Hills on fire

FROM HARD NEWS

After a gap of 20 years, the Darjeeling hills are violent again. The green, white and yellow patterns of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) flag can be seen flying from almost every rooftop in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong.

This comes as . In the 1980s, the Darjeeling hills were witness to agitation, violence, bandhs and a complete collapse of tourism. Gorkha National Libration Front (GNLF) leader Subhash Ghising started with a demand for a separate state for the Gorkhas and later had to accept an autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). In the intervening years, the council, under Ghising’s chairmanship, did not do much for the hill people, making all sorts of whimsical expenditures instead. And the West Bengal government turned a blind eye to this.

It was quid pro quo for both sides. The West Bengal government ignored auditing council accounts and Ghising did not raise the bogey of a separate Gorkhaland. This unholy deal went on smoothly for quite some time till a new wave of agitation unseated Ghising. On June 17, in an all-party meeting on the Darjeeling crisis, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya revealed that he had ordered the auditing process to begin.

While this could be seen as a ploy to placate the agitating GJM leaders, the main problem remains unattended. Why do the Gorkhas want a separate state for themselves? Samaresh Majumdar, noted writer of Bengali fiction with his roots in the Dooars (foothills around Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, etc), points out the abject neglect of the hill people. In the 1980s, during the peak of the Gorkhaland agitation, Left leaders in Bengal admitted that economic factors were at the root of the separatist movement. But after Ghising was mollified, nothing was done to improve
the lot of the hill people.

The initial euphoria was over within a few years as they realised that instead of a distant state government, they were now under Ghising’s arbitrary direct rule, and he was very nearby. Ghising also alienated a section of people who were in the frontline in the days of the GNLF movement, such as Bimal Gurung. Expelled from the GNLF by Ghising, he was leading a relatively quiet life till he organised a campaign in favour of local talent Prashant Tamang in the ‘Indian Idol’ singing contest. As Tamang won the contest, Bimal Gurung and others realised the star’s iconic potential among people of Nepalese descent in Darjeeling. Bimal Gurung and his associates formed a new outfit, the GJM, and once again demanded a separate Gorkhaland
state.

On the completion of 31st years of Left Front Government, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya made the following comments in Ganashakti :

We have to proceed with great caution and patience in dealing with the Darjeeling problem for the issue is very sensitive and is also connected with the question of nationality. A political solution must be found through discussions. We can and shall remain, solidly bonded together – the people of the hills and the people of the plains.

The basic pre-condition of development is peace and amity.  The avenues of discussion with the leadership of the Darjeeling agitation must be kept open.  We have kept the union government aware of the issue on behalf of the state LF government.  The resolution of the issue, as we have said, must be forthcoming through an amicable discourse.”

GJM write to Buddhadeb for tripartite talks

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Kolkata, Jul 4 (PTI) Intensifying their efforts to hold tripartite talks on their demand for a separate state, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha today wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee asking him to take an initiative in the matter.

“I have written a letter requesting the chief minister to arrange a tripartite meeting with the Centre. The letter is being faxed to CM’s office,” GJM President Bimal Gurung told PTI from Darjeeling.

Bhattacherjee had asked the GJM delegation to communicate the GJM leadership’s views after returning to Darjeeling following the June 27 talks in Kolkata.

The chief minister had offered more autonomy and financial powers to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council which the GJM has rejected.

Gurung made it clear that henceforth talks had to be held in Delhi and not in Kolkata. “How many times will we be go to Kolkata for talks?” The letter came a day before the GJM central committee is to hold a crucial meeting in Darjeeling tomorrow to decide whether the indefinite bandh would be resumed in Darjeeling hills.

Asked whether there would be further relaxation of the bandh, Gurung said “We will take a decision in our meeting tomorrow.” The relaxation of the bandh would expire on July five.

Three new tourism circuits being developed in West Bengal

TOURISM (BUSINESS,COMMERCIAL)
Created on : 07/04/2008 14:50 (PRI)
——————————————————————————-

Kolkata, July 4 (PTI) Three new tourism circuits in West Bengal will be introduced at Sunderbans, Dooars and beach tourism at Digha-Shankarpur-Mandarmoni at a cost of over Rs 17 crore with central assistance.

