Unions, Opposition in West Bengal to resist ‘diversion of tea garden land’

West Bengal’s decision to allow tea gardens to use 30% of the land for purposes other than tea cultivation so estate owners can explore alternative businesses has evoked a strong response from tea garden unions and Opposition parties.

Darjeeling BJP MP Raju Bista, in a statement, said that this policy threatens indigenous groups — the Gorkhas, Adivasis, Rajbangshis, Bengali, Rabha, Koche, Meche, Toto, and others who have long faced exploitation.

The Paschim Banga Cha Majoor Samity, a union of tea garden workers, has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Land Diversion Policy that allows 30% of tea plantation land to be used on a freehold basis for tourism and other industries, as such a policy would harm the interests of workers, for tourism as an industry employs far fewer people than the tea industry does.

The union also urged “the State government to abandon its pro-corporate agenda and prioritise the protection and sustainable development of the tea industry.”

Anti-worker policy

“Paschim Banga Cha Majoor Samity calls upon all workers, trade unions, civil society organisations, and concerned citizens to unite against this anti-worker policy and demand justice for tea workers,” a statement by PBKMS said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made the announcement at the Bengal Global Business Summit on February 5.  “Yesterday, we made some decisions. Now, wherever land is available, where tea plantations are not present, we are allowing 30% for hotel business, for commercial utilisation, for eco-tourism purposes,” Ms. Banerjee said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Darjeeling has urged the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, and Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, to intervene and “protect the rights of the tea garden workers.”

“We will not allow the exploitation of our brothers and sisters in the tea and cinchona gardens any further. We stand with them in their quest for justice,” Mr. Bista said

The Cha Majoor Samity in a press statement also added that the current ruling establishment in West Bengal rose to power on the strength of a land rights movement.

“Ironically, it is now attempting to dispossess and displace indigenous tea garden communities from their ancestral lands,” the statement added. The union said that the indigenous tribal population working on the tea gardens, which has historically been denied land rights, is “being provided only 5 decimal patta land as a token gesture instead of permanent ownership rights over the entire piece of land, which has been under their occupation for generations.”