“There are no jobs here, and no hope. My two sons are in Bangalore working as daily wage labourers. A majority of youths here have left their homes and the state to find jobs elsewhere,” says Lohar, whose sons — Amar and Aman — are 28 and 24 years old, respectively.
There are around 302 tea gardens in the state’s tea belt with each spread over 200 to 1,200 acres. According to a government estimate, nearly 3 lakh people, mostly Nepali-speaking tribals, work in the tea gardens or are indirectly linked to them.
But around 20 tea gardens have shut. Kalchini tea garden is among them. It has been shut for more than seven months.
“When the tea garden was open, we used to get Rs 250 as daily wage along with the PF (provident fund) amount of Rs 350. But when the tea garden was closed, we could earn around Rs 200 to Rs 220 per day, minus the PF,” says 52-year-old Kali Lama.
“We are paid this rate by the committee, but the tea is sold to wholesalers at a very high rate,” he adds, referring to “committees” formed by the ruling TMC in closed tea gardens through which workers collect tea leaves and through touts and middlemen sell them to wholesalers.
Shyamali Tanti (43), who works at the Dheklapara tea estate that has been shut for months, says, “Last year, the tea garden opened, but before the end of the year it closed again. We did not get Puja bonus. My husband was forced to look for a job outside the state. I am now going to the Binnaguri tea estate to earn some money.”
Tanti says that while she has been able to get free ration under the TMC government’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, she has not received financial assistance under FAWLI.
FAWLI or Financial Assistance for Workers of Lockout Industries (FAWLI) is a state government scheme through which every worker of a closed tea garden gets Rs 1,500 per month. The scheme was started during the Left Front government. The TMC government has continued the scheme. Last February, the government decided that closed tea gardens at Rungmook Cedar, Moonda Kotee, Chongtong, Nagri, Peshok, Ambootia in Darjeeling; Trihana in Siliguri; Sonali, Bamandanga, Samsing in Jalpaiguri district; Dalsingpara, Dalmore, Kalchini, Raimatang, Dheklapara, and Ramjhora tea gardens in Alipurduar district would come under the FAWLI scheme.
However, the TMC government’s ambitious housing scheme for tea workers has found hardly any takers here.
Rows and rows of blue and white houses built under the Chaa Sundari project near Torsha tea garden in Alipurduar lay vacant. Out of nearly 500 houses built under the state government’s scheme, only around 70 have been occupied by the families. Despite the houses having a kitchen, two bedrooms, a toilet and a regular water and electricity supply, there are few takers for these houses.
“The main reason for people not moving into the Chaa Sundari houses is the distance. Workers are used to living near or around the tea gardens. But the houses built under the scheme are located far away from the tea gardens… Those who moved into the houses are either relatives of tea garden workers, or in some cases workers have rented them out to locals,” says Dhiren Mahali (52), a resident of a Chaa-Sundari housing colony.
Kusum Bhujel, 25, who stays in one of such houses in Torsha tea garden, says, “My house is in the name of my cousin sister. She stays at Dalchinpara tea garden. Instead of her, we are staying here. My husband Padam Lama (50) is a driver and he used to work as a commercial driver at Jaigaon which is near here.”
Another tea worker Santosh Oraon (32) says, “I’m staying at my sister-in-law’s house here. At Torsha tea estate, my father, mother, and elder brothers are currently staying. As the family grew, the house became small for our whole family. So, I came here with my family and we have been staying here for the past six months.”
After the Chaa Sundari scheme flopped, the TMC government launched another scheme in which tea workers could stay on their land in the tea estate and they would get “patta” for the land.
“The problem is that we are getting only “patta” which is basically a land lease. We cannot sell or cannot take loaa n against that land. Also, if we get land in the area, then it is fine. But if we get land outside the estate, then what will we do? Here, even after the garden is closed, we can pluck leaves here and earn something but if we go outside the garden how will we earn?” says Kali Lama, who resides in Kalchini tea garden.
According to a local leader of CITU, the trade union organisation of the CPI(M), there is a wide wage gap between tea workers in North Bengal vis-a-vis southern states. “Tea workers in southern states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka Tea get around Rs 450 as daily wage as per the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Whereas, the governments of Assam and West Bengal are reluctant and politically unwilling to enforce the Minimum Wages Act strongly. So, in the TMC-ruled West Bengal and BJP-ruled Assam, tea workers are getting Rs 250 per day,” says CITU leader Jia Alam.
“Education, health, and employment scenarios are deteriorating fast, and the rate of school and college dropouts is also increasing. Migration from tea gardens of West Bengal and Assam towards South and subsequent increasing absenteeism in the tea gardens here is a major issue,” he adds.
While the state tea belt’s two Lok Sabha constituencies – Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri will vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on Friday, polling in Darjeeling will take place a week later on April 26.
Meanwhile, the TMC blames the BJP government at the Centre for the deteriorating condition of tea workers, the BJP blames the TMC government in the state.
TMC leader and West Bengal Tea Directorate member Sourav Chakraborty says, “From 2014, Narendra Modi promised that the Central Government will acquire tea gardens. Then he promised that the Centre would give a Rs 500 crore special package for the development of tea gardens in West Bengal. But none of the promises were fulfilled. However, because of the wrong policy of the Central Government, the tea industry is facing many problems. All these things are now known to tea workers, and they will not vote for BJP this time.”
BJP MLA from Madarihat, Monoj Tigga, who is contesting from Alipurduar, says the welfare of tea workers is the responsibility of the TMC government in the state.
“The TMC government not only deteriorated the livelihood of tea garden workers but also took away their normal facilities which labourers used to have. The BJP government at the Centre, on the other hand, has always tried to develop tea gardens through the tea board. The Centre’s Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) helped workers to get free ration. Tea workers know that the BJP always stands for them and will vote for Modiji.”
In Alipurduar, Tigga is facing a challenge from sitting TMC Rajya Sabha member Prakash Chik Baraik. The alliance of Left Front and Congress has fielded RSP leader Mili Oraon from there.
In Jalpaiguri, sitting BJP MP Jayanta Roy is pitted against TMC MLA from Dhupguri, Nirmal Chandra Roy. Here, the Left Front candidate is Debraj Burman.
In Darjeeling, TMC has fielded Gopal Lama against sitting BJP MP Raju Bista. The Congress, on the other hand, has given the ticket to local leader Munish Tamang, who is being backed by Hamro Party.