GJM urges CM to reopen closed tea gardens

KOLKATA: The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is spearheading the agitation in the Darjeeling hills demanding statehood for the Gorkhas, urged the West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to reopen 13 closed tea gardens in the hills.

A GJM delegation met the chief minister on Thursday where it placed the demand for reopening the gardens. GJM leader Roshan Giri told reporters after the meeting that the GJM delegation had also urged the state government to allow them to hold meetings and rallies in the plains of the Dooars and release GJM activists who had allegedly been "falsely implicated" by the state police.

In this light, West Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen told reporters that the situation in the Hills was not conducive enough to allow the GJM activists to hold rallies in the planes. "The chief minister has urged the GJM delegates to wait for some more time to get a clearance from the state administration to hold meetings in the planes," Mr Sen added.

West Bengal commerce and industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen who also present at the meeting, told newspersons that the state government had informed the GJM leaders that steps had been taken to reopen the 13 closed gardens in the Darjeeling hills.

"The additional secretary of the Union commerce ministry who looks after tea sector will be in Kolkata on February 18 and will hold a meeting to explore ways to reopen the closed gardens in Darjeeling and the Dooars. We have informed the GJM leadership about this," Mr Sen said.

He added that the state government would formulate a compensation package for the workers of the closed gardens. The state government pays a stipend to workers of the closed gardens, he added. It is learnt that GJM delegates may be invited to hold talks with the Union government official for reopening of the gardens.