Trinamul Congress MP Ritabrata Banerjee has said the Bengal government will make available buses for school students in the Dooars tea belt, as it has been found that children in several tea gardens are transported to schools and back home in trucks and trailers.

Banerjee is also the state president of the INTTUC, the TMC trade union.

He pointed out in the Rajya Sabha last week that children from Karballa and Banarhat tea estates went to school by trucks. The two estates are owned by Andrew Yule & Company Limited, which functions under the Union ministry of heavy industries.

“When I had raised a question in the Upper House, the central government replied that light commercial vehicles were used for the transportation of school children from the gardens. This is unacceptable as such travel is risky and inconvenient for the children,” said Banerjee.

The Centre’s reply had sparked protests in both the gardens. Led by the Trinamul Cha Bagan Sramik Union, workers, particularly women, demonstrated in the gardens, demanding the immediate introduction of school buses for their children.

The MP said it had been found that in some other gardens also, a similar mode of transportation — trucks or trailers — was provided to the students.

“It is an important responsibility of the tea companies to provide appropriate transport to the students residing on the plantation. But a section of the gardens is not following the norm. The chief minister is aware of the rule violation, and it has been decided that the state government will provide buses for such students, though it is not the state’s responsibility,” said the MP.

In the past few months, the TMC has been exerting pressure on the BJP by flagging various issues related to the tea belt.

“It is a part of the TMC’s strategy to revive its support base in the tea belt ahead of next year’s Assembly elections,” said a political observer.

In north Bengal, the results of 10 to 12 Assembly seats depend on the support of the tea population. In 2021, the BJP had won most of these seats.

Sources said the state government, in consultation with the administration of the districts concerned, was drawing up routes through which those school buses would ply.

“The idea is to ensure that maximum students from the tea belt who do not travel by buses now can avail of the new services,” said a source.