Labour department to start tea garden survey

The Buddha statue on Badamtam Tea Estate, on the outskirts of Darjeeling, that attracts several visitors. Picture by Passang Yolmo

TT, Alipurduar: The state labour department will soon start a comprehensive survey in all 302 tea gardens in north Bengal to check to what extent facilities under the Plantation Labour Act 1965 are provided to workers.

The report of the survey will be published and the ground work for the exercise is going on.

Chandan Dasgupta, the joint labour commissioner, said: " We are yet to receive the funds necessary to complete the survey. Besides, there was trouble in the Darjeeling hills (over the statehood agitation). So, there is a little bit of delay to start the survey. We have already completed preliminary works and are just waiting for the funds. We will mainly find out if workers are getting facilities as per the provisions of the Plantation Labour Act 1965."

He added that the labour department officials would visit every garden and two estates would be covered in a day.

"We will check the profile of gardens, like the total number of workers and managerial staff, status of production in the past couple of years, the kind of medical facility available and the quality of drinking water. We will also find out if the gardens have qualified doctors, the number of quarters and whether they are suitable for living," said Dasgupta.

As per the report published by the labour department in 2012, out of 302 gardens, only 10 had qualified doctors to provide proper treatment to workers.

In almost 150 gardens, there was no doctor at all. There was no crèche for children in 90 per cent of the gardens. More than one lakh quarters in different tea gardens were completely damaged, management was not in a position to repair the quarters.

For the last three or four decades, not a single quarters has been built in any garden, said the report.