West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the tea gardens in the Darjeeling hills, which have remained closed for over three months because of the shutdown over , will be opened and bonus will be given to all employed there.
She made the announcement after meeting Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders Binoy Tamang and Anik Thapa at the state secretariat.
“A meeting for opening up the tea gardens will be held at Siliguri on September 21 in presence of the labour commissioner. It will be a tripartite meeting involving owners and union representatives. A decision on opening the gardens has already been taken by the Chief Secretary,” Ms. Banerjee said.
About 87 tea gardens in the Darjeeling hills are shut since June 15, following an indefinite strike over the demand for Gorkhaland.
Apolitical body formed
Meanwhile, with the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GMCC), which was set up by political parties and non-political groups in the hills to take forward the movement of Gorkhaland, turning defunct, members of the civil society in the hills have set up another body called National Gorkhaland Committee ( NGC).
The body comprises academicians like Mahendra P. Lama, former vice-chancellor of Sikkim University, Munish Tamang and Shravan Acharya, professors at Delhi University, Lt. Gen. (retd) Shakti Gurung and Trilok Dewan, the former Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh.
