Tea Gardens in India have become the valleys of Death and the Death Procession continues.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Tea Gardens in India have become the valleys of Death and the Death Procession continues.

Indian HOLOCAUST My Father`s Life and Time - One Hundred

Palash Biswas


Tea Gardens in India have become the valleys of Death and the Death Procession continues.

In 1853, India exported 183.4 tons of tea. By 1870, that figure had increased to 6,700 tons and by 1885, 35,274 tons. Today, India is one of the world's largest producers of tea with 13,000 gardens and a workforce of more than 2 million people.

Scenes at closed garden shock governor and the government of West Bengal shamelessly continue to tell the old story, No death in Tea Gardens in West Bengal. Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb speaks the untruth for the Capitalist Marxist Brahmin Chief minister.

The reality of starvation deaths at the Ramjhora tea estate has left Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi shocked. The governor visited the garden, in Jalpaiguri's Alipurduar sub-division, on Thursday after it came to light earlier this week that workers had died of starvation at this closed garden. The tea estate has seen over 100 starvation deaths since the garden closed down in 2002. Two more died on Thursday, one of them a 20-day-old baby. "It is shocking to find people dying of starvation in a progressive country like India. I had come to know about the fact from newspapers. I saw it with my own eyes after my visit to this garden. It has left me disheartened," he said, speaking to reporters after his visit.

Gandhi reached Ramjhora around 12 in the morning and was there for over an hour. He ignored the administrative officials present there and spoke to the garden workers directly. He also visited the labour quarters to see the ground situation for himself. He visited the families of those who died on Thursday, 20-day-old Yunis Soren, and Kanchha Singh Nizar. With these two deaths, the toll in Ramjhora rose to seven in the past month.

And the Death Procession goes on. Intelligetsia Bengal , pet as well as resistant, is silent.

It will continue to achieve the ultimate goal of infinity as No Caste Hindu Population Is Involved in The Death saga.

Day free in Darjeeling or early morning optional tour of Tiger Hill & Ghoom Monastery. At the Tiger Hill, the early morning Sun rise displays a panorama of colours and sunsets are purple and gold. Beyond in the distance are the Himalayan Peaks. Return via the famous Ghoom Monastery. You could spend the rest of the day walking in the bazzars of darjeeling or visiting one of the Tea gardens. Darjeeling tea is known world over for its fine flavor. Overnight Darjeeling.


Gandhi talks to a worker at the Ramjhora estate. Picture by Biplab Basak published by Telegraph on 2nd march, 2007 tells the truth.

But the Left front has got an extraordinary expertise and outstanding cadre network well cooperated by pet media to launch mis information campaign against starving non brahmin underclasses. The Shudra strong middle classes led by Kayastha and Mahishya play the needed support role to maintan Brahminical system in bengal.While incumbency has not proved to be a problem in the South Bengal districts, the longevity of the CPI-M led Left Front in power in West Bengal is the apparent cause of the resentments that are spilling over in violence in North Bengal. The failure of the state government and the failure of the trade unions in dealing with the problems of the tea garden workers, in managing ethnic aspirations have come together to shape an increasingly strong anti-incumbency mood. The chances are that the CPI-M and the RSP will scrape through in Alipur Duar and Jalpaiguri this time, but the going will only get tougher and rougher for the Assembly polls slated for 2006.


But the governor is becoming a headache for the ruling classes who intervened to persude firebrand TMC supremo MS Mamata Bannerjee to end her fast.

And now, the news from dateline Ramjhora Tea Estate (Alipurduar), March 1says: Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi today visited this closed garden “to talk to workers about their condition and not to give a speech”.

The Ramjhora garden, situated around 75 km from Alipurduar town, has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. With the estate remaining closed for five years and the 100-day work scheme hardly in place, deaths and malnutrition dominate the scene there. Niulish Soren, a 20-day-old child in the New Line, died last night, while just after Gandhi left the estate today, another death was reported, taking the toll to seven over the past 12 days. The deceased was Lal Kanchha Mirza (59), a resident of Top Line.

During his almost two-hour stay at Ramjhora, the governor never, for once, “wasted time” and even declined Jalpaiguri district magistrate R. Ranjit’s request to “take a seat.”

Deaths due to starvation in the tea gardens has made it difficult for the CITU, CPI-M's trade union front, to control the "coolie lines". Discredited leaders of the trade union movement have been attacked, people have been burnt alive and in many places, tea industry workers will not allow the CITU to step inside their domains. Names such as Dalgaon, Dalsingpara strike fear, as workers of these tea gardens are fierce in their resistance to exploitation by the trade unions, especially CITU and the United Trade Unions Congress.
Getting off the car, Gandhi headed straight for the labour lines, where he had a “question-answer” session with workers. Learning that most of the labourers of the estate now have to break boulders on river beds or work in dolomite quarries in Bhutan, he said: “I am surprised to see patta tornewale log abhi patthar tor rahe hai (pluckers are now breaking boulders).”

