Mamata on a spree of project launches in tea belt

Number of projects inaugurated in tea gardens was among the highest for tea region in recent times

Mamata Banerjee near Hasimara on Friday

Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Writes : Avijit Sinha And Anirban Choudhury

Mamata Banerjee on Thursday inaugurated a slew of projects in the tea garden belt of north Bengal in an apparent attempt to connect with the region which voted for the BJP in previous elections.

“Today, I distributed several public welfare services among my tea garden workers in Alipurduar, and their smiling faces filled my heart with immense joy,” said the chief minister.

The number of projects inaugurated in the tea gardens was among the highest for the tea region in recent times.

Among the inaugurated projects included 1,100 houses for the workers under the Cha Sundari project, a youth hostel, an open stadium, number of roads and culverts, drinking water and solid waste management projects and crèches.

“Our tea garden workers have a difficult life, and those who are parents face enormous hardship in their daily lives because they must work while keeping their children with them. To address their issue, we have constructed a number of crèches where they can leave their children in a safe and comfortable environment while they go to work,” said Mamata.

The tea gardens in north Bengal employ around 3 lakh workers and nearly 70 percent of the workforce is women, who are largely engaged in plucking. The constructions of crèches are expected to go a long way in connecting with the women in rural areas.

The projects — announced by Mamata on Thursday — were evenly spread out in the two tea growing districts of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, both districts where the Trinamul is organisationally weaker than the BJP. 

In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP won all the five seats in Alipurduar while in Jalpaiguri, the saffron party bagged 4 out of seven seats. In neighbouring Cooch Behar, the BJP won seven out of the nine seats. 

Ahead of this year’s Panchayat polls and the Lok Sabha polls, the Trinamul is trying to effect a turnaround using the development narrative in the region. 

The chief minister on Thursday stressed that every single person should have “access to the basic amenities for a sustainable life” and promised to further improve health infrastructure in the gardens. In the past, there have been widespread complaints that many of the tea gardens are not fulfilling their statutory healthcare and housing obligations.  

“We will build more health centres, increase the number of ambulances, and deploy more doctors and nurses to improve the health infrastructure,” said Mamata.

The state government targeted all sections living in the tea garden including the students who were provided scholarships under the Medhashree scheme.

“Even though the TMC’s trade union is relatively weak in the tea region, the sustained effort by the state government in the tea belt could overcome the trade union’s organisational weakness,” said an observer.

The chief minister also inaugurated a number of tourism projects including the introduction of four shikaras and inauguration of an eco park at Gajoldoba, near Siliguri.

[source : Telegraph]

Army man electrocuted on train at NJP - Accident happened when train was waiting for the signal

The water tanker on the army special train at NJP on Thursday , Pic by Passang Yolmo

An army man was electrocuted and his four colleagues suffered injuries when they came in contact with an overhead high-tension live wire while checking a water tanker on an open wagon of a stationary train at New Jalpaiguri station on Thursday.

The special train carrying army personnel was on the way from Binnaguri in the Jalpaiguri district to the Shri Bhadriya Lathi station in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan.

The accident happened when the train reached NJP on Thursday morning and was waiting for the signal.

“When the train stopped, some army men entered an open wagon that was carrying a water tanker to check whether it needed to be refilled. One of them who climbed onto the top of the tank accidentally came in contact with an overhead live wire and died on the spot. Four other army personnel were also injured in the electric shock,” said a source.  

The deceased army man was Meheta Manish, 34. The injured are Surender Kumar, Chatur Prasant, M.K. Kushwah and Satgir.

“The injured army personnel were taken to the railway hospital and later, shifted to the army hospital at Bengdubi. The train was carrying a company of the 1812 Rocket Regiment,” said a source in the army.

Railway and army officials arrived at the spot of the accident. Sources in the Northeast Frontier Railway said a probe had started. The train later left for the destination. 

