Chhatrey: All are not fit for state struggle - But support welcome
RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT,Kalimpong, Feb. 17: Chhatrey Subba has ruled out joining the Gorkhaland Task Force but would welcome its support in his fight for Gorkhaland.
The GTF, an organisation of five outfits opposed to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, was formed last year to lobby for statehood. Chhatrey, the president of the now dormant Gorkha Liberation Organisation, said not all in the GTF were true soldiers of Gorkhaland.
“I had not thought of starting an agitation for Gorkhaland after looking at the task force. If they want to lend their help to my struggle for Gorkahland, they are welcome to do so. However, not all in the task force are the right sort of people,” he said.
The GTF, which is made up of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, ABGL, CPRM, Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha and the GNLF (C), has been touring the northeastern states for the past few weeks to garner support for Gorkhaland.
Following the recent spat between Morcha president Bimal Gurung and Chhatrey, the GTF had reportedly asked the veteran Gorkha leader to join its “non-violent” struggle for Gorkhaland.
But Subba, who was the chief of the Gorkha Volunteer Cell — the militant wing of the GNLF during the Subash Ghisingh-led Gorkhaland movement of the 1980s — complained that there was a lack of accomplished political leaders in the hills and people committed to the cause. “It is my duty to fight for Gorkhaland,” he said.
Immediately after his release from jail in early September, the 71-year-old Subba had hinted that he would quit politics owing to his old age. But since then, he seems to have had a change of heart and expressed his willingness to lead the agitation for Gorkhaland, provided he got the support of the people. Chhatrey had been in jail for more than a decade for allegedly masterminding an assassination bid on GNLF chief Ghisingh.
“If I don’t get the support (of the people), I can’t do anything,” he said last week. In fact, over the past few days, Chhatrey has been engaged in a verbal duel with the Morcha president.
Chhatrey said the Morcha could not be expected to lead an agitation for Gorkhaland since it had already settled for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
“How can the Morcha violate the pact (GTA) it willingly signed and start a movement for Gorkhaland? Nobody seems to be aware of this,” he said.
Chhatrey also accused the Sikkim government of helping the Morcha, despite knowing fully well that it had compromised on Gorkhaland.
Chhatrey’s wife Monica accused the state government of remaining silent on her complaint against the Morcha president who, she said, had openly threatened her husband at a meeting in Sibchu on February 8.
“I had lodged a complaint with the Kalimpong police against the threat issued by the Morcha president but it has not been acted upon,” she said.
Using the metaphor of an eagle pouncing on a chicken, Gurung had warned Chhatrey at the Sibchu public meeting that he would be picked up in the same manner if he were to create violence in Kalimpong. The Morcha president, however, had also said that perpetrators of violence would then be handed over to the government.
Sources in Kalimpong police confirmed receiving a complaint from Monica. “We registered a general diary on the basis of her complaint and forwarded it to the Nagarkata police station in Jalpaiguri since Sibchu falls under its jurisdiction. There was nothing actionable in the complaint,” said a source.
Jalpaiguri police chief Sugata Sen said he was yet to receive any such complaint. “So far as my knowledge goes, the complaint has not yet come,” he said over the phone.
छत्र सुब्बा सितै जेल जीवन बिताउँने बिजय छेत्री गोजमुमोमा सामेल
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| Chhatrey Subba with his wife Monica in Kalimpong after his release from Jalpaiguri jail in September |
The GTF, an organisation of five outfits opposed to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, was formed last year to lobby for statehood. Chhatrey, the president of the now dormant Gorkha Liberation Organisation, said not all in the GTF were true soldiers of Gorkhaland.
“I had not thought of starting an agitation for Gorkhaland after looking at the task force. If they want to lend their help to my struggle for Gorkahland, they are welcome to do so. However, not all in the task force are the right sort of people,” he said.
