not available for comments, Amitangshu Chakrabarty, the secretary of the Indian Tea Planters’ Association’s Birpara branch, of which the garden is a member, said Roy’s confinement was uncalled for.

“It was very undemocratic of the workers to confine the manager to his office in this manner. What the workers have been demanding is unreasonable. However, let us see what takes place in the meeting scheduled for Thursday,” Chakrabarty said.

Source: The Telegraph

Five gored by bison, three held

Alipurduar, Nov. 20: Five persons, including three foresters, were gored by two bison in separate incidents at tea gardens in Banarhat today. While one animal died after being tranquillised, the other was killed by residents of the estate.

Three workers of Palasbari Tea Garden were arrested for killing the bison. Police and foresters seized raw and cooked meat from them.

This morning, one bison entered Banarhat Tea Estate, 83km from here. As the foresters shot a dart to tranquillise the animal, it attacked them. Kalyan Mukherjee, the beat officer of the Banarhat range, and two other guards were injured.

The bison was tranquillised later but it died on the way to forest. Manindr a Biswas, conservator of forest, north said: “The animal is known for its weak heart and died because it ran a long distance.”

Mukherjee has been admitted to a nursing home in Siliguri. “Doctors said he has multiple fractures on both hands and legs. He has also suffered a fracture in the pelvic girdle which has led to internal haemorrhage,” Kalyan Das, the divisional forest officer of Jalpaiguri, who accompanied Mukherjee, said.

At Palashbari, 4km from the Banarhat garden, workers spotted a bison about 2pm. The animal injured two workers who have been admitted to a Jalpaiguri hospital. Angry over the attack, the residents chased the bison, which fell in a drain. They then stoned it to death and then chopped it.

In the evening, three workers were picked up. “Raw meat weighing around 3kg and some cooked meat were seized during the raid,” Das said.

Injured rhino

A rhino has been found limping in Gorumara National Park and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary for the past two days.

Foresters spotted the rhino with injury on the back and blood oozing from the rectum. “We are yet to know the sex of the rhino,” an officer said. “We suspect that it might have fallen prey to forcible mating or infighting or might have been hit by a train while trying to cross the tracks.”

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.”

Fund use mismatched at tea garden

Workers of the closed Kanthalguri Tea Estate today kept nine members of the operations and maintenance committee (OMC) confined to the garden office for six-seven hours, accusing them of defalcating Rs 10 lakh.

The accused nine were detained by police in the evening. “The workers’ complaint has been accepted. We have asked the police to arrest the OMC members and produce them in court tomorrow,” said Jalpaiguri subdivisional officer Atanu Roy.

The nine, all trade union leaders, owe allegiance to different political parties, including the CPM, Trinamul Congress and the Congress.

A number of closed gardens in the Dooars are run by OMCs, which oversee plucking and sell the green tealeaves to other factories.

Trouble started at Kanthalguri in the morning.

“We went to the office to ask the members about our dues,” said Brahma Oraon, a worker. “We also wanted to know what happened to the funds received from the government under schemes like 100-days’ work, old age pension and stipend for the handicapped. But they misbehaved with us and we got angry.”

A few hundred workers locked the office with the members inside. Even a force from the Banarhat police station could not disperse them. Finally, in the evening, the police escorted the OMC members out of the office and took them to the police station.

An employee at the garden office, however, said a minor incident was being blown out of proportion. “It was a trivial dispute about a loan granted by the block development office to some of the workers for doing petty business during the Pujas,” he claimed.

Source: The Telegraph

Leopard found dead in tea estate

Foresters recovered the carcass of a full grown male leopard from Tirrihanna Tea Estate in Naxalbari today.

The predator had been sighted in the area on several occasions by the residents in the past few months.

“They had informed us about the animal and we had laid a cage in the area to trap it and were monitoring its movements,” said Kanchan Banerjee, the range officer of Sukna Wildlife Squad.

The carcass was spotted this morning by the chowkidar (guard) of the garden in the Jabra division located close to the Dalka forest.

“As soon as we received the information, our staff members passed it to the forest officials who came and took the body away,” said Jagmohan Shahi, the garden manager.