[Via : Telegraph]

Mercury plummets below zero in Darjeeling - Lack of moisture clouds possibility of snowfall: IMD

Children enjoy a horse ride at Chowrastha in Darjeeling on Wednesday

Writes : Vivek Chhetri

The mercury plummeted below zero for the first time in Darjeeling town during the current winter with minus 1.5 degrees Celsius being recorded at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday.

However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) ruled out immediate snowfall in the hill town for lack of moisture. Darjeeling had recorded heavy snowfalls — a major attraction for tourists — only twice in the current century.   

Referring to the minus 1.5 degrees Celsius registered at the Raj Bhavan weather station on Wednesday, G.N. Raha of the IMD, Gangtok, said: “This is the lowest minimum temperature recorded this season. However, we are ruling out snowfall in Darjeeling as there is a deficit of moisture.” 

According to the website of the Darjeeling district administration, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the town was minus 5 degrees Celsius, registered on February 11, 1905.

Sources said the mercury had started dropping below zero in Darjeeling on Tuesday. The weather station at St Paul’s School recorded zero degree Celsius on Tuesday.

However, with clouds disappearing, days, mostly afternoons, are expected to get warmer but nights will continue to be cold.

“With the region getting a bit of sunshine, you can expect the afternoon weather to hover around nine to 10 degrees Celsius. But nights will continue to be colder because of clear skies,” said Raha.

The IMD has predicted the possibility of snowfall only in the higher reaches of the Sikkim-Darjeeling areas in the next 48 hours.

Last year, Darjeeling had received snowfall for two consecutive days on February 4 and 5 — which was a rare occurrence in decades.

The two-day daytime snowfall in 2022 was heavier than what the town had received on February 14, 2007, which was considered among the heaviest in a decade. The town had been hit by snowfall for a while on December 29, 2018, also.

The upper reaches of the Darjeeling hills, like Sandakphu which is situated at nearly 12,000 feet, consistently receive heavy snowfall every winter. However, Sandakphu is yet to receive snowfall this winter. The higher reaches of Sikkim recently received snowfall.

“The days are cold but with fewer people and less traffic, the winter days are pretty pleasurable,” said Rupesh Pradhan, director, Mayukh Tea.

Tourism stakeholders maintain that snowfall in Darjeeling does bring an indirect benefit to the industry.

“Snowfall in Darjeeling brings wide publicity to the region and positive stories always help the industry,” said Navin Thapa, a hotelier in Darjeeling.

In recent times, Gangtok had started receiving more tourists during the winter because of the consistency of snowfalls in its upper reaches.

“However, this year, the tourist footfalls in Gangtok have been less, compared to Darjeeling,” said a hotelier who has properties both in Darjeeling and Gangtok.

source : Telegraph

Truck plunges into gorge, 16 Indian Army soldiers killed

Incident took place at Zema, which is en route to Thangu, while the vehicle was negotiating a sharp turn

The mangled remains of the army truck at Zema in Sikkim on Friday.

Writes : Avijit Sinha, Rajeev Ravidas

Sixteen Indian Army soldiers were killed and four others injured after the truck they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a gorge in north Sikkim, near the India-China border, on Friday.

In a statement, the army said three of the deceased were junior commissioned officers, while 13 were soldiers. The four survivors, who were travelling on the truck that was part of a three-vehicle convoy, were airlifted and admitted to an army hospital in Bengdubi near Siliguri.  

The Himalayan state of Sikkim has been witnessing the increasing deployment of armed forces in recent months because of rising tension between India and China. However, it could not be immediately confirmed whether the deceased had recently moved to Sikkim as a part of the build-up along the border.

Sources aware of the crash said a convoy of three vehicles was carrying army men from Chatten — an acclimatisation base in Mangan district of Sikkim — to Thangu, which is barely 1.5km from the international border, in the morning.

Around 8.15am, almost 45 minutes after the 2.5-tonne truck had left Chatten with 20 persons, it veered off the road and fell down a 1,000ft-deep slope. The incident took place at Zema, which is en route to Thangu, while the vehicle was negotiating a sharp turn.  

The bodies of all the 16 deceased persons were seized by the army’s recovery unit with the help of Sikkim police.

