In July 2014, a 12-member team of NGOs and trade unions visited the Bandapani tea garden in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district. Not only did the team come across distress in the garden but also found three persons very sick. Father Irudaya Jothi, who was part of the team, had then referred to the case of one Mukesh Goala, who was a bag of bones. The next day the 23-year-old tea garden worker died and his photograph taken a day ago sent shock waves across the State.
Death and distress has been a regular feature in north Bengal spread across foothills of Darjeeling, extending in the Terai and Dooars region in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.
Over the past few years, there have been at least 200 deaths in the closed and abandoned tea gardens. While the State government tried all means to describe them as “routine” deaths, activists, trade unions and the opposition parties claimed that the deaths were due to s
tarvation and malnutrition. Unlike the towns, markets and villages of north Bengal, there are very little signs of heightened political activity, as only some flags or wall graffiti are visible in this region. The electoral contest has led the workers of these tea estates, mostly tribals, confused.
This tea growing region in north Bengal poses a big challenge to the ruling Trinamool Congress in the Assembly polls scheduled for Sunday.
In some tea gardens, subsidised food grains are supplied under schemes like Antoday Anna Yojana and Sahay as the support of garden workers is crucial to tilt the balance in at least 12 Assembly seats in the region. Despite the doles from the government, discontent is brewing as several tea gardens are poorly managed or not managed at all.
Shilakhen Topo was a worker at Bagrokote Tea Estate, abandoned by its owners — the Duncans Industries Ltd — since February 2015. He says half of the workers in the Church Line quarters have left the garden and migrated out for jobs.
“The key point we tell all political parties is that the gardens need to function properly. Unless this happens we will continue to suffer and there will be more deaths,” says Tara Lohar, a worker.
Of the 150 major tea gardens in the region, 14 owned by the Duncan Group have been abandoned while six remain closed. A few months ago, the Union government announced that it is taking over six tea gardens in the region.
After lot of negotiations, the wages of tea garden workers have been fixed at Rs. 122.50 a day.
In the 12 seats in the region, both the ruling Trinamool Congress and Left Front are evenly pitched.
