The state government has called a meeting with representatives of the tea planters' association in Calcutta on Monday at a time when dissent against some key policy issues announced by the state government for tea gardens has been spreading like wildlife in the brew belt.
Sources said that the meeting would be convened by state labour minister Molay Ghatak to “discuss the issues related to tea garden and tea industry in Bengal”.
"The list of invitees includes a wide gamut of people involved in the industry,” said a source.
The invitees include the additional chief secretary of land and land reforms, chairman of the Tea Board of India, the principal secretary of industry and commerce, representatives of planter’s associations like Darjeeling Tea Association, Tea Association of India, small tea growers’ associations along with district magistrates of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipuduar, Cooch Behar, North and South Dinajpur, among other officials.
In the past week, there have been protests against the government’s move to grant 5 decimal land to tea workers and to increase land share from 15 to 30 per cent for non-tea related business in tea gardens. Many workers and unions have also flagged the delay in implementing minimum wages for the tea workers.
Protests in the tea gardens gathered steam after chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced the government’s decision to increase land share for non-tea related business during the plenary session of the Bengal Global Business Summit in Calcutta.
"From now on, wherever in tea gardens the land is available and tea plantations are not there, we will allow 30 per cent of such land for hotel business, commercial utilisation and eco-tourism purposes,” the chief minister had said on February 6.
According to The Tea Tourism and Allied Business Policy, 2019, tea gardens are allowed to utilise 15 per cent of the total grant area, up to a maximum of 150 acres, for non-tea purposes on fallow land.
However, Mamata's latest announcement, increasing the land cap from 15 per cent to 30 per cent, did not sit well with the tea population.
Even Mamata’s ally in Darjeeling, the Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), has voiced strong apprehensions regarding the announcement.
Opposition parties are also up in arms against it.
On Saturday evening, BJP legislators from Darjeeling, the Dooars and the Terai held an “emergency meeting” with various trade union leaders from the tea region to chart their future course of protests.
"We have unanimously agreed to register our protest with the governor, chief minister, the Tea Board of India, the Union commerce minister, the Union labour minister and the Union home minister," said Raju Bista, MP, Darjeeling.
BJP MP from Alipurduar Manoj Tigga was also present at the meeting, as were BJP MLAs Neeraj Zimba (Darjeeling), Durga Murmu (Phansidewa) and Bishal Lama (Kalchini).
"Of particular concern of this policy is the displacement of the indigenous Gorkha, Rajbanshi, Adivasi, Rabha, Toto, Koche, Meche, Bengali and other communities, who have long been deprived of land rights to their ancestral lands by the state government,” said Bista. “With land now being sold to corporations, these tea workers could face forced eviction.”
The Darjeeling BJP MP suggested the state government work towards transforming tea gardens into sustainable and profitable units instead of using tea gardens as a land bank for real estate.
"This can be achieved by either incentivising corporations to invest in these gardens through production-linked incentives and better marketing for their tea internationally, or by empowering the tea garden workers to run gardens as cooperatives,” said Bista.
The Darjeeling MP also demanded land rights for the tea workers.
On Sunday, the Ajoy Edwards-led Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front (IGJF) also held a meeting to discuss the “pressing issues of the tea gardens".