In the labour lines, as he entered Shib Nandan Karketta’s hut, a scene of penury greeted him. Appalled by the conditions there, Gandhi showed Karketta’s two daughters, Pushpita and Swapna, to minister Manohar Tirkey and told him that they could not have a better picture of malnutrition than here. “During the day, the sisters share a bread between the two of them,” a neighbour told Gandhi, who directed the CMOH to take care of them and all those who were suffering from malnutrition.

Gandhi also told Tirkey to immediately arrange for drinking water and electricity. As he talked to labourers, the women there came up to him, begging him to reopen the estate. Sunita Lal, a worker, said over the past five years, no assistance has come their way.

Gandhi apparently learnt about the pathetic condition of closed gardens from reports in The Telegraph and lauded the media for bringing the distressing news to the fore. Still hoping that he would be able to help T.K. Sarki (36), who had a fatal infection originating from a fracture in his spine, the governor went to his hut to learn that Sarki had already died.

Later, the governor checked the ration cards under Antodyayo Yojna. The labourers also complained that they hardly got any job under food-for-work schemes. Moreover, the nearest subcenter did not even have any medicine and could not even provide the basic medical help to them. The wrath of the residents was fuelled by Sudeep Mandal, the doctor at the Birpara hospital, who told Gandhi that only a few residents suffered from malnutrition.

Gandhi, however, did not pay much heed to the doctor and asked trade union leaders to work together, setting aside their political differences.

Vote boycott has been called in several of the tea gardens that are closed or threatened, which could affect the percentage of votes polled on May 10. While low voter turnout may not affect the outcome, neither the CPI-M nor the RSP can feel complacent. How the forefathers of the dying Tea

Garden folk cultivated Tea?

The conditions were incredibly harsh. The area was remote and hostile, cold in winter and steamy hot in summer. Tigers, leopards and wolves constantly threatened the lives of the workers, and the primitive settlements of the tea workers were subject to regular raids by local hill tribes. But they persevered and gradually the jungle was opened up, the best tea tracts cultivated under the light shade of surrounding trees, and new seedlings planted to fill gaps and create true tea gardens.
Long before the commercial production of tea started in India in the late 1830s, the tea plant was growing wild in the jungles of north east Assam. In 1598, a Dutch traveller, Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, noted in a book about his adventures that the Indians ate the leaves as a vegetable with garlic and oil and boiled the leaves to make a brew.

In 1788, the British botanist, Joseph Banks, reported to the British East India Company that the climate in certain British-controlled parts of north east India was ideal for tea growing. However, he seems to have missed the fact that the plant was a native to Bengal and suggested transplanting tea bushes from China. But his idea was ignored.


In 1823 and 1831, Robert Bruce and his brother Charles, an employee of the East India Company, confirmed that the tea plant was indeed a native of the Assam area and sent seeds and specimen plants to officials at the newly established Botanical Gardens in Calcutta. But again, nothing was done - perhaps because the East India Company had a monopoly on the trading of tea from China and, as they were doing very nicely, probably saw no reason to spend time and money elsewhere.

But in 1833, everything changed. The company lost its monopoly and suddenly woke up to the fact that India might prove a profitable alternative. A committee was set up, Charles Bruce was given the task of establishing the first nurseries, and the secretary of the committee was sent off to China to collect 80,000 tea seeds. Because they were still not sure that the tea plant really was indigenous to India, committee members insisted on importing the Chinese variety.

The seeds were planted in the Botanical Gardens in Calcutta and nurtured until they were sturdy enough to travel 1000 miles to the newly prepared tea gardens. Meanwhile, up in Assam, Charles Bruce and the other pioneers were clearing suitable areas of land on which to develop plantations, pruning existing tea trees to encourage new growth, and experimenting with the freshly plucked leaves from the native bushes to manufacture black tea. Bruce had recruited two tea makers from China and, with their help, he steadily learnt the secrets of successful tea production.
Having established a successful industry in Assam's Brahmaputra valley, with factories and housing settlements, the Assam Tea Company began to expand into other districts of north east India. Cultivation started around the town of Darjeeling in the foothills of the Himalayas in the mid 1850s. By 1857, between 60 and 70 acres were under tea and, whereas the China variety of the tea plant had not liked the conditions in Assam, here at elevations of 2500 to 6000 feet, it grew well. The company pushed on into Terai and Dooars and even into the remote Kangra valley, 800 miles west of Darjeeling.

