Shut gardens miss out on dole

TT, Siliguri, Feb. 22: Residents of closed and ailing tea estates have to pay Rs 2 per kg for rice and wheat though the state government claimed that each one in the plantations would be given the food grains at 40 paise per kg under the National Food Security Act.

The residents of open gardens are getting food grains at 40 paise per kg. Food minister Jyotipriyo Mallick today admitted the gap and said he would look into the matter.

"Workers in open tea gardens are getting food grains at the rate of 40 paise per kilo but in the closed and sick plantations, the unemployed workers, who are living amid abject poverty, are getting the same at Rs 2 per kg. It has happened because of a technical gap which, we believe, the state has failed to understand," an official of the state food and supplies department said on condition of anonymity.

Before the food security act was implemented in tea gardens earlier this month, each resident of an open garden was receiving 3.7kg food grains a week at 40 paise per kg from the management.

As NFSA was introduced, the management was asked to give the rations in some gardens, while self-help groups were given the responsibility in other gardens. The management needs to buy the food grains at Rs 2 per kg and distribute it among workers at 40 paisa per kg.

It was also decided that each worker's family would receive 35kg food grains a month and the management would bear the subsidy of Rs 1.60 per kg.

"However, the state has forgotten that there is nobody to bear the subsidy of Rs 1.60 against each kg of food grains in ailing and closed gardens. The workers and their families in closed and ailing gardens have to pay Rs 2 per kg because of this technical gap," said a source in the state food and supplies department.

As of now, there are 14 ailing tea estates of the Duncans' Goenka Group and 10 closed gardens in north Bengal.

The total number of beneficiaries in the 24 gardens is around two lakh.

Bappaditya Chanda, the district food controller of Alipurduar, where a number of Duncans' gardens and closed gardens are located, said: "We have received an order where it has been mentioned that the management will bear the margin and workers will be provided with food grains at the same subsidised rate (40 paisa per kg) as they used to get earlier from the management. But nothing has been mentioned as to how the subsidy will be given in closed and sick tea estates. We have sought a clarification from senior officials."

A representative of a self-help group, formed in a Duncans garden in Alipurduar district, said if the food grains were distributed at 40 paise per kg, there was no guarantee that the state government would pay the margin money.

Minister Mallick admitted that the issue had been overlooked.

"The state government is determined to keep its commitment and will provide food grains at subsidised rates to the entire tea population. In case of closed and sick tea estates, workers will receive food grains at the rate of 47 paise per kilo and the state will bear the subsidy of Rs 1.53 per kilo. We will shortly come up with a relevant notification in this regard," he told The Telegraph.

It is not clear why the minister said the food grain would cost 47 paise per kg, while the prevailing rate is 40 paise per kg.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY OUR ALIPURDUAR CORRESPONDENT