“Given the difficult nature of the terrain and harsh wintry condition, the bodies were recovered with much difficulty. The bodies have been taken to the medical intervention unit of the army at Chatten where an inquest was carried out by the police,” said a source.

Later, sources said the bodies would be shifted to a Gangtok hospital on Saturday for post-mortem, following which they would be handed over to the army. 

Chatten, which is close to Lachen — a popular tourist destination located around 130km from Sikkim capital Gangtok, has an installation of the army. Thangu, a tiny hilly hamlet close to the Tibetan plateau located at a height of around 4,000 metres, is a strategic point as it is the last Indian village on the border.

One of the deceased persons was Gopinath Makur from Bankura in Bengal. The President, the Prime Minister and many others mourned the soldiers’ deaths. “Pained by the loss of lives of our brave army personnel due to a road mishap in Sikkim. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon,” tweeted the PMO.

Sikkim chief minister P.S. Tamang and his Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee also expressed their condolences. 

In Sikkim, defence personnel had lost their lives in similar accidents in the past as well. In June, two jawans died in a road accident in Zuluk. 

In July last year, four soldiers were killed in east Sikkim on Jawaharlal Nehru Road which connects Gangtok with the Tsomgo Lake and Nathu-la when a vehicle carrying 15 soldiers of the Kumaon regiment went off the road and plunged into a 600ft deep gorge.

On the same route, three army personnel and the child of a colonel died in another accident at 17th Mile in December 2020.

Retired army officers based in this region said in such hilly terrains, experienced drivers are engaged by the defence forces. Also, vehicles are checked regularly. 

“All necessary precautions are taken but even then, such accidents are reported. Such non-combat casualties are not desirable. We believe there will be a thorough probe into the incident to find out whether the vehicle had developed any sudden technical glitch and necessary advisories would be issued to drivers and others concerned to avert such accidents,” said an ex-serviceman based in Siliguri.

[News source : The Telegraph]

Cooch Behar: Tea garden suspends work, 550 jobless

Management has not cleared 21 days of workers’ wages and one month and 21 days of wages of the sub-staff, says Alamgir Hossain

Representational image.File picture

The management of a tea garden in Cooch Behar district announced work suspension from Thursday, leaving around 550 workers jobless.

As workers of Sreebas tea estate in Changrabandha under Mekhliganj subdivision reached the garden on Thursday morning, they saw the suspension notice

“The management has not cleared 21 days of workers’ wages and one month and 21 days of wages of the sub-staff. This (suspension of work) is undesirable. If they (the garden management) had an issue, they should have sat for talks,” said Alamgir Hossain, a leader of Trinamul workers’ front INTTUC.

A worker said the garden should reopen at once or else the tea bushes would dry up. Workers also resorted to protests at the garden and contacted the administration for an intervention.

District assistant labour commissioner Sumanta Roy called a tripartite meeting but no one from the garden’s management came.

[News Via : The Telegraph]

#Darjeeling MP Raju Bista Demands Re-inclusion of 11 Gorkha sub-tribes as ST without any further delay.

Office of Raju Bista

Press Release

Today, I spoke on the  have requested the Union Government to expedite the process of granting Schedule Tribe status to the 11 left-out Gorkha sub-tribes Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunwar, Thami, Yakha (Dewan) and Dhimal without causing any further delay. 

Speaking in support of the Constitution Scheduled Tribes Order Second Amendment Bill of 2022, I highlighted how under the leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi ji, the Tribal Community across India is finally getting the support and justice that had been long denied to them. It is a matter of great pride that our nation today has the first Tribal Female president H.E Draupadi Murmu ji. I highlighted how under PM Modi ji, our government has increased the Scheduled Tribe Component of Tribal Sub-plan (TSP) by 350% from Rs 24504.45 crores in 2013-14 to Rs 87,584 crores in 2022-23. I also applauded the celebration of our Tribal communities in the form of 'Janjati Gaurav Diwas' initiated by PM Modi ji on the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda ji.