The GTF, which is made up of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, ABGL, CPRM, Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha and the GNLF (C), has been touring the northeastern states for the past few weeks to garner support for Gorkhaland.
Following the recent spat between Morcha president Bimal Gurung and Chhatrey, the GTF had reportedly asked the veteran Gorkha leader to join its “non-violent” struggle for Gorkhaland.
But Subba, who was the chief of the Gorkha Volunteer Cell — the militant wing of the GNLF during the Subash Ghisingh-led Gorkhaland movement of the 1980s — complained that there was a lack of accomplished political leaders in the hills and people committed to the cause. “It is my duty to fight for Gorkhaland,” he said.
Immediately after his release from jail in early September, the 71-year-old Subba had hinted that he would quit politics owing to his old age. But since then, he seems to have had a change of heart and expressed his willingness to lead the agitation for Gorkhaland, provided he got the support of the people. Chhatrey had been in jail for more than a decade for allegedly masterminding an assassination bid on GNLF chief Ghisingh.
“If I don’t get the support (of the people), I can’t do anything,” he said last week. In fact, over the past few days, Chhatrey has been engaged in a verbal duel with the Morcha president.
Chhatrey said the Morcha could not be expected to lead an agitation for Gorkhaland since it had already settled for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
“How can the Morcha violate the pact (GTA) it willingly signed and start a movement for Gorkhaland? Nobody seems to be aware of this,” he said.
Chhatrey also accused the Sikkim government of helping the Morcha, despite knowing fully well that it had compromised on Gorkhaland.
Chhatrey’s wife Monica accused the state government of remaining silent on her complaint against the Morcha president who, she said, had openly threatened her husband at a meeting in Sibchu on February 8.
“I had lodged a complaint with the Kalimpong police against the threat issued by the Morcha president but it has not been acted upon,” she said.
Using the metaphor of an eagle pouncing on a chicken, Gurung had warned Chhatrey at the Sibchu public meeting that he would be picked up in the same manner if he were to create violence in Kalimpong. The Morcha president, however, had also said that perpetrators of violence would then be handed over to the government.
Sources in Kalimpong police confirmed receiving a complaint from Monica. “We registered a general diary on the basis of her complaint and forwarded it to the Nagarkata police station in Jalpaiguri since Sibchu falls under its jurisdiction. There was nothing actionable in the complaint,” said a source.
Jalpaiguri police chief Sugata Sen said he was yet to receive any such complaint. “So far as my knowledge goes, the complaint has not yet come,” he said over the phone.
छत्र सुब्बा सितै जेल जीवन बिताउँने बिजय छेत्री गोजमुमोमा सामेल
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| निमा तामंगसंग विजय छेत्री (दाहिने) |
डी के वाइबा, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ १७ फरवरी : एकातीर छत्र सुब्बाले पुन: छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको आन्दोलन सुरु गर्ने घोषण गरिसकेका छन् भने अर्कोतिर बिगत दिनमा तिनी सितै आन्दोलन गरी संगै जेल बसेका साथीहरुले भने तिनको साथ छोड्न थालेका छन। बिगत दिनमा सुब्बा सितै आन्दोलन गर्ने कालेबुङका बिजय छेत्रीले छत्रको साथ छोडेर गोजमुमोमा सामेल भएका छन्।
जीएलओ प्रमुख छत्र सुब्बाको आन्दोलनलाई बिगत दिनमा साथ दिने छेत्री सुब्बा सितै जेल समेत बसेर हाल घरमा बसिरहेका छन्। तिनले बर्तमान समयमा शसस्त्र आन्दोलनमा आफ्नो विश्वास हराएको बिचार पोख्दै छुट्टै राज्यको गणतान्त्रिक आन्दोलनमा नै होमिन चाहेको बताए।
सशस्त्र आन्दोलनले निश्चित उपलब्धी हासिल गर्न नसक्ने कुरा बुझेर नै आजको परिवेश गणतान्त्रिक आन्दोलनको निम्ति सही रहेको तिनले बताउँदै मोर्चा प्रमुख बिमल गुरुङ कै नेतृत्वमा आन्दोलन गर्ने बिचार रहेको तिनले बताएका छन्। बिगत दिनमा शसस्त्र आन्दोलनमा बिश्वास राखेर छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्ड प्राप्तीको निम्ति आन्दोलनमा होमिने छेत्री आज गोजमुमोमा सामेल बने पछि तिनलाई युवा मोर्चा कालेबुङ महकुमा सचिव निमा तामङले स्वागत जनाए। तिनालई खदा लगाएर स्वागत गर्दै गोर्खाल्याण्डका एक सॉंचो योद्धाको रूपमा परिचित मोर्चाले गणतान्त्रिक आन्दोलनमा बिश्वास गर्ने भएको कारण कुनै पनि व्यक्तिहरु यदि ईमान्दार पुर्वक गणतान्त्रिक आन्दोलनमा सहभागी बन्न चाहेको खण्डमा मोर्चाले स्वागत गर्ने तामङले बताए।
42nd ALL INDIA POLICE CONGRESS CONCLUDED IN GANGTOK
PR, PIB, KalimNews, Gangtok 17th February, 2012: Speaker of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly Mr. K.T.Gyaltshen stressed the need for a people-centric policing with a human touch to make Indian police more effective that will lead to positive results, transparency and accountability in the whole system. Addressing the valedictory function of the 42nd All India Police Congress in Gangtok this afternoon, Mr. Gyaltsen said the police force must be efficient, highly trained and skillful to intervene and counter the modern-day crimes which are technologically abetted and aided. Stressing the need for modernization of the police infrastructure, the Speaker said there must exist a total discipline among the force accompanied by quality leadership, team work, mutual respect, understanding and commitment. Claiming that Sikkim is the most peaceful state in the country, Mr. Gyaltsen said the Chamling government has been able to provide to its people peace, security and opportunities which are the basic objectives of democracy.
Addressing the valedictory function, Director General of the Bureau of the Police Reforms and Development ( BPR&D) Shri Vikram Srivastava said ten papers were presented during the three day long 42nd All India Police Congress in Gangtok which concluded today. He said key resolutions arrived at following a thorough discussion included issues relating to police reforms, performs appraisal in police, comprehensive training policy, E-policing, emerging trends in cyber security monitoring and police investigation. He said developing human resources in police, technology as an aid to fight Left Wing Extremism and terrorism besides ensuring integrity in police and ways and means to strengthen institutional memory in police establishment were some major resolutions passed at the three day conference.
Director General of Sikkim Police Shri Jasbir Singh in his brief speech said themes including police reforms, changing technology, cyber crimes and means to ensure integrity were developed, probed and resolutions framed. He said Sikkim police is working towards improving its capabilities and developing its intuitions, describing the 42nd police congress as a learning experience.
Seventy delegates from various parts of the country including police chiefs of different states/UTs and former DGPs attended the All India Police Science Congress organized by BPR&D under the ministry of Home affairs and inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Sikkim Shri Pawan Chamling. 12 themes were selected for deliberation.
Hill Cart Road repair set back by a year
VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Feb. 17: The national highway linking Siliguri and Darjeeling will remain closed for at least one more year as the Centre is yet to firm up a proposal for the reconstruction of the road at two spots which are prone to landslides.
Traffic along the Siliguri-Kurseong section of NH55 or the Hill Cart Road has been suspended after 500 metres of the road had collapsed at Paglajhora in June 2010. Apart from Paglajhora, Tindharia along the highway is also a cave-in zone.
The delay in the repair of the road is an indication of the mammoth challenge landslides have posed to the Union ministry of surface transport which is still pondering over different options for the reconstruction.
A Delhi-based consultancy firm, LEA Associates South Asia Pvt Ltd (LASA), had earlier been entrusted by the ministry with the task of recommending measures for the restoration of NH55.
