OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Kalavati Barai of Raipur Tea Estate in Jalpaiguri has been watching the consistent deterioration of her family of six over the past four years. In March this year, her husband succumbed to severe anaemia and related complications. “I couldn’t feed him, so he died,” she states simply. Since the tea garden was abandoned by its owners in 2003, they have been subsisting largely on one meal of rice a day. Kalavati’s youngest son, 13-year-old Kartik, is now severely ill but she can’t afford his medicines. “He hasn’t been to school for three years now. The doctor says his kidney is damaged. What do I give him? I have nothing.” There are several others like her who are suffering because of closure of 14 tea gardens in North Bengal in 2003-04. Most of the gardens closed after production fell and profits plummeted due to low yields from ageing tea bushes. Several gardens were abandoned by their owners, leaving behind large debts and dues of Rs 18. 69 crore in workers’ provident funds. More than 17,000 workers at these tea estates have been struggling; there are no other means of livelihood. An estimated 1,000 people—workers and family members—have died of malnutrition and related diseases since 2003 in the Dooars region.

The governor of the state, Gopal Gandhi, expressed shock four months ago at the dire situation of tea estate workers. The media in the state has regularly covered the workers’ plight, leading to red faces in the Left Front government of West Bengal as well as the Centre. The much-awaited response came on July 7 from the Tea Board of India, the Union ministry of commerce’s regulatory body on tea trade: an ultimatum to the 14 estate owners to reopen the plantations within a month, failing which the Centre would take over their estates and hand them over to new owners. The estate owners have until mid-August to respond to this ultimatum. Talks between government and tea industry officials also produced a package of Rs 119 crore to revive the tea industry.

A senior tea board official said the package in June 2007, includes: - a five-year moratorium on damages for defaulting on provident fund and gratuity payments - waiver of all loans from the tea board and soft loans for five or six year terms to help with replantation - rejuvenation of old tea bushes

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