No visit to India is complete unless one gets to see Taj Mahal in all its splendour — and sips a cup of fine Darjeeling tea!
The same goes for the President of the United States of America and his delegation as well.
In their first ever trip to India, Mr Bush and the US First Lady may have missed the Taj (Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh assured Mrs Bush a trip to the Taj in her next visit) but Darjeeling tea was never far from them.
At the lunch he hosted for the couple yesterday, the Prime Minister made sure that both Mr Bush and his wife got a chance to savour at least one of the country’s bests tea flavours. And it indeed was invigorating — the taste of the Darjeeling tea that rounded off the lunch.
Whether Mr Bush, who is reputed to be a teetotaller, sipped the brew remains unknown, but it once again proved that Darjeeling tea surely represents one of the proud facets of India in the eyes of America.
The news made tea officials in Darjeeling happy. “It is nice to know that President Bush was served Darjeeling tea. The reputation of the fine tea produced in these hills allowed it to be a part of the menu. We are happy,” said Darjeeling Tea Association secretary Mr Sandeep Mukherjee.
Despite all these developments, there is serious apprehension that Darjeeling tea may lose its reputation in spite of the Hills producing around nine million kg tea every year. Over 40 million kg tea is sold in the market as Darjeeling tea. The mathematical mismatch between production and sales remains a mystery, concedes industry experts.
Source > The Statesman
The labour commission’s efforts to broker peace between the management and workers of Chungthung (Chongtong) tea estate in Darjeeling fell through with labour unions choosing to give the tripartite meeting a slip.
Though the district administration has decided to take its own course of action to look after the welfare of the workers, joint labour commissioner Rabi Rasailey today convened the meeting here, in keeping with Industrial Disputes’ Act, to come to a solution.
Workers refused to come to the meeting citing two previous instances when the Siliguri-based owners did not attend the tripartite meetings called by the Darjeeling assistant labour commissioner in the hill town because of “threat to their security from workers”.
The estate, which has been locked since January 13, was in news recently after Baburam Dewan, its former employee and a social worker, committed suicide to highlight the plight of the labourers.
The management, represented by officials of Terai Group of Companies and its subsidiary East India Produce Ltd and Terai Indian Planters’ Association, submitted several proposals to Rasailey. The company agreed to increase the workers’ wages to what was fixed upon at the July 25 meeting in Calcutta. “We are willing to increase the wages and provide all statutory benefits to workers,” said V.D. Dua, group superintendent, Terai Group.
The management, however, has laid down some conditions. “The benefits will be offered only if the workers agree to work for eight hours a day instead of five, as it is now. They will have to stop stealing green leaves and selling hand-rolled made tea in local markets, which has brought down the estate’s tea production from 4 lakh kg five years ago to 2 lakh now,” Dua said. The officials also talked about laying off regular absentees and unproductive workers.
Raseily said a tripartite meeting will be held soon after he has a discussion with the workers.
The district administration, as a first-of-its kind measure, has decided to hand over the functioning of the garden to a managing committee comprising representatives of all hill parties.
Source > The Telegraph
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