Nirmal Mondal, executive engineer, NH Division IX of the public works department, said: “LASA had suggested in early January that a geo-grid approach be adopted to reconstruct the highway (at Paglajhora and Tindharia). The cost of the repair was pegged at around Rs 70 crore.”
The geo-grid entails the construction of a concrete wall along the slope to reinforce the soil over which the road will be built using boulders and other materials.
Paglajhora is 50km from Darjeeling and Tindharia is further 5km downhill.
Even when the LASA proposal was under consideration, the ministry deputed experts from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) for a field visit to Paglajhora and Tindharia on Sunday to make their observations.
Members from the Japan-based National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, and Public Works Research Institute were part of the team. Even though the experts from the JICA and the NIDM conducted only an initial study, indications are that they are not very comfortable with the proposal made by the LASA.
“We have only made a preliminary observation and a detailed study needs to be conducted at the sites. The team has certain questions over the erection of a huge retention wall. We will make our recommendation in one week,” Chandan Ghosh, professor and head of the geo hazards department of the NIDM, told The Telegraph.The NIDM is under the Union home ministry.
The Japanese experts feel that the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway lines should be realigned and tunnelled through the hill at Tindharia. The other suggestion was the construction of an overhead bridge along the highway to skirt the landslide-prone spot at Tindharia.
However, Ghosh offered a solution to landslides at Paglajhora and Tindharia. “If the drainage system is improved at the two spots, the area will be more stable and this would solve 70-80 per cent of the landslide problem. The cost of improving the drainage system would not even touch the Rs 1 crore mark,” said Ghosh.
The PWD officials said the ministry might draw up the final proposal for the repair after taking into consideration various parameters like construction cost, time needed to complete the project and engineering feasibility.
“It is the prerogative of the ministry to decide on the kind of project to be taken up for the restoration of NH55. Since the ministry will bear the entire cost of the repair, it will take a final decision,” said a PWD official.
With the Hill Cart Road being closed, vehicles travelling between Siliguri and Darjeeling take the route via Mirik and Mungpoo.
Quake memories melt with the snow- Tourist flow to Chhangu lake gathers steam
BIJOY GURUNG, TT,Chhangu, Feb. 17: The snow-clad mountains of Nathu-la are once again teeming with visitors after a bleak tourism season caused by the earthquake.
Around 100 vehicles carrying tourists visited the frozen Chhangu lake at 12,310ft daily on an average this month to enjoy the snowfall. The Chhangu lake in East Sikkim is the spot nearest to the state capital where one can enjoy snow before it melts in the summer.
Around 60 tourist vehicles used to reach the Nathu-la corridor consisting of the border pass, Chhangu lake and Baba Mandir on an average a day in January. “But now around 100 vehicles carrying tourists go to Nathu-la everyday,” said a constable posted at 3rd Mile checkpost along the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg.
With the tourist footfall increasing in February, snacks and souvenir stalls at Kyangnosla and Chhangu lake are doing brisk business and herders offering yak rides are taking home at least Rs 300 everyday. “Tourists have started coming here in January when the snowfall started. I think the fear triggered by the September 18 earthquake has waned. Each yak herder is now earning around Rs 300 on an average daily,” said Lalit Tamang, a yak herder at Chhangu lake, 35km from Gangtok.
About 120 families living in Chhangu and Chipsu, the two villages in the vicinity of the lake, are solely dependent on tourism for livelihood. Their businesses had dropped drastically following the quake, which killed scores of people and snapped road and telecommunication links. JN Marg , the road connecting Gangtok and Nathu-la, was also affected by the tremor. The road was restored by the Border Roads Organisation on September 30.