The carcass was brought to Sukna where three vets conducted the post-mortem. Forest sources said the animal might have been poisoned.

“Samples have been collected and would be sent to laboratories in Calcutta for tests,” said S.P. Yadav, the divisional forest officer of Kurseong. “We cannot say anything about the cause of death till the reports arrive.”

Source: The Telegraph

Power supply for North Bengal tea gardens

Bengal power and labour minister Mrinal Banerjee today said his department would prioritise the work of giving domestic connection to workers in the tea gardens of north Bengal.

Banerjee, who met officials of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, planters and trade union representatives here today, said his department would review the progress every month.

“The garden managements have been asked to collect applications from the workers after consulting the trade unions. The power company has also been instructed to give connection to every household soon,” he said after the meeting.

Earlier, bulk power was given to the management which in turn distributed it to workers’ quarters. Now each labourer will get connection for Rs 206. The total cost for electrification is Rs 621 per household. The management will bear the rest. Domestic power connections to workers’ have been given to only seven tea gardens in the region out of 300-odd estates.

Source: The Telegraph

Women on Tea garden vigil

Women workers in the Bhagatpur tea estate have formed a vigilante team to prevent theft from the garden and its factory as the strike called by the Citu-affiliated Cha Bagan Majdoor Union (CBMU) entered the fourth day today.

“Workers of closed gardens are often blamed by the management for pilfering metal scrap and tea leaves, but we are determined not to be included in the same bracket. We will protect the garden and at the same time carry on with our movement against the management to recover our dues,” said Sushila Ekka, the assistant secretary of the CBMU’s garden unit.

Sushila said in closed gardens criminals often steal saplings, fell shade trees for profit and loot made-tea from the factories. “We have formed a team of 150 women and they are keeping a 24-hour vigil in small groups,” Sushila said. The garden was the source of daily bread for the workers and none of them want it to be ruined by criminals, she added.

Ashu Sarkar, the central committee member of the CBMU and member of the Jalpaiguri Zilla Parishad, today said if the management did not sit for talks, the movement would be intensified soon. “We will not withdraw the strike and not allow the management to enter the garden as well,” Sarkar said.

The secretary of the Dooars Branch of the Indian Tea Association, Prabir Bhattacharya, said he was yet to hear from the garden management. “It will be better if the strike is withdrawn and talks between the management and the union start.”

Source: The Telegraph

Acquisition of closed tea gardens

A standing committee on commerce and industry of the Bengal Assembly has recommended the acquisition of closed gardens of the Dooars under Section 16 (D) and 16 (E) of the Tea Amendment Act, 1953.

A report placed by the panel — standing committees have representatives from all parties — in the House today advises the state government to extend all possible support to the Government of India in the takeover process.

Members of the committee will meet Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim with their recommendation first, after which they plan to leave for Delhi to discuss the issue with the Union minister of state for commerce and industry, Jairam Ramesh.

“We will first meet the Speaker for his consent. As soon as we receive the green signal, we will leave for Delhi. We will also visit the tea gardens for on-the-spot inquiries,” said Congress MLA and chairman of the committee Sudip Bandopadhyay.

He added: “Interaction between the state and the Centre is necessary. They must interact on issues related to workers of closed tea gardens.”

According to the committee’s report, 18,000 tea garden workers of 13 closed tea gardens have been rendered jobless. It also mentions a study conducted by the Jalpaiguri health administration, which said over 550 workers have died in the last 15 months in the closed gardens.

The recommendations follow close on the heels of the Tea Board of India’s ultimatum to owners of closed gardens, who have been issued the open-or-perish diktat. They can either open the gardens and avail of the “package that includes waivers and sharing of interests designed to ease their liabilities or face legislative measures”, Ramesh had said almost two weeks ago.

At the same time, the junior commerce minister had appealed to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to rein in “local-level leaders of a Left trade union to end the crisis in the tea industry”.

Today’s report also alleged misappropriation of funds sanctioned by the state for the gardens.