State Tourism Minister Manab Mukherjee told the Assembly today that a comprehensive plan is being prepared for the development of tourism at Sunderbans with the help of UN agency World Tourism Organisation.

He said that a circuit is being developed at Bakkhali- Frasergunj with central assistance. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 4.70 crore for the development of this circuit of which Rs 3.76 crore has been received.

A beach tourism circuit at Digha-Bakkhali-Mandarmoni is being developed for which Rs 5.98 crore was sanctioned by the Centre, of which Rs 4.52 crore has been received.

For the Eastern Dooars circuit, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 6.83 crore, he said.

Gorkhas less human under British law – Racism In New Millennium

From The Economic Times

By Debasis Sarkar SILIGURI

PROGRESSIVE organisations in the west may take pains to remain an equal opportunity employer but not any arm of the British government, if the plight of Gorkhas is anything to go by.

After being discriminated by the British Army on pension benefits, Gorkhas have been left disappointed and deeply disturbed by a court ruling in Britain that turned down an appeal to be treated on a par with British soldiers.

Kamal Purja, Kumar Shrestha and Sambahadur Gurung were all in the service of the British army and had retired because of ill health. The three had challenged the British government’s pension plan for the Gorkhas that was not on a par with that for British soldiers. In the latest judgment, Justice Brian Ouseley ruled on Wednesday the ministry of defence was right in setting the Gorkha pensions at a lower rate in line with lower living costs in Nepal.

The issue has raised a howl of protests in the British media too and the internet throws up views both in favour and against the judgement.

Out here in the hill tracts of north Bengal, Gorkhas are sore about the court ruling and its possible fall out. Yang Bahadur Rai and B P Lama, both close relatives of retired British Gorkha soldiers who are fighting for their cause in the UK, said, “They will go to court for redressal again.”

Ensure smooth traffic on Sikkim highway: SC

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS

The Supreme Court on Thursday severely chided the state governments and the Centre for their failure to maintain the rule of law and allowing people to disrupt normal life by frequent strikes and causing inconvenience to masses.

A vacation Bench, which was hearing a PIL seeking directions to the governments of West Bengal and Sikkim for ensuring smooth flow of traffic on NH 31-A, Sikkim’s lifeline, criticised “helplessness” shown by the states in acting against those agitators who “ruin the entire country”.

“You (state) all rest and do nothing. Those who are required to act according to the Constitution are party to it. They (states) want the court to direct them to discharge their responsibilities. The court has to pass an order, which the state should do by itself. Then it is said there is judicial interference. As they say, we did it on court’s direction,” the judges said.

Condemning frequent strikes, bandhs and agitations across the country, the Bench observed, “The state presented a picture of being helpless. One agitation would see blocking of highway, other would see uprooting of the railway tracks. Nothing would move, as one would hear it’s an election year.”

“Those who have the muscle power can hold the country to ransom,” the Bench noted, directing the governments of West Bengal and Sikkim to ensure smooth flow of traffic on NH 31-A.The highway, which is the lone road linking Sikkim to the rest of the world, was recently blocked by protestors, demanding a separate Gorkhaland.

The PIL was filed by Sikkim resident O P Bhandari, who sought directions to governments to ensure safe transportation of essential commodities to the state through the highway.

In its interim order, the Bench also ordered five organisations spearheading the agitation for the creation of Gorkhaland not to block traffic or people’s movement on the highway.

Respect the Indian Gorkhas

By Arun Kumar Pokhrel

(The writer is a PhD student in English at Indiana University in Pennsylvania)

The Kathmandu Post/ANN

The Gorkhaland movement, now led by Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM), has gained a new momentum reviving Indian Nepalis’ long-cherished but forlorn dream of an autonomous Gorkhaland that was sabotaged many times in the past. Needless to say, Indian Nepalis have been oppressed and marginalised for generations, and until today, they had no choice except to internalise all forms of oppression as part of their daily lives. They are perpetually outsiders and inferior ‘others’, who are second or third grade citizens only fit for lowly manual jobs. This systemic exclusion of Gorkhas from the major public domains of the world’s largest democracy has caused a deep sense of alienation and frustration.