In the south western tip of the country, experimental plantings had been made in 1835, while the first nurseries were being established in Assam, and by the mid 1850s tea was growing successfully alongside coffee. The climate of the Nilgiri Hills, or Blue Mountains, seemed to suit the plant, and the area under tea steadily expanded.

Governor in the tea garden

The labourers poured out all their problems - scarce drinking water, no access to medical aid or relief funds and no work - to the Governor, who patiently listened to them. The Governor instructed the administrative officials at the garden to arrange for the aid the workers are supposed to get. He also asked the minister of state (PWD) present there, Manohar Tirkey, to ensure that the garden gets an SEB connection soon. This would ensure drinking water supply for the workers. The district chief medical officer of health was asked to pay special attention to the health of the workers of the closed and abandoned tea gardens. Only after the workers said they were happy with the steps taken did Gandhi leave the garden.

The district administration tried its best to make sure that situation looked normal in the garden. The medical units in the blocks were revived and the monthly relief of Rs 500 that workers of closed and abandoned tea gardens are supposed to get - due since April last year - was deposited in the bank. But the governor managed to find out the ground reality for himself.

Workers also agitated at the Dhotrey-Kalej Valley in Darjeeling subdivision, saying that they would boycott harvesting if their demand for a meeting with the garden owners is not met. A press statement released by the garden unions said that a meeting with the owners should be scheduled for 20 March to discuss the problems faced by workers in the garden.

Workers have already stopped 'finished tea' from being transported out of the factory. The press release states that if the directors of the garden do not turn up for the meeting, workers would stop harvesting the green tea leaves.

Death throws up more murky details
- Bitter facts in brew belt
SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE

Jaigaon, Feb. 8: The death of Bishu Munda, a worker of the Bharnabari tea estate, today has taken the toll in the abandoned garden to 28 in the past 13 months.

Records at the Alipurduar subdivisional hospital, showed that the 55-year-old man died of “severe anaemia”.

The garden, 16 km from this quaint town on the India-Bhutan border, has been closed since December 2005. The saha-sabhadhipati of the Jalpaiguri zilla parishad, John Philip Khalko, claimed that there have been 10 deaths in the estate in the past 35 days.

Bishu’s wife, Usha, had died last year of malnutrition, her neighbours claimed.

The spate of deaths began a months ago after the operating and maintenance committee (OMC) comprising workers, trade union members and representatives of the district administration, ran out of funds. The committee stopped paying wages to labourers from December as the lean season — starting mid-November and extending till the first week of March—had set in and there were no more tea leaves to sell.

“Now, we are in a fix with only Rs 43,896 left with us. With that amount, you cannot carry out pruning, irrigation and maintenance of the bushes, which is necessary for the first flush in March,” said Manbahadur Chhetri, a supervising staff (garden babu) and the convenor of the OMC.

“It is not that the OMC plan misfired. The committee was supposed to be a stand-in and politicians and the administration had assured us that there would be a new owner soon, but it never happened,” Chhetri said. He added that children had been orphaned and entire families left to face an uncertain future.

“We have now been reduced to breaking boulders on the banks of the Torsha,” said Mangri Majhi, one of the Bharnabari workers. He said of the 2,200 labourers, many have left the estate for work in Bhutan and other Indian states.

The workers are now wary of broken promises, be it of those made by the trade unions or the ministers. At the receiving end is Monohar Tirkey, the Kalchini MLA and minister of state for public works, among others. “He has made a hundred pledges, but nothing came out of them,” said Lakshman Baraik, another worker.

Madan Sarki, the leader of the garden’s Citu-affiliated Cha Bagan Majdoor Union, said none of the politicians come to the garden any longer. “The local MLA (Tirkey) and MP Joachim Buxla, both belonging to the RSP, come here only at the time of elections,” alleged Sarki.

The minister, however, tried to shrug off the charges. “The garden workers are in crisis and I am trying my best to scout for a new owner, but no one seems to be interested especially during the lean season,” said Tirkey.

In response to the CPM allegation, Alad Lohar, a member of the RSP’s Cha Bagan Workers’ Union, alleged that even after the chief minister’s promise at the tea festival in Banarhat early this month that he would address the woes of the industry, nothing happened.

The chief medical officer of health, Bhusan Chakrabarty, said he had asked the block medical officer of Kalchini to visit Bharnabari tomorrow. “The deaths have been brought to my notice and I have sought a report,” Chakrabarty said.

Subdivisional officer of Alipurduar D. Pradhan claimed that there are some companies who are interested in taking over the garden abandoned by the Arvind Poddar group.

“There have been positive responses. I have had a meeting with zilla parishad sabhadhipati Banamali Roy and funds have been sanctioned under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for closed tea gardens. The money will reach the workers soon,” said Pradhan.

Records vs workers’ claim
ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY


(Top) Chandu, who has lost her husband and son, and Shankