BJP MLAs staged a walkout from the Assembly on Wednesday to protest the Speaker’s refusal to allow a discussion on an adjournment motion over the government’s announcement to increase land allotment for non-tea activities in tea gardens.
The BJP’s motion was moved by Bishal Lama (Kalchini), Manoj Kumar Oraon (Kumargram), B.P. Sharma Bajgain (Kurseong), Anandamay Barman (Matigara-Naxalbari), Sankar Ghosh (Siliguri), Durga Murmu (Phansidewa) and Puna Bhengra (Nagrakata).
“Speaker Biman Banerjee did not allow a discussion on the adjournment motion but allowed me to read out the motion,” Lama told The Telegraph over the phone.
An adjournment motion is a parliamentary procedure that allows the Assembly to discuss a matter that needs urgent attention by keeping aside the day’s normal business of the assembly.
The motion stated that the recent announcement by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to make 30 per cent of the tea garden land “freehold” raised crucial questions on the future of tea workers on aspects such as their land rights and economic well-being. It said that the Tea Tourism and Allied Business Policy, 2019, was also flawed. The 2019 policy allows the management of tea gardens to use “unutilised and fallow land” up to 15 per cent of the estate area, not exceeding 150 acres.
“We also oppose the government’s policy to grant only 5 decimal land to each tea worker. Workers should get all the land they possess as it is their ancestral land,” added MLA Lama.
The BJP is now looking at mobilising support in the north Bengal tea belt by holding a series of public meetings on these issues.