I informed the Parliament how the Indian Gorkha community, which was compositely recognized as the “Hill Tribes” till Independence. However, after Independence the “Hill Tribes” status of the Gorkha community was taken away without any consultation with the community members. This has caused them to be harassed and kept deprived of their rights. They are treated as 'citizens of Nepal' instead of Indian citizens and have to face humiliation in our own country. 

I highlighted how the WB Government had gladly accepted the land and resources of our Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars when our region was merged with West Bengal in 1954, but had refused to accept the people who live there, and how the Gorkhas were continued to be discriminated against in the state. I highlighted how the TMC Govt was conspiring to continue denying the Gorkhas their rights, and seeking to cause a demographic change in the border region, by settling in Rohingyas and other illegal immigrants in the critical "Chicken Neck" region of our country.

I therefore requested the Government of India to help end this 'identity crisis' and reduce national security threat faced by our country, by re-including the 11 left-out Gorkhas sub-tribes as Scheduled Tribes at the earlies.  

I informed the Parliament, that the Gorkha community has patiently waited for justice for a long time, and doing so will not only help in correcting a historical wrong, but it will also permit the Gorkha people to preserve our unique cultural and traditional heritage. Most importantly, this will help provide the Gorkhas with Constitutional protection.

While there has been a considerable delay in the completion of granting ST status for Gorkhas, but I am confident that the Government of India will expedite the process and give the Gorkha community the long awaited justice.

*Raju Bista*

*Member of Parliament, Darjeeling and* 

*National Spokesperson, BJP*

Jalpaiguri Trinamul leads provident fund protest in Jalpaiguri

Hundreds of tea workers are being deprived of their PF because of the lackadaisical attitude of EPFO authorities: Ritabrata Banerjee

[Tea workers and Trinamul supporters at the demonstration in front of the regional PF office in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday.

Biplab Basak]

Hundreds of Trinamul supporters, including tea workers, went to the regional provident fund office in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday, demanding necessary steps from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) — a central government organisation — to expedite payment of PF to tea workers.

Led by state ministers Moloy Ghatak and Bulu Chik Baraik and state INTTUC president Ritabrata Banerjee, party supporters held a demonstration in front of the office.

“Hundreds of tea workers are being deprived of their provident fund because of the lackadaisical attitude of EPFO authorities. John Barla, a Union minister of state (the BJP MP of Alipurduar), is from a tea estate but has not done anything for workers on this issue. If the issue is not resolved within this month, tea workers and our party will raise blockades in front of the house of John Barla and other BJP MPs and MLAs of this region,” said INTTUC president Banerjee.

In September this year, Trinamul’s all-India general secretary Abhishek Banerjee announced in Malbazar that the party will organise a movement against the EPFO on a number of issues related to workers.

These include the problem faced by some tea workers in linking their Aadhaar with PF accounts, delay on the part of some tea gardens in depositing provident fund although it is deducted from workers’ wages and employees’ salaries, and hurdles faced by some workers in receiving their provident fund after retirement.

During the demonstration, a delegation representing Trinamul Cha Bagan Sramik Union submitted a memorandum to EPFO authorities, stating the issues should be resolved.

Mahua Gope, the Jalpaiguri district Trinamul president, said John Barla and other legislators of the BJP will have to answer tea workers and their families about what they have done for them.

“These people have only made empty promises. We have never seen John Barla taking any effective steps to help tea workers with their provident fund. The state government, on the other hand, has taken various initiatives for people in tea estates,” she said.

The demonstration in front of the EPFO office, preceded by rallies conducted by Trinamul across the Dooars on various issues of tea workers, indicates that Mamata Banerjee’s party wants to exert pressure on the saffron camp and simultaneously revive its support base in the north Bengal brew belt, said political observers.

They pointed out that panchayat elections are ahead and the support of the tea belt decides the results of rural bodies in at least three north Bengal districts.

“In some recent elections, a section of tea workers sided with the BJP. Trinamul wants the votes to swing in its favour and hence has taken up the task of playing the development card and raising issues like provident fund dues which the workers can easily relate to,” said an observer.

source : The Telegraph