Since Jan, 15 tea gardens reopen in Bengal under new SOP introduced by state govt

Kolkata: As many as 15 previously closed tea gardens in the state have reopened since January, following the implementation of a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) introduced by the state government.

The SOP, which was officially notified in November last year, allows for the temporary transfer of responsibility for operating a tea garden to another party in the event of a sudden closure, ensuring that workers are not left in distress.

There have been instances of lessees running away and suddenly issuing closure orders for tea gardens.

Additionally, when the lease of a tea garden expired, it took a significant amount of time to finalise the proceedings for selecting a new lessee. During this period, the garden remained closed, causing considerable hardship for the workers. Previously, the Tea Board had the authority to intervene in unforeseen situations, but this power was withdrawn, resulting in suffering for the workers.

Against this backdrop, the SOP was formed to safeguard the interests of the tea garden workers. As per the SOP, when the lease of a particular tea garden has not expired but the owner has fled abandoning the same, however, the trade union in agreement with the workers has been paying wages and all statutory dues of the workers of that garden for three years at a stretch, the permanent lease is granted. A temporary lease is granted to those tea gardens where trade unions along with workers are running it for one year, paying wages, and statutory dues of workers with the lease not expiring but the owner fleeing.

For tea gardens with expired leases that have continued operating for a year under an agreement with the trade union, paying wages and all statutory dues, a temporary lease will be granted upon application.

“The three factors in the SOP have contributed to opening up 15 tea gardens in the last five or six months. Two more tea gardens will open up soon with discussions in full swing,” said Moloy Ghatak, state Labour minister.

Among the gardens that have opened up, 8 are in Alipurduar and 7 in Darjeeling. As many as 14484 workers associated with these tea gardens have been benefited.

According to sources in the Labour department, cases associated with 8 tea gardens run by Darjeeling Organic Tea Estates Pvt Ltd are pending with the National Company Law Tribunal. The owners of these gardens suddenly left, abandoning the tea gardens.

Three tea gardens had been closed since the Left Front rule. While dolomite deposition from Bhutan had damaged one garden, two others are still under litigation.