Bengal govt seeks tea industry’s help to reopen gardens
The West Bengal government has sought the tea industry’s help to reopen the 15 closed tea gardens in the Dooars region.
By TNN |
KOLKATA: The West Bengal government has sought the tea industry’s help to reopen the 15 closed tea gardens in the Dooars region. It has asked the industry to prepare an approach paper for reopening tea processing factories at the closed tea gardens.
The state government on Wednesday held a meeting with different associations of the tea industry, including Indian Tea Association (ITA), to work out a feasible formula for reviving the closed tea gardens. The meeting was attended by chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb and state commerce and industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen.
Talking to ET, CK Dhanuka, past chairman of ITA said: “The government is keen to reopen the tea processing factories at the closed gardens. Anybody who is interested in the factory may buy it so that some activities may restart at the garden. This will also create some jobs for workers who are in bad shape following the prolonged closure of the gardens.” The closed gardens employ nearly 18,000 to 20,000 workers.
The state government has also asked the tea industry to identify the barriers to reopen these gardens. “The government has assured us to assist in sorting out all legal problems,” the industry officials added. Incidentally, most closed gardens are mired in legal disputes. In some cases, the promoters are untraceable. Therefore, it is an uphill task for the state government to reopen the closed gardens.
“The government cannot open all tea processing factories in one go. It has to be done one-by-one. A serious attempt is being made to reopen the factories,” top officials in the state commerce and industry said. The officials noted that finance minister Asim Dasgupta had already granted a Rs 16 crore corpus for the workers of the closed tea gardens. Mr Dasgupta has also indicated that the state would shortly initiate action against planters who have fled from estates leaving crores of PF dues.
The state government on Wednesday held a meeting with different associations of the tea industry, including Indian Tea Association (ITA), to work out a feasible formula for reviving the closed tea gardens. The meeting was attended by chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb and state commerce and industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen.
Talking to ET, CK Dhanuka, past chairman of ITA said: “The government is keen to reopen the tea processing factories at the closed gardens. Anybody who is interested in the factory may buy it so that some activities may restart at the garden. This will also create some jobs for workers who are in bad shape following the prolonged closure of the gardens.” The closed gardens employ nearly 18,000 to 20,000 workers.
The state government has also asked the tea industry to identify the barriers to reopen these gardens. “The government has assured us to assist in sorting out all legal problems,” the industry officials added. Incidentally, most closed gardens are mired in legal disputes. In some cases, the promoters are untraceable. Therefore, it is an uphill task for the state government to reopen the closed gardens.
“The government cannot open all tea processing factories in one go. It has to be done one-by-one. A serious attempt is being made to reopen the factories,” top officials in the state commerce and industry said. The officials noted that finance minister Asim Dasgupta had already granted a Rs 16 crore corpus for the workers of the closed tea gardens. Mr Dasgupta has also indicated that the state would shortly initiate action against planters who have fled from estates leaving crores of PF dues.
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