A Chhangu resident said he hoped that the number of tourists would go up in the summer. “Not many are visiting the place as this is an off-season. During the summer, around 700 tourist vehicles come here everyday. We didn’t have business till January after the earthquake. We hope tourists will come in large numbers from the next month,” said a shopkeeper at Chhangu lake shopping complex.
“But we are also worried about the road condition. If the road (JN Marg) is blocked by landslides, we are bound to suffer again.”
The Chhangu panchayat head, Chewang Norbu Bhutia, also voiced concern over the condition of JN Marg. “Landslides will occur anytime because of the BRO work to widen the JN Marg. Tourists won’t be able to come here if the road is blocked by landslides as it rains and snows here regularly.”
Monitors to thrash out small tea problems
AVIJIT SINHA, TT, Siliguri, Feb. 17: The Tea Board of India has decided to recruit development officers and factory advisory officers across the country to monitor the emerging small tea sector that contributes around 26 per cent of the brew in India.
“One development officer would be recruited for every 2,000-3,000 small growers to look into their problems and help in improving the sector,” G. Boriah, the director (development) of tea board, told The Telegraph here today. “As bought-leaf factories (BLFs) are integral part of the small tea sector, a decision has been taken to appoint one factory advisory officer for every 25 BLFs spread over India.”
Boriah said the officers would function under the Small Growers’ Development Directorate which was formed under the tea board last year. He was in north Bengal to assess the progress of utilisation of the Special Purpose Tea Fund, a scheme floated by the Centre in 2007 to help tea estates replant new bushes and rejuvenate old ones.
“Small growers and BLFs often come up with allegations against each other. Issues like lower price realisation, non-compliance with price-sharing formula and lack of government assistance are regularly raised by growers. The BLFs complain about irregular supply, poor quality of tea leaves and less auction prices,” Boriah said.
The officers, Boriah said, will deal with these complaints at the micro-level and sort them out.
The development officers will visit small tea plantations, keep tabs on the quality of leaves plucked and ensure that the growers get all available assistance from central and state governments. Factory advisory officers, on the other hand, will check the quality of tea produced at the BLFs and see that price-sharing formula is followed and growers are paid their dues. There are around 1.6 lakh small growers in the country, contributing 26 per cent of India’s total tea production.
The tea board has also decided to stand by self-help groups of small growers and help them set up their own factories.
“In the 12th Five Year Plan, we have proposed that we will give these self-help groups a one-time capital subsidy of 40 per cent of the project cost of the tea factories,” Boriah said.
The tea board will arrange for bank loans for remaining 50 per cent while 10 per cent will have to be borne by the growers.
College teachers on strike
TT,Siliguri, Feb.17: Around 150 teachers of 13 colleges in Darjeeling district organised a ceasework under the banner of the West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association (WBCUTA) today to protest the frequent campus clashes across the state
The agitation was part of a state-wide protest organised by the WBCUTA to fulfil its eight demands, including the quick implementation of the UGC scheme that outlines promotions of teachers. Although the state government had passed the order in January 2006 for a revised pay scale, it was implemented only from April 2009. The other demands include the release of the 39-month arrears of their salaries and increase in the retirement age of college teachers from 60 to 65.
Visa sessions
TT, Siliguri: Jessica B. Pfleiderer, the consular officer of US consulate general, Calcutta, will lead a team of officials who will visit Darjeeling, Gangtok and Siliguri from February 20 to 25. The team will host sessions with the public on the requirements to apply for non-immigrant tourist, business, student and exchange visitor visas to go to the US.
Brew meet
TT, Siliguri: The Tea Association of India (TAI) will host a seminar on “efficiency and effectiveness for competitive leadership in tea sector” here on Saturday. The event will be organised in association with IIPM Bangalore and the Tea Board of India.
Hill Cart Road repair set back by a year
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| The collapsed portion of the Hill Cart Road at Tindharia. File picture |
Traffic along the Siliguri-Kurseong section of NH55 or the Hill Cart Road has been suspended after 500 metres of the road had collapsed at Paglajhora in June 2010. Apart from Paglajhora, Tindharia along the highway is also a cave-in zone.
