– Speaking at the plenary session of Bengal Global Business Summit in Calcutta, CM said that they had doubled the ceiling of land to be utilised for alternative purposes in any tea estate
GBT/TTI: The announcement by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday that her government would allow the use of up to 30 per cent of tea garden land for non-tea purposes has led to objections from various quarters in this region.
Raju Bista, the BJP MP of Darjeeling, has expressed his reservations over the decision. Also, some political parties and tea trade unions have articulated concerns as to whether such a move will be a fresh poser for the tea workers and their families, most of whom do not have rights on the land on which they live in the tea estates of Darjeeling, the Terai and the Dooars.
So far, around 15 percent of the total land in any tea garden could be used for non-tea purposes.
On Wednesday, Mamata, while speaking at the plenary session of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) in Calcutta, said that they had doubled the ceiling of land to be utilised for alternative purposes in any tea estate.
“We have taken some decisions yesterday (Tuesday). From now on, wherever in tea gardens the land is available and tea plantations are not there, we will allow 30 per cent of such land for hotel business, commercial utilisation and eco-tourism purposes,” the chief minister had said.
The Darjeeling BJP MP, in response, called the move “dangerous”.
“We consider it as a dangerous proposition and we fear that if this policy is allowed to be implemented without the protection of the traditional land rights of different indigenous communities of the Darjeeling hills, the Terai and the Dooars, they might eventually turn homeless,” said Bista.
“It will also affect the tea industry and eventually the workers who do not have rights on the land where they have been living for generations. Such a move would encourage massive real estate constructions as we have seen in some locations in the hills and plains in the name of tea tourism. The chief minister should refrain from going ahead with this policy or else people will resort to protests,” he added.
In north Bengal, the state has started providing 5 decimals of land to tea workers. A section of workers in the Terai and the Dooars have been provided with land rights and the process of providing land to more tea workers is in progress in the plains.
However, in the hills, the process has halted as tea workers and trade unions want the state to provide rights to the entire land on which a worker and his/her family reside, and not just 5 decimals.
Saman Pathak, the Darjeeling district CPM secretary, expressed concern over Mamata’s announcement. “It is indeed a matter of concern for the tea industry. Workers have not been granted ownership rights of their land, and now the ceiling (for non-tea use of land) has been increased to 30 per cent. It will only aggravate the insecurity among tea workers and their families. We oppose the policy and want other trade unions to join us in protest,” Pathak said.
Pathak, who is also the president of Citu-backed Darjeeling District Chiya Kaman Mazdoor Union, said the state should first resolve the issue of land rights. “The state’s priority should be to provide land rights to the workers instead of creating avenues for realtors and private groups at the cost of the industry and its workforce,”
he added.
Trinamool leaders, however, said that there was no cause for such fear.
“The central government has done nothing for the tea workers. Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, has taken every responsibility for the workers and their families. The BJP MP should ask his government why tea estates run by a central government company (Andrew Yule & Company) are not paying the provident fund of workers,” said Ritabrata Banerjee, the state president of INTTUC.
Banerjee, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, said Left leaders should also refrain from expressing their concern.
“During the Left regime, tea wages were revised by two to three rupees a year. In 2011 (when the Mamata government assumed power), the daily wage rate was ₹67. Now, it is ₹250. From healthcare to social welfare scheme to housing to land rights, the TMC government has done everything for tea workers, unlike the Left,” he added.
