Anit Thapa, chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), on Tuesday requested the state government to stop the land survey in tea garden areas in an apparent move to put the lid on the widespread protests in the tea belt.

Thapa met state labour minister Moloy Ghatak in Calcutta and handed him a letter requesting the government to distribute land to the workers on an “as is where is" basis.

“I request your kind office that the notification should ensure that the land pattas are distributed in tea gardens in GTA area on 'as is where is basis' without reference to any limitation on area held and on a fair and transparent move,” Thapa stated in the letter.

He has also requested the government to stop the survey until further clarification.

“Until a clear notification is issued regarding the above -issue I would like to request you to kindly stop the ongoing land survey in the tea gardens areas of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration areas,” said Thapa.

Thapa, as president of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) that heads the GTA area and the TMC's hill ally, is under immense pressure from the Opposition camp on the tea garden land issue.

On August 1, 2024, the state government issued a notification to distribute up to 5 decimals of land to residents of tea gardens across north Bengal.

However, in the Darjeeling hills, the Opposition opposed the scheme stating that frequently tea garden workers had more than 5 decimals of land in their possession and that the entire land should be given to workers. Many leaders also alleged that the state government might distribute land to private players in excess of the 5 decimals for each worker.

Many also opposed the use of the word “landless” to describe tea garden workers in the state's August 1 notification and argued that hill residents have been in possession of land for generations, going back to even before Independence, but only lacked documents.

Thapa, as the hill ally of the Trinamool Congress, welcomed the state government’s 5-decimal scheme initially, but later made a U-turn and requested the state government to stop the scheme following a flurry of protests.

Eventually, the state government ordered the DMs of Darjeeling and Kalimpong to stop the survey on September 12.

The land policy branch of the state's land and land reforms and refugee relief and rehabilitation department on November 2 again issued a directive to the district magistrates of Darjeeling and Kalimpong to resume survey work.

“…resume survey work in tea gardens in GTA areas on ‘as is where is basis’ without reference to any limitations on area held,” the letter to the DMs read.

However, there was opposition to the November 2 order, too, as many said that it did not clarify whether the workers would get the entire land under their possession following the “as is where is basis”.