The racist stereotypes of Indian Nepalis are deeply embedded in the larger Indian unconscious, which has been manifested in the dominant political, historical, literary and media discourses. As always, these Indian narratives, promoting the interests of the repressive bourgeois Indian establishment, often misrepresent the root causes of the Gorkhaland movement. Bypassing those genuine causes, they deliberately put blinders on the socio-historical, political, and cultural realities behind the movement. One striking example of such stereotypical narrative representation of the Gorkhas is Kiran Desai’s novel, The Inheritance of Loss (2006).

In her novel, Ms Desai intricately weaves the fragmented stories of different characters in the shifting cultural worlds between Kalimpong and New York. The major threads of the storyline, however, tell us a story of 16-year old Indian girl Sai’s love affair with an Indian Nepali mathematics tutor, Gyan, and the story of Sai’s grandfather Jemubhai Patel, a retired judge educated in colonial Britain. Overwhelmed with the feeling of social inequities and bourgeois oppression as well as carried away by the greater cause of the Gorkhas’ collective identity, Gyan abruptly ends his affair with Sai. In contrast, Jemubhai makes a lot of investment in imperial British culture and looks down upon local Indian peoples and their cultures so as to gain cultural power.

Ramakrishna Girls High School participate in Hunger Strike in Kurseong

Photo by Nandan Pradhan

JJ

Names of the students are as follows:

JJ

Name           Age            Class

JJ
1. Abika Subba       17            11
2. Rosy Gurung      17             11
3. Dewana Tamang 16             11
4. Deepna Rasaily   17            11
5. Sabina Tamang   17            11
6. Karishma Chettri 16            11
7. Preety Rai          17            11
8. Rajina Chettri      17            11
9. Chelu Tamang     17            11
10. Smrity Tamang    18            11
11. Ratna Lama         17            11
12. Sweta Chettri       17            11
13. Yojna Gurung       17            11
14. Manu Sherpa        18            11

JJ

Landslide snips water lines to Gangtok

Landslide snips water lines to Gangtok

Photo by Himalaya Darpan

Political Processions at Darjeeling

A Procession winds its way through the heart of Darjeeling Town

Photo by Himalaya Darpan

“Reaping a livelihood”

Women planting rice saplings at Rohini, near Kurseong

Photo by Sujoy Dutta

SDF tells Mr.Bhandari to study Burman report carefully

FROM SIKKIM REPORTER

Gangtok: Sikkim Pradesh Congress committee president Mr. Nar Bahadur Bhandari’s myopic politics was once more evident when he criticized the report of the most famous socialist of the country Prof. B.K.Roy Burman, who has aptly comprehended ground realities of Sikkimese society through his scientific research and given recommendations in the larger interest of Sikkim and its three ethnic communities – Bhutia, Lepcha and Nepali. This is said in a press release issued Sikkim Democratic Front publicity secretary, Mr. Prem Karki. [Inset: Nar Bahadur Bhandari. Photo: Sikkim Reporter]

It was Mr. Bhandari, the release noted, who had recommended to the Centre extension of the Central Income Tax and now people know very well that the SDF government has succeed in getting exemption from the central tax for the Sikkimese people by persuading the Centre politically, after withdrawing a case in Supreme Court by the previous gogernment. It is this historic achievement of the SDF president and chief minister, Dr. Pawan Chamling, for which the employees, students and others felicitated him from heart, the release underlined. “To tell the truth”, the release says, “Nar Bahadur Bhandari, who tried to put the load of Central income tax on the shoulder of his own Sikkimese people, has no moral right to comment on felicitation of the chief minister”.

The release also takes a dig at Mr. Bhandari, saying, “He had deprived Chettri, Bahun, Newar and Sanyasi from getting OBC status even Mondal Commission came in existence”. Before trying to misinterpret Burman Commission report, Mr. Bhandari should carefully study it first, the release says.

