Bista for including Cinchona gardens in NMPB

SNS , SILIGURI, 9 MARCH 21: Ahead of the Assembly elections, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista has requested the AYUSH Ministry to help rejuvenate the Cinchona plantations in Darjeeling district by taking them under the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) by using the available land and manpower, and transforming the Hill region into a medicinal plants hub.

"Yesterday, under Rule 377 of the Parliament, which permits us to raise the matters of urgent public importance, I requested the AYUSH Minister in this regard. Doing so will not only benefit our region, but also benefit the entire nation," Mr Bista said.

Mr Bista's move comes close on the heels of the state government's health department also focusing on the development of the health facility infrastructure at the cinchona plantations.

The state government's officer on special duty for health in north Bengal, Dr Susanta Kumar Roy, had held a meeting in this regard in Siliguri on 4 March.

"The history of Cinchona Plantations in Darjeeling and Kalimpong is as old as the history of tea plantation in the region.

"At the heights of its operations, the Cinchona Plantations were spread over an area of 26,000 acres, and ran four factories at Mungpo, Munsong, Rongo and Latpanchar," he said.

"The Cinchona Directorate provided employment to around 7,000 regular people and thousands of other seasonal workers whose numbers varies according to the season," he added.

Also the BJP's national spokesperson, Mr Bista also took the state government to task for its alleged "apathy, lack of interest and expertise in these plantations."

"Despite immense potential and need for medicinal plants, our Cinchona plantations are dying, because of which the livelihood of thousands of workers have been put at stake and they are today struggling for their own survival," he added.