1,246 land pattas given to tea garden workers

 Finally, the long wait ended for 50-year-old Malati Pakhrin of Lankapara Tea Estate of Alipurduar on Tuesday as she held a land rights document bearing her name. She couldn’t hold back her tears.

“Each day has been a battle for survival. But, the situation is set to change. We have got the right over the land we live on, thanks to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. On Tuesday, I received the land rights documents through the District Magistrate. Now, we can get many government benefits as this is my land,”she said. Like Malati, it was a joyous moment for several others as well. A total of 4000 pattas were handed over, out of which 1246 pattas were given to the tea garden workers.

At a government programme in Siliguri, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee virtually handed over land titles to the workers of Dheklapara and Lankapara tea plantation located in Madarihat block of Alipurduar district along with other districts of this region.

In Darjeeling, pattas were given to 198 people, while 48 got the same in Kalimpong. In Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, and Cooch Behar, pattas were given to 150, 850, and 2040 people respectively.

Akash Malpaharia (45), a worker of Dheklapara tea garden, which has been closed since 2002, stated: “Since birth, we have lived in tea garden quarters. I used to see beautiful houses outside our tea garden. Some people also live in houses built under the Awas yojana of the Government. There are many government schemes that tea garden workers cannot avail as we don’t have land registered in our name. The Chief Minister has kept her word. I have got my patta and now I will apply for a house through the Awas Yojana. Finally, we will have a house that we can proudly call our own.”

More than 6 lakh tea workers have been benefited by this initiative of the Bengal government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, stated Birendra Bara Oraon, Central president, Trinamool Tea

Workers Union.

“The tea estate workers will now be able to apply for Awas Yojana. With the initiative of the state government, under the Tea Workers Act, 1961, the maintenance of the tea worker’s quarters was the responsibility of the tea estate owners earlier. Now it will be the responsibility of the district administration,” stated Surendra Kumar Meena, District Magistrate, Alipurduar.

As the land leases of these plots have been cancelled and the land rights have been transferred to the workers (resumed,) the state government will have to take the entire responsibility of repairs and renovation of the tea estate quarters demanded tea management associations. “Tea garden pattas to the workers implies that the Tea Workers Act of 1961 is no longer valid. We have brought certain grey areas to the notice of the district administration,” stated Chinmoy Dhar, chairman of Tea Association of Dooars.

The state government has given a five-decimal plot of land to each worker family. 416 workers of Dheklapara tea plantation and 983 workers of

Lankapara have received pattas at an administrative ceremony at Madarihat, organised by the district administration of Alipurduar.

“In the Kalimpong district 48 tea garden (resumed) pattas all categorised as homestead pattas were given. Along with the tea garden resumed pattas; 221 agri pattas and 168 homestead pattas were also handed over in the district. The tea garden pattas were given at Upper Fagu tea garden,” stated R Vimala, District Magistrate, Kalimpong.

“We will hand over pattas to all landless tea garden workers. A policy is being formulated. The process might take six to seven months. Even if there is no vacant land in one tea garden we will accommodate in the nearest tea garden,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had stated in Siliguri on Tuesday.