Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday held the West Bengal government responsible for the closure and the pathetic condition of the tea gardens in North Bengal.A day after visiting the closed tea gardens of Dooars, Sitharaman on Sunday attended the stakeholders' consultation on tea sector in this town of Darjeeling district.Darjeeling MP S.S. Ahluwalia, North Bengal Development Department minister Gautam Deb, Tea Board members and stakeholders were present in the meeting."I have visited the closed Surendra Nagar and Red Bank tea gardens and the condition of the workers are pathetic. This is all because of the carelessness of the state labour department. I will seek the report on the actual condition of the workers of the tea gardens in the state," she said.
She also assured of efforts to reopen the closed tea gardens and provide minimum wage for the workers after consultation with the state government.The minister said she would submit to the central government the detailed information and complaints that she received from the workers. The centre would then seek report on reduction of fringe benefits, lack of water, power, educational institutions, medical facilities, malnutrition and Provident Fund default, she added.
Asked if the central government had any plans to take over the closed tea gardens of North Bengal, Sitharaman said, "By taking over the tea gardens by the government it would not solve the problems of the workers and industry at large."
The union minister discussed with the stakeholders the Tea Development and Promotion Scheme for the XII plan period (2012-13 to 2016-17) that has a total outlay of Rs.1,425 crore.The scheme has been formulated with the principal objective of maintaining a healthy balance between supply and demand for meeting the domestic demand in full and maintaining a reasonable share in the global market.