Partha takes over as Chairman of Tea Directorate

State Education minister Partha Chatterjee has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Tea Directorate in the state.

Sourav Chakraborty, the Trinamool Congress MLA from Alipurduar, was removed from the post of chairman on Tuesday. The directorate was formed by the state earlier this year. Barun Roy, the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri and director of the directorate confirmed Chakraborty’s removal.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had named Chakraborty as the chairman of the Tea Directorate, a body under the North Bengal Development department. It was formed on June 29 to monitor the tea industry, work for the socio-economic development of tea workers and their families and maintain liaison with state departments. There are many tea gardens in the state which are in bad shape.

Banerjee had inaugurated the directorate’s office at Vivekananda Bhavan in Siliguri and said it would work in all tea gardens of the state.

The directorate is responsible for looking after the tea gardens and resolving problems that crop up from time to time. On Tuesday, the Chief Minister had announced that the state government would formulate a policy to take over six tea gardens in North Bengal and later auction them.