Effort on to find new tea owners: Nirmala

Nirmala Sitharaman in Bundapani t
ea estate in Alipurduar on Sunday.
Picture by Anirban Choudhury

TT, Jan. 3: Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union minister of state for commerce who is touring tea estates in north Bengal, today said the Centre was working in co-ordination with the state government to find new owners for gardens that are shut and are not mired in litigation.

Sitharaman visited two estates in Alipurduar district - Bundapani, which is closed, and Birpara that is ailing - and in both the places workers told her that the Centre should take steps to open the gardens as they did not want to live on subsidised food grain.

There are nine closed tea gardens in the Dooars. Fourteen tea gardens of Duncans Industries Ltd are ailing and the company is in the sick bay, the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction.

At Bundapani, a garden worker told her: "We get food grains but it is inadequate and the quality of rice substandard. Also, there is no water supply and we have to draw water from nearby water bodies." The garden has 1,041 permanent workers, according to government records, and 400 casual hands.

Sitharaman said: "I have come here to know the state of affairs in the closed gardens. The Prime Minister has told me to visit this region and find out how people are living here. Once a tea estate closes down, it is the state that has to take the necessary initiative. After closure, the state provides financial assistance and other relief to affected workers.

She added: "We have been working with the state and trying to find out prospective entrepreneurs for the closed gardens which do not have any cases pending in any court. We will speak to state government officials and other stakeholders tomorrow to resolve the impasse along with the state government."

Sitharaman reached Bandapani, around 140km from Siliguri, around 4.45pm. The garden has been shut since 2013. In October last year, the state had cancelled its land lease after the owner stayed away from tripartite meetings.

After her tour of Bundapani, the minister visited the Birpara estate, owned by the Duncans Industries that has 2025 permanent workers and about 1,000 temporary labourers. Over 30 deaths have been reported in the garden since April last year, when wages and disbursement of rations became irregular.

"We are in a fix as our garden is not shut, neither is it functioning. We are not getting benefits such as financial assistance from the state government, unlike the workers of closed tea estates," a worker told the minister. "Our children, who are supposed to go to school, are going to river beds to crush stones. There is lack of adequate medical care that is leading to deaths. There is no electricity in the garden and our quarters are in a shambles. There are wages and retirement benefits due."

Sitharaman said that under the law, the company that owns the garden, whether it is open or shut, is liable to make payments of gratuity, provident fund and pension. "If any company is not paying these benefits, it is against the law. We will speak to state officials and other stakeholders to see that such dues are paid."

Around 7.15pm, Sitharaman left for Siliguri. She will stay in the state guest house today and will visit Danguajhar Tea Estate, on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri town, tomorrow.

"It is an open garden, owned by a major tea group and is fully-functional. The Union minister wants to have information about an open garden to draw a comparison with the closed or ailing gardens," a source said. "Later in the afternoon, she will hold separate rounds of talks with different stakeholders."

Tea board officials and Darjeeling BJP MP S.S. Ahluwalia were with her today. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung was with Sitharaman in Bundapani.

When she landed in Bagdogra, Sitharaman accepted that the plight of workers in the closed and ailing gardens had become a serious issue.

Sitharaman refused to get drawn into any blame game against the state government "as it involves the lives of several thousand workers who are not getting wages".