Trouble in tea gardens: Left trade unions plan four-day hunger strike from Nov 27 to Dec 1

ENS, Kolkata, Nov 11, 2015: Hitting out at the alleged “indifferent attitude” of the state and the central government to the problems in the tea gardens, over 20 Left-affiliated trade unions on Monday decided to conduct a four-day relay hunger strike from November 27 along with the workers and call a token strike on December 1. “The indifferent attitude of the state and the central governments is the root cause of all the problems. The state government has not taken any step to solve the issues,” said Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) state president Shyamal Chakraborty. Alleging that the Rs 2-per-kg rice that the workers were being provided was unfit for human consumption, Chakraborty said, “The workers are deprived of basic medical facilities, a proper wage and even the local panchayats don’t pay any heed to their problems.”

CITU leader Zia-ul-Alam said the state government had taken over 4-5 tea gardens in the past but has done nothing so far for the betterment of the living conditions of workers there.

“Tea garden workers are uncertain about their future because the government has not shown any indication that it had any specific roadmap to improve their living conditions,” Alam said. More than 12 workers of closed tea gardens have reportedly died since April. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last week had warned that the state government would take over tea gardens if their owners failed to operate them properly. A CID probe had also been initiated under the instructions of Mamata against the Duncans Industries Limited following allegations of non-payment of wages.