State Development Report of Sikkim

The Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia releasing the “State Development Report of Sikkim”, in New Delhi on July 02, 2008

Photo by Sikkim Reporter

Chamber of commerce deliberates on Vision 2020

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, July 02: The Sikkim Chamber of Commerce has congratulated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for having released North Eastern Region-Vision 2020 document in New Delhi today. SK Sarda, president, Chamber of Commerce said that they were thrilled to read PM’s speech which said, “I pledge that the Government of India will work with the people of the North East to convert this region into a living shining reality.”

“The document rightly appreciates poverty alleviation in all its dimensions as the greatest priority for the region. The need for more roads, railways, airports, schools and hospitals have been emphasised, but at the same time the need for development of institutions and processes for sustainable development have been given due importance,” Mr Sarda said in a press release. Mr Sarda said that the decision to have rail link with all State Capitals of the North East Region including Sikkim will be a great booster for trade and tourism.

ACT alleges Himagiri staff of residing in prohibited area

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, July 02: The Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) has alleged that the Himagiri Private Limited has violated the conditions of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOFF) pertaining to Panang Hydro electric project area. In a recently issued press release, ACT general secretary Dawa Lepcha has said that though the specific condition by the Ministry of Environment says that no staff or labour colony should be set up in Dzongu, a team of 15 rock test drilling team engaged by the Company has been residing in Lingzya village on rent.

For the staff and labourers, who were to commute from other places to Dzongu, land was purchased in Mangan to provide residential complex for them, Mr Lepcha said in a release. Keeping labourers in Dzongu whether on rent or otherwise is a blatant violation of the condition laid down by the MOEF in the clearance letter, ACT general secretary added. In another violation, boards claiming acquirement of land has been put up in the forest land, though Forest Clearance has not been granted to the Company yet.  No forest land has been bought by the company so far, Mr Lepcha said adding, “Violations of conditions have started even before actual work has commenced.”

Rains trigger landslides, destroy house in Namchi

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

BY SUREN MOHRA

NAMCHI, July 02: Persistent rains for the past three days triggered landslides enroute Lower Ghurpisey, uprooting several trees and damaging a house here this morning. The landslides hit the Kollege jhora stretch, causing major damage to a house belonging to one Shanker Rai when a tree slammed on the roof of the house this morning at about 5 am.

The landslide could have also cost the house owner his life if not for the loud noise of the jhora nearby that kept them awake the whole night. According to the house owner, the unexpected rise of the water in the jhora led to the landslides. “Fortunately, no bad incident happened to us,” Shanker Rai told SIKKIM EXPRESS.

“In the morning we were in deep sleep as we were unable to sleep the whole night because of the heavy rains and the sound of the jhora nearby. As the rain stopped in the morning time, we went to sleep but suddenly a loud breaking sound was heard and slowly we could feel our house ceiling coming down, after which we rushed outside to see a huge tree fall on the house. Soon, we shifted our household materials and the valuable documents in a safer place, the house owner narrated the details.

Sikkim remains cut off due to landslides

Passengers allege taxi drivers of charging high, wants Motor Vehicles to step in

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

RANGPO, July 02: As landslides and boulders blocked the National Highway 31-A leading to Gangtok, the hill State continues to remain cut off from the rest of the country even as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has suspended the bandh till July 5. Monsoon rains triggered heavy landslides at 29 Mile and hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the Highway since yesterday. Border Road Organization (BRO) has deployed its force to clear the debris and restore the traffic but have proved difficult to negotiate with the falling boulders and mudslides from the landslide prone stretch.

Meanwhile, the passengers opined that the local residents of Rangpo should initiate an information centre at Rangpo to provide information on the condition of the road. On the other hand, Siliguri bound passengers from Sikkim have alleged the taxi drivers of charging more fare.

According to the passengers, taxis plying from Rangpo to Siliguri during normal times comes around Rs 80 per head but is charged Rs 200 by the drivers during road blockades when they take Darjeeling route to reach Siliguri. They further complained that the route from Darjeeling is not that long as it comes to just 60 kilometers from the main road, making it only 130 km in total.

CNBC award for Hee-Bermiok village tourism

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

BY NIRMAL MANGAR

GANGTOK, July 02: Hee-Bermiok Tourism Development and Heritage Conservation Society (HBTDHCS), West Sikkim has been selected for the Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) TV award for the year 2008 under the category “Best Village Tourism and Best Community Participation.”

