Sonia’s glare fails to silence impatient Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury won disapproving glares from party president Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Congress chief showed her irritation when Chowdhury did not allow labour minister Narendra Tomar to respond to his queries on hunger deaths stalking tea estate workers of West Bengal.

Chowdhury raised the issue of "death and destitution'' of tea plantation workers during Question Hour but when Tomar got up to speak expressing concern over the situation, Chowdhury started to shout refusing to let the minister answer. Gandhi turned to glare at the member but the disapproval was lost on Chowdhury. The issue however received support from all West Bengal MPs across party lines.

Responding to the members, Tomar said that the Centre was committed to reviving sick tea gardens in the country and a joint effort will be made by it along with the state government. "We will do all that is possible to solve the problems of tea garden labourers in consultation with state governments. We will jointly formulate a strategy to revive sick tea gardens in the country," he said.

Tomar said commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman would visit West Bengal soon to discuss with CM Mamata Banerjee on how to revive the sick tea estates in the state. The minister said tea plantation workers constitute a major portion of the plantation workforce in the country. "The tea industry provides direct employment to approximately 11.22 lakh workers. In addition, about 12.25 lakh workers are engaged in coffee, rubber and cardamom plantations," he said.

Tomar said the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 was amended in 2010 to make it work more comprehensively for the welfare of plantation labourers. "The implementation of the Act, however, vests with the respective state governments. At present, no suggestion to amend the Act has been received from any state government," he said.