“The state government had sanctioned Rs 33 crore in the last financial year for the starving workers. But we found out that the funds have not reached the workers. For this, we have recommended proper monitoring, supervision and vigilance on the part of the state government so that such misappropriation can be avoided,” said Bandopadhyay.

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

Legal action against the Management at MerryView

Siliguri: Hundreds of workers of Merryview Tea Estate, 20 km from here, are contemplating legal action against the management for its non-compliance of the bipartite agreement on the opening of a renovated garden factory.

The garden, located in the Naxalbari belt with a plantation area of 479 hectares and a workforce of 546 permanent labourers, was purchased by Tezpur Tea Company Limited in 2004.

“After the new management took over, a bipartite agreement on March 17, 2004, decided that the management would deduct Rs 4.10 from the wage (Rs 45.90 at that time) of each permanent worker everyday. The deduction started from April 1, 2004, and continued till March 31, 2005, as per the agreement,” said Aloke Chakravorty, the joint general secretary of the Intuc-affiliated National Union of Plantation Workers.

“Not only that, proportionate deductions were also made from the salaries of five clerks, two medical, two technical and 43 sub-staff members for the same period. The intention was to use the accumulated amount along with the contribution of the management for refurbishing the factory in 2005. The factory, however, remains closed from the first day of the takeover,” the trade union leader alleged.

Workers of the garden, which produces around 15-16 lakh kg of tea annually, now want their money back.

“We had parted with our wages to help the management in its attempt to make the garden viable. The management, however, has failed to keep its word,” said Albis Tigga, a worker.

Chakravorty said the management has been given a deadline of May 15 within which they will have to start work at the factory or else face legal action.

Reacting to the allegations, U.B. Das, secretary of Terai Branch of the Indian Tea Association of which Merryview is a member, said: “It is true that the workers had contributed a portion of their wages. But at the same time, they need to consider the ongoing crisis in the industry. Once things improve, the management will surely consider the issue.”

Intuc plea

The Intuc-affiliated National Union of Plantation Workers has written to the state labour minister requesting him to take over the closed Kanthalguri and Ramjhora tea estates via the West Bengal Tea Development Corporation, reports our correspondent.

Union secretary Pravat Mukherjee said: “The lease of Kanthalguri and Ramjhora expired in 2004. Now that the government is the owner of the two gardens, it should be its responsibility to stand by the workers.”

Source: The Telegraph

Work set to resume at Orange Valley Tea Garden

Darjeeling: Work is set to resume at the Orange Valley tea garden after the labourers finally allowed police to shift the body of Sukbir Rai, a worker who committed suicide on Wednesday.

“The body was recovered around 12.30 am last night,” said A.R. Dewan, the secretary of the GNLF’s Darjeeling branch committee.

Following a post-mortem, the garden authorities performed the last rites. The labourers then held a condolence meeting today, after which no work was conducted.

According to the labourers, Rai, who was a dafadar or a supervisor at the garden, had committed suicide after being “insulted” by Nipen Sharma, the assistant manager. He killed himself by jumping 300 ft into a jhora near the estate, 15 km from here. After recovering the body, the workers had decided not to give it up till the management came down to the spot and “see (for themselves) the fate of their oppression”.

Now that the labourers have reportedly agreed to an amicable solution, the managers are expected to return to the estate soon. “I have asked my people to resume work from tomorrow,” said manager Rajesh Kaushal.

Following a complaint lodged by Kaushal, the police have started a case against a few unidentified persons under Sections 143 of the IPC (unlawful assembling), 223 (assault) and 342 (wrongful confinement), said L.B. Kumai, the deputy superintendent of police (town). “We have also started two cases under Sections 34 and 306 of the IPC against assistant managers Nipen Sharma and Jhawar Singh Chowdhury,” Kumai said. “Amit Rai, a resident of the estate, alleged that Rai had committed suicide after humiliation by them.”

Source: The Telegraph

Tea Garden in the Dooars shuts down

Jaigaon, April 10: An abandoned tea garden in the Dooars, being run by an operation and maintenance committee (OMC), closed down yesterday following a dispute over the non-payment of dues.