The award will be given away in a glittering ceremony in Mumbai tomorrow.

NK Subba, the area MLA, Hee-Bermiok has already left for Mumbai.

While talking with SIKKIM EXPRESS over the phone today, TN Sharma, the president of HBTDHCS said, “It is a happy moment for all the people of Sikkim for Hee Bermiok conservation society to be conferred with such a prestigious award.”

“We have always strived for better in terms of village tourism and had earmarked our presence globally with the annual village tourist festival,” he said.

Hee Bermiok Tourism Development Committee was formed in the year 2005 with the main motive to promote rural tourism in the State.

North Bengal shut down, almost

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, July 3: The nationwide bandh convened by the BJP today evoked a mixed response in north Bengal today. While the bandh had a major impact in Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur and Malda districts, failed to have a major impact in Darjeeling and South Dinajpur districts. In Siliguri, the bandh disrupted normal life and BJP supporters burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mr Gulam Nabi Azad at Hashmi Chowk. Police arrested eight bandh supporters from the Siliguri court premises.

The BJP made its presence felt in Cooch Behar clamping a lid on the town. Bandh supporters staged roadblocks at several places and damaged a lorry at Baxirhat. The Cooch Behar district BJP president Mr Nityananda Munsi alleged that the police lathi-charged on their men at Maruganj, Chilakhana, Nakkatigachh, Dawaguri and some other places. He further said that the police arrested more than 120 bandh supporters and dishonoured the BJP flag. Police however denied such allegations.

Traders prepare for GJMM’s bandh

FROM THE STATESMAN

GANGTOK, July 3: With two more days to go before the GJMM re-imposes its declared bandh from 5 July in the Darjeeling hills, traders in Sikkim have started storing essential commodities to meet the impending crisis that would follow the bandh.  The Food and Civil Supplies department has requested the traders to augment their stock position so that the consumers’ demand could be met with, once the bandh is re-imposed. “We have increased the stock and it is expected to last for another twenty days. However, perishable items like  vegetable cannot be stored for long,” said Mr Yadav Prasad, a shopkeeper from Gangtok. The Sikkim Chambers of Commerce held a meeting with the traders on the issue. “The traders have agreed to bring maximum quantity of essential goods from Siliguri and make it available to the people at reasonable rates,” said Mr SK Sarda, president SCC.

Pintail village not to let battalion in

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, July 3: Pandemonium broke out at the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council tourist resort ‘Pintail Village’ in Siliguri this afternoon over providing accommodation to the security personnel summoned in view of the turmoil in the Darjeeling hills.  Apprehending escalation of the Darjeeling turmoil, the administration has summoned about five companies of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and obtained permission from the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council to lodge the personnel at the ‘Pintail Village’ tourist resort located on the outskirt of Siliguri.

On the other hand, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM), which is spearheading the renewed bout for Gorkhalnad, is occupying a number of cottages at ‘Pintail Village’ and is using those for its political activities. The GJMM central committee, its Siliguri sub-divisional wing and the women wing are occupying one cottage each allegedly without any formal permission from the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council authorities.

A section of the hill students too had moved into the ‘Pintail Village’ following the violence in Siliguri during an anti-Gorkhaland band on 12 June and since then has been appearing for their under-graduate examinations in Siliguri colleges from the resort.

Thus, when the IRB troops moved into the resort last afternoon and were taking accommodation in the cottages, a section of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha activists confronted them demanding that apart from the three cottages occupied by the GJMM directly, one more cottage would have to be spared for the hill students to enable them to appear for their examinations which are yet to conclude.

Tenant database in doldrums

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

BY BIRESWAR BANERJEE

Siliguri, July 3: Very few residents of the town are willing to respond to the police plea and submit details of their tenants to the law enforcers, though it has been just three months since explosions and recovery of bombs rocked Siliguri on April 3.

“Initially, we had got good response from the residents to our appeal, but not in the past two months,” said Rajesh Yadav, the additional superintendent of police, Siliguri.