The delay in the repair of the road is an indication of the mammoth challenge landslides have posed to the Union ministry of surface transport which is still pondering over different options for the reconstruction.
A Delhi-based consultancy firm, LEA Associates South Asia Pvt Ltd (LASA), had earlier been entrusted by the ministry with the task of recommending measures for the restoration of NH55.
Nirmal Mondal, executive engineer, NH Division IX of the public works department, said: “LASA had suggested in early January that a geo-grid approach be adopted to reconstruct the highway (at Paglajhora and Tindharia). The cost of the repair was pegged at around Rs 70 crore.”
The geo-grid entails the construction of a concrete wall along the slope to reinforce the soil over which the road will be built using boulders and other materials.
Paglajhora is 50km from Darjeeling and Tindharia is further 5km downhill.
Even when the LASA proposal was under consideration, the ministry deputed experts from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) for a field visit to Paglajhora and Tindharia on Sunday to make their observations.
Members from the Japan-based National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, and Public Works Research Institute were part of the team. Even though the experts from the JICA and the NIDM conducted only an initial study, indications are that they are not very comfortable with the proposal made by the LASA.
“We have only made a preliminary observation and a detailed study needs to be conducted at the sites. The team has certain questions over the erection of a huge retention wall. We will make our recommendation in one week,” Chandan Ghosh, professor and head of the geo hazards department of the NIDM, told The Telegraph.The NIDM is under the Union home ministry.
The Japanese experts feel that the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway lines should be realigned and tunnelled through the hill at Tindharia. The other suggestion was the construction of an overhead bridge along the highway to skirt the landslide-prone spot at Tindharia.
However, Ghosh offered a solution to landslides at Paglajhora and Tindharia. “If the drainage system is improved at the two spots, the area will be more stable and this would solve 70-80 per cent of the landslide problem. The cost of improving the drainage system would not even touch the Rs 1 crore mark,” said Ghosh.
The PWD officials said the ministry might draw up the final proposal for the repair after taking into consideration various parameters like construction cost, time needed to complete the project and engineering feasibility.
“It is the prerogative of the ministry to decide on the kind of project to be taken up for the restoration of NH55. Since the ministry will bear the entire cost of the repair, it will take a final decision,” said a PWD official.
With the Hill Cart Road being closed, vehicles travelling between Siliguri and Darjeeling take the route via Mirik and Mungpoo.
Quake memories melt with the snow- Tourist flow to Chhangu lake gathers steam
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| The frozen Chhangu lake in East Sikkim on Friday. Picture by Prabin Khaling |
Around 100 vehicles carrying tourists visited the frozen Chhangu lake at 12,310ft daily on an average this month to enjoy the snowfall. The Chhangu lake in East Sikkim is the spot nearest to the state capital where one can enjoy snow before it melts in the summer.
Around 60 tourist vehicles used to reach the Nathu-la corridor consisting of the border pass, Chhangu lake and Baba Mandir on an average a day in January. “But now around 100 vehicles carrying tourists go to Nathu-la everyday,” said a constable posted at 3rd Mile checkpost along the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg.
With the tourist footfall increasing in February, snacks and souvenir stalls at Kyangnosla and Chhangu lake are doing brisk business and herders offering yak rides are taking home at least Rs 300 everyday. “Tourists have started coming here in January when the snowfall started. I think the fear triggered by the September 18 earthquake has waned. Each yak herder is now earning around Rs 300 on an average daily,” said Lalit Tamang, a yak herder at Chhangu lake, 35km from Gangtok.
About 120 families living in Chhangu and Chipsu, the two villages in the vicinity of the lake, are solely dependent on tourism for livelihood. Their businesses had dropped drastically following the quake, which killed scores of people and snapped road and telecommunication links. JN Marg , the road connecting Gangtok and Nathu-la, was also affected by the tremor. The road was restored by the Border Roads Organisation on September 30.