The Surendranagar tea estate located in the Banarhat police station area closed down in August, 2003, following which the OMC took over. The committee has been running the garden by selling tealeaves to the factories of other gardens and also to bought-leaf factories in the area.

Trouble started last week when workers approached the committee members, demanding that they be paid their dues — their wages for the past three fortnights, a source said. They had reportedly even requested the members to pay them at least one instalment for Good Friday.

However, the committee members made it clear that they did not have the funds to pay, the source added. On Sunday, an angry group of workers reportedly locked the garden office and ransacked the home of Gopal Sarki, one of the committee members. Following the row, two labourers, Isdor Toppo and Pascal Toppo, were arrested.

The labourers refused to work unless the two were released. Isdor and Pascal were released today on bail.

“Every day we pluck 3,000 kilos of tea leaves. Now, we have decided to take the plucked leaves home, make tea by hand and then sell it to the market,” said Kialatus Kirketta, a worker. He, like his colleagues, refuse to work for a committee, which has reportedly deprived them of their rights and has even prevented them from observing Easter.

The secretary of central committee of National Union of Plantation Workers, Pradip Mullick, too, alleged that the OMC of the Surendranagar tea garden has turned corrupt. “They pay the workers half their wages. They pay even less than Rs 68 per day, which the labourers get under panchayat schemes,” Mullick alleged.

According to him, the workers have refused to work unless the “corrupt” committee members were arrested.

Sarki of the committee said they had told the workers that they did not have enough money to pay them. “The labourers pelted stones at my house and also attacked the office. I have never seen people here act like that before,” Sarki alleged. He said the committee would soon decide on the next course of action.

The inspector-in-charge of Banarhat police station, A. Goswami, said the former owner of Surendranagar, Rabin Pal, has expressed interest in taking over the management again and accordingly has secured a court order. “Pal has asked for a meeting with the district administration,” Goswami said.

Source: The Telegraph

Nodal Officers for closed tea gardens

The Jalpaiguri district administration has decided to appoint one nodal officer for every three closed tea garden in the Dooars.

To be of the rank of deputy magistrate, the officials will be responsible for monitoring development schemes, distribution of relief and extension of medical facilities on regular basis at these estates.

The announcement came 24 hours after Anuradha Talwar, the adviser from Bengal to the food commissioner of the Supreme Court, alleged that the government did not have the machinery to keep tabs on abandoned estates and depended on unreliable sources for information.

Announcing the decision in Jalpaiguri today, Talwar, who is on a three-day recce of the closed estates, said: “I have discussed the situation with the additional district magistrates and the zilla parishad sabhadhipati. They have said deputy magistrates will be appointed in the closed gardens.”

Talwar has suggested a number of remedial measures, some of which are:

Open community kitchen in every closed estate

Provide constant and free medical aid

Keep complaint books at the block and panchayat offices so that workers can voice their grievances

“The basic problem is that though several schemes and proposals are finalised at the district and state level, a fraction of these actually filter down,” Talwar said.

The apex court representative visited Ramjhora today and is scheduled to attend a meeting with workers of closed estates at Birpara, 100 km from here, tomorrow.

Banamali Roy, the sabhadhipati of Jalpaiguri Zilla Parishad, admitted that there had been some “initial hiccups while implementing the 100 days-work scheme” in the closed estates.

RSP demand

Members of Dooars Cha Bagan Workers’ Union — affiliated to the RSP’s trade union wing — have demanded that the closed tea gardens be handed over to West Bengal Tea Development Corporation.

“The development body is successfully running three gardens — Hila, Sonali and Mohua. We want them to take over the closed gardens in the Dooars and run them using funds from Tea Board of India. Today I am leaving for Calcutta to take it up with the chief minister,” said Suresh Talukdar, the president of the tea workers’ union.

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

Beautiful Runglee Rungliot Tea Garden

That is how Sarah Srivastava of Leeds, UK, described her stay sometime back in the Runglee Rungliot tea garden, the only one owned by the Duncans in the Darjeeling hills.

