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.





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