A Chhangu resident said he hoped that the number of tourists would go up in the summer. “Not many are visiting the place as this is an off-season. During the summer, around 700 tourist vehicles come here everyday. We didn’t have business till January after the earthquake. We hope tourists will come in large numbers from the next month,” said a shopkeeper at Chhangu lake shopping complex.
“But we are also worried about the road condition. If the road (JN Marg) is blocked by landslides, we are bound to suffer again.”
The Chhangu panchayat head, Chewang Norbu Bhutia, also voiced concern over the condition of JN Marg. “Landslides will occur anytime because of the BRO work to widen the JN Marg. Tourists won’t be able to come here if the road is blocked by landslides as it rains and snows here regularly.”
Monitors to thrash out small tea problems
AVIJIT SINHA, TT, Siliguri, Feb. 17: The Tea Board of India has decided to recruit development officers and factory advisory officers across the country to monitor the emerging small tea sector that contributes around 26 per cent of the brew in India.
“One development officer would be recruited for every 2,000-3,000 small growers to look into their problems and help in improving the sector,” G. Boriah, the director (development) of tea board, told The Telegraph here today. “As bought-leaf factories (BLFs) are integral part of the small tea sector, a decision has been taken to appoint one factory advisory officer for every 25 BLFs spread over India.”
Boriah said the officers would function under the Small Growers’ Development Directorate which was formed under the tea board last year. He was in north Bengal to assess the progress of utilisation of the Special Purpose Tea Fund, a scheme floated by the Centre in 2007 to help tea estates replant new bushes and rejuvenate old ones.
“Small growers and BLFs often come up with allegations against each other. Issues like lower price realisation, non-compliance with price-sharing formula and lack of government assistance are regularly raised by growers. The BLFs complain about irregular supply, poor quality of tea leaves and less auction prices,” Boriah said.
The officers, Boriah said, will deal with these complaints at the micro-level and sort them out.
The development officers will visit small tea plantations, keep tabs on the quality of leaves plucked and ensure that the growers get all available assistance from central and state governments. Factory advisory officers, on the other hand, will check the quality of tea produced at the BLFs and see that price-sharing formula is followed and growers are paid their dues. There are around 1.6 lakh small growers in the country, contributing 26 per cent of India’s total tea production.
The tea board has also decided to stand by self-help groups of small growers and help them set up their own factories.
“In the 12th Five Year Plan, we have proposed that we will give these self-help groups a one-time capital subsidy of 40 per cent of the project cost of the tea factories,” Boriah said.
The tea board will arrange for bank loans for remaining 50 per cent while 10 per cent will have to be borne by the growers.
College teachers on strike
TT,Siliguri, Feb.17: Around 150 teachers of 13 colleges in Darjeeling district organised a ceasework under the banner of the West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association (WBCUTA) today to protest the frequent campus clashes across the state
The agitation was part of a state-wide protest organised by the WBCUTA to fulfil its eight demands, including the quick implementation of the UGC scheme that outlines promotions of teachers. Although the state government had passed the order in January 2006 for a revised pay scale, it was implemented only from April 2009. The other demands include the release of the 39-month arrears of their salaries and increase in the retirement age of college teachers from 60 to 65.
Visa sessions
TT, Siliguri: Jessica B. Pfleiderer, the consular officer of US consulate general, Calcutta, will lead a team of officials who will visit Darjeeling, Gangtok and Siliguri from February 20 to 25. The team will host sessions with the public on the requirements to apply for non-immigrant tourist, business, student and exchange visitor visas to go to the US.
Brew meet
TT, Siliguri: The Tea Association of India (TAI) will host a seminar on “efficiency and effectiveness for competitive leadership in tea sector” here on Saturday. The event will be organised in association with IIPM Bangalore and the Tea Board of India.
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