It is comments like these on the visitors’ book — Srivastava herself was a private guest at the estate and not a tourist — that prompted the Duncans, one of the country’s leading tea producers, to jump onto the tea tourism bandwagon.

The drive to the garden, especially after one veers off NH 31A at Rambhi, is back-breaking but the pain gives way to pleasure as the blanket of mist lifts from the curvaceous mounds carpeted with lush green bushes and interspersed with lofty, dark pine trees.

“It took a lot of convincing,” acting manager R.B. Singh said, referring to the uphill task of getting group chairman G.P. Goenka to agree to allow tourists to enter his bungalow. Though Goenka seldom comes here, it was with a lot of care that the enthusiast did up his summerhouse — a wooden luxury sprawling over more than 2,500 square feet. “He is very attached to the bungalow and was reluctant to go in for tourism apprehending that the boarders may mar its beauty. Only his son and other private guests came here some times to spend their holidays,” Singh added.

After years of prodding by local and regional executives, the chairman finally relented under the condition that entry would be restricted to bona fide nature tourists who travel and stay responsibly. With the niche Western market as the target, a stay (there are four double-bedded rooms) at the bungalow is steeply priced at Rs 7,500 per couple per day (all meals inclusive) and Rs 6,500 for single occupancy.

The garden will have its first tourists arriving in March.

They will get to lounge in the sun in the company of orchids either peeping in through the windows or lining the walk, while a host of other flowers appear higgledy-piggledy in the open spaces. The visitors can also go on a tea trail, a short trek across the garden to the factory to see the entire process of tea-manufacturing.

“We often have our foreign guests dropping by at workers’ homes for tea,” Singh said. One can also go rafting in the white waters of the Teesta, about 20 km away.

Samrat Sanyal, director of Bon Voyage, a Siliguri-based group which will promote tour packages with Runglee Rungliot at the centre, said the garden’s scenic beauty coupled with its strategic location would make it an ideal choice for tourists. “The project is top-class and we expect it to be a huge draw,” he said.

“Given its proximity to Darjeeling (29 km) and Kalimpong (35 km), tour-packages linking the nearby tourist destinations can easily be worked out with at least two nights’ stay in the garden,” he added.

This is the first tourism project of the Duncans, which runs 16 gardens in the Dooars. “If this experiment succeeds, perhaps our management will think of replicating it in the other gardens as well,” Singh said.

By Anuradha Sharma
Source: The Telegraph

Guest at Makaibari teaching computer to tea kids

The home-stay project at Makaibari Tea Estate is helping the workers’ children with their education in school and outside it.

While workers use the extra money they earn from tourism to send their children to school, one guest has taken the efforts a step further. She is teaching computer application and English to the children outside school hours at her own cost.

Kathleen Linton, who hails from Adelaide, Australia, has been at the estate, located 3 km from here, for the past four weeks. “I was thinking of helping the poor in any part of the world. While surfing the Internet one day, I came across an organisation called i-to-i, which helps people like us do voluntary social work in different countries. From there I got to learn about this tea estate and decided to teach computer application and English to poor children here,” said the woman who works as freelancer on government-funded projects to build education websites in Australia.

For the first three weeks, Linton concentrated on English but last Tuesday she set up two personal computers at a small centre in the estate to teach the children the basics of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and a few other applications. She added that on an average, about 25 children from seven villages spread across the plantation come to her classes, which are held in the mornings and evenings.

Linton said she is also looking forward to working with the primary school teachers of the area to give them tips on teaching English and computer application.

“From my interaction with the children, I have come to know that they are very talented and able. They are good at reading and writing English but are weak in spoken English. I am working on it,” she added.

Linton’s project at Makaibari is self-funded. She plans to spend around 3,500 Australian dollars (around Rs 1.2 lakh) on it, including paying for her own food and accommodation as well as buying paper, pencils, pens, crayons and some English and computer books for the children.

Sewan Pradhan, a driver at Makaibari, said his son has joined Linton’s course. “He is in Class VI and he had never even seen a computer till he joined the course,” he said. “It is good that such a project is being held at the estate because we cannot afford to send our children to private computer institutes in Kurseong.”

Source: The Telegraph