Two explosions at Champasari had killed three alleged bomb-makers. Powerful explosives were also recovered from the Mallaguri and Pradhannagar area on April 8 and 13 respectively. The incidents prompted the police to print about 1,000 forms and distribute them among the residents to prepare a database of tenants.

But officials from both the Siliguri and Pradhannagar police stations admitted that they are receiving hardly two-three applications a day now, against 30-40 which they used to get right after the incidents.

Bandh boom for BJP – Prowess to paralyse on display

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

(Top) BJP supporters take out a bike rally on Hill Cart Road in Siliguri. A bandh enforcer in Malda. Pictures by Kundan Yolmo and Surajit Roy

Siliguri, July 3: The all India bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and backed by the BJP over the Amarnath land transfer row was near total in most parts of north Bengal where the outfits are believed to have a poor support base.

The shutdown call, however, failed to have an impact on life in the three subdivisions of the Darjeeling hills and in Sikkim.

Although only a handful of people were seen on the streets trying to enforce the bandh called against the Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision to revoke the transfer of 40 hectares of land to the Shree Amarnath Shrine Board, private vehicles, save a few autorickshaws, kept off the road through the day, causing inconvenience to people.

Shops, banks, educational institutions and private offices remained closed. However, state buses plied and government offices and tea gardens were open. Train services were also normal across the region.

In Malda, around 30 people blocked NH34 at noon, but were dispersed by police. Four of them were later arrested from Mangalbari on the outskirts of the town. The protesters also deflated the tyres of a few NBSTC buses plying between Habibpur and Gajole, said the police.

“The response the bandh call has evoked was overwhelming,” the BJP’s Malda district president Jatin Ghosh said. “People are aware of the Amarnath issue and want an end to the UPA government’s tenure, which has failed to protect their interests.”

Jiban Moitra, the district CPM secretary, however, differs on this point. “There is a common trend among the people to stay indoors on bandh days, fearing violence,” he said.

Satellite mapping on hold

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Siliguri, July 3: The Tea Board of India has halted a pilot project by Indian Space Research Organisation and IIT Kharagpur that planned to map three tea gardens in north Bengal using images from satellites.

The pilot project was to be the first step towards satellite mapping all the tea estates in the country.

The board has instead decided to first come to an agreement with research bodies like the Tea Research Association (TRA) in north India and the UPASI Tea Research Foundation in the south.

“The satellite mapping of tea gardens in different states was planned not only to obtain updated data on each estate, but also to use this information to forecast rain, humidity, pest attack and suchlike,” G. Boriah, the director (tea development) of the board, said over the phone from Calcutta.

“As these forecasts are primarily done by experts from these research organisations, it has been decided to first come to an agreement with these bodies and then proceed with the project,” Boriah added. “A meeting was held on June 26 over the issue and we hope to sit again soon.”

Talks on tea wage hike fail – Planters shoot down demand of Rs 120 a day

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Waiting for a raise

Siliguri, July 3: Planters of north Bengal have shot down the trade unions’ demand to raise the minimum daily wage of workers to Rs 120 in the new wage agreement that is yet to be drawn up.

The planters have insisted on a phased hike along the lines of the previous wage agreement, when wages were increased by Rs 8 over three years. The current minimum wage is Rs 53.90 a day.

With the difference of opinion between the planters and the trade unions, the tripartite meeting called at the state labour commissioner’s office in Calcutta on July 1 to revise the wages and salaries of workers and staff employed in the brew belt failed to yield any result.

The previous three-year wage agreement of the tea industry expired on March 31. Since then, the trade unions active in the brew belt have been insisting on a revision of wages and salaries, citing inflation.

The Defence Committee for Plantation Workers’ Rights and Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers — two apex bodies representing trade unions like the Citu, Intuc and the Hind Mazdoor Sabha — had submitted memorandums to the planters, seeking pay hike with effect from April 1.

The Defence Committee insisted on fixing the wages considering legislation like the minimum wages act as well as the amounts paid under the 100 days’ work scheme. The Coordination Committee sought a minimum wage of Rs 120 for a “daily-rated” worker, along with higher salaries for factory workers, sub-staff and other employees.