Alipurduar: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has strongly countered PM Modi’s recent remarks on Bengal’s tea industry and its workers, accusing him of misleading the nation with incorrect claims.
At a Press conference held at Trinamool Bhavan on Friday, party MP Ritabrata Banerjee and State Health minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, who also chairs the AITC Legal Cell in West Bengal, presented a detailed rebuttal supported by documents and data.
On Thursday, from a rally here, Modi launched a scathing attack on the state government, claiming that the TMC administration is blocking the implementation of Cemtre’s welfare schemes, including those meant for tribal communities.
He alleged that tea estates are shutting down and “workers are losing their jobs due to state government apathy”.
In response, TMC leaders dismissed the allegations as baseless and politically motivated. “In 2016, ahead of the Bengal Assembly elections, Modi promised that seven sick tea gardens owned by the Duncan Group—Birpara, Garganda, Lankapara, Tulshipara, Huntapara, Dhumchipara, and Dimdima—would be taken over by the Tea Board. Each of these gardens was later listed in the official gazette. However, instead of revival, all of them shut down one after another,” Ritabrata Banerjee stated.
He further added that it was the Mamata Banrjee-led government that intervened and took concrete steps to reopen these tea gardens.
“In the 2016–2021 Budget, the Centre had announced a Rs 1,000 crore allocation for tea garden development in Assam and Bengal. Yet not a single rupee reached the tea gardens of Bengal,” Banerjee alleged.
Citing further examples, he questioned the Central government’s negligence towards Andrew Yule & Company-run tea estates such as New Dooars, Chunabhati, Banarhat and Karbala. “These are Central government-owned tea gardens. Why have their workers not received wages for five to six weeks? Even the provident fund contributions deducted from workers’ salaries over the past two years have not been deposited—neither the employees’ nor the employer’s share,” he said.
Highlighting the contrast, Banerjee praised Mamata Banerjee for implementing multiple welfare initiatives specifically for tea garden workers.
“While the Centre makes promises, it is Mamata Banerjee who has delivered—through schemes like ‘Cha Sundari,’ land pattas, health centres and ambulances. These are responsibilities that garden owners should have fulfilled, but it was the state government that stepped in,” he concluded.
The TMC leaders emphasised that the PM’s remarks were aimed at political gain and urged the public to judge based on facts rather than rhetoric.