Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to visit closed tea gardens in North Bengal next month.
The Commerce and Industries Ministry officials told The Hindu on Friday that the date has not been finalised yet.
It has been learnt that Ms. Sitharaman was invited for a conference of stakeholders of tea industry to be held in Siliguri, in the West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, and the Minister herself expressed her desire to visit the closed tea gardens, most of which are located in the adjoining Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar district.
Only a few days ago, Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya had described the condition in the tea plantations in the State as ‘pathetic’. Deaths due to malnutrition and disease in the tea gardens had been reported in 2014, prompting the National Human Rights Commission to take up the issue with the State government.
In response to a question in Parliament, Ms. Sitharaman had referred to five tea gardens in North Bengal -- Bundapani, Dharanipur, Dheklapara, Red Bank and Surendra Nagar with about 5,800 workers.
In her response the Minister had also pointed out that the management of closed tea gardens can be handed over to new entrepreneurs.
“According to the Tea Act, 1953, management of the closed gardens can be entrusted to new entrepreneurs after following a legal and judicial process. Considering the time taken in this process, consultations with the State government, producers’ associations and the tea garden owners have been initiated to identify prospective agencies for taking over liabilities of the closed gardens and reviving them,” Ms Sitharaman had said on November 26, 2014.
Was invited for a conference of stakeholders of tea industry to be held in Siliguri
