Evening camps for tea garden workers mark ‘Duarey Sarkar

Amitava Banerjee, MP, 31 Jan 2025, Darjeeling: The service delivery camps for the 9th phase of the ‘Duarey Sarkar’ are successfully running in the Darjeeling district with around 1981 service delivery camps planned to hand over services to people.
Till date, 1,34,500 people have visited these camps. The Duarey Sarkar has focussed on tea gardens in Darjeeling district with special evening camps. “We had arranged for special evening camps in the tea garden areas to ensure that the tea garden workers could avail of the Government benefits even after their working hours. 

These special camps were set up for inclusive coverage of the people who were working at tea gardens during the day; elderly people who were unable to traverse to both mobile and static camps and the daily casual labourers who remained outside the area during the day,” stated Richard Lepcha, Sub Divisional Officer, Darjeeling Sadar. 

Incidentally, Darjeeling had launched a special outreach programme based on a preliminary survey in the tea garden areas earlier in 2024. “The target was to raise awareness about the Government Schemes and identify eligible beneficiaries. This initiative aims at fulfilling the commitment of the government to ensuring that welfare services are brought to every doorstep, even in the most remote areas,” added the SDO. 

The Duarey Sarkar evening camps including the one at Rangli-Rangliot where workers of Namring tea estate participated and the one at Chota Poobong tea estate undet the Jorebunglow-Sukhiapokhri Block, focussed on engaging with the community along with ensuring that their voices are heard. The services rendered included caste certificate; Swastha Sathi; Khadtya Sathi; old-age pension; 

Lakhir Bhandar; health check-up; sports equipment distribution and Sickle cell anemia test. The tea plantations of the district are highly significant as they are the primary sources of livelihood for the rural hill populace. Considered the economic backbone, tea gardens employ a large number of women. 

The Duarey Sarkar initiative also reached a remote forest village of the 10th Mile Group Forest in Sukhia-Simana Gram Panchayat, 21 km from the Block Development Office. “Along with the Government schemes, here we encouraged the participants to explore tourism as a potential economic opportunity, inspiring 12 families to apply for homestay registration” added Lepcha. The camp also featured the distribution of English Yew (Taxus baccata) saplings and sports equipment to children. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/stampede-at-maha-kumbh-2-from-bengal-dead-2-missing-596920