Small scale Tea Garden workers’ woe Workers being deprived of Governmental benefits, complains Krishak Kalyan Sangathan
MUKESH SHARMA
KALIMPONG, May 13:
Before
only to the people of West Bengal region and its neighbouring Sikkim,
Darjeeling Tea with its appealing scent, has now gradually made the people all
over the world head over heels for it. One of the most sought products in the
world this particular tea has also proved to be a major source of income for
numerous companies. But the irony lies in the fact that the Tea Garden workers
who produce this product in a small scale do not enjoy any kind of facilities
regarding the same. As compared to the small scale processing units of Terai-
Dooars, Assam and Nilgiri areas, the workers of the small Tea Gardens of
Darjeeling area are deprived of all the Governmental Schemes meant for them.
The
Darjeeling hills all alone has 700 Tea Garden workers who produce 60, 000 kgs
of organic tea. Out of these 700, 450 workers are members of Krishak Kalyan
Sangathan. These workers are forced to sell their laborious produce in a much
lower price to the large scale processing units.
Speaking
about the same, the Kalimpong Krishak Kalyan Sangathan, General Secretary
Vishnu Chettri said that they had put forward the ongoing issue to the
Technical Officer of the Tea Board, Pramod Kumar Das and also to the Deputy
Director, Tea Development Board, Government of India (GOI) Gagnesh Marsh in
Kolkata. The above officials have directed them to contact the Chairman of Tea
Board and the concerned Minister. Chettri mentioned that they will soon be
meeting the Chairman and the Minister and they will also be taking this issue
to the Government. “We are totally against this biased situation and will also
call on an agitation if required”, stressed the General Secretary.
He
also notified that the Tea Board is ready to provide the workers with the
benefits such as Tea Production Insurance and registered trademark certificate
to the small scale tea producers. Lastly, he mentioned that right now numerous
workers are associated with tea production mainly at Rangbhang, Pokhareybong,
Rangbul, Takda, Lingsey, Samatyong, Nim, Badamtang, Mirik Busty etc.
Tags: LOCAL
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