The death of another worker of a closed tea garden in Jalpaiguri district has alarmed the State government with three departments coming together here on Thursday to deal with the issue.
Forty-year-old Shekhar Nagarchi died at Red Bank Tea Garden on Wednesday. Last week, deaths were reported from Raipur Tea Estate in the district following which the administration had sent medical teams.
Ministers of Labour, Food, and North Bengal Development met in the Assembly during the day and discussed ways to deal with the issue. Asked about the death at Red Bank Tea Garden, Minister of North Bengal Development Gautam Deb said the tea garden along with two others in the district, which have been closed for a while, belong to one owner.
“The district magistrate has prepared a report about these tea gardens and we are trying to ensure that the health insurance facilities are made available to the workers,” Mr. Deb said.
Speaking to The Hindu over phone from Jalpaiguri district, a senior officer of the Health Department said the worker at Red Bank Tea Garden, who died, was a ‘chronic alcoholic and was suffering from jaundice’.
However, the official, who visited the closed tea garden in the day, admitted that malnutrition is one of the reasons for these deaths.
“We provide them with medicines, but they cannot work on empty stomach,” the official said. Like in the case of Raipur Tea Estate, the administration has started a survey on those suffering from malnutrition at Red Bank Tea Garden.
The State government, however, has decided to set up a special unit at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital to treat the ailing workers of the closed tea gardens.
Six ration shopsSpeaking to journalists at the Assembly, Food Minister Jyotipriya Mullick said six ration shops would be set up in the closed tea gardens of north Bengal. “It is a sensitive issue. The District Magistrates will hold a meeting with the owners on the reopening of the gardens,” Mr. Mullick said, adding that about 20 tea gardens in Jalpaiguri and three in Darjeeling district are getting frequently closed.
Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak said the benefits of all government schemes would be extended to the workers of the tea gardens. The Ministers of the three departments will visit north Bengal after the ongoing session of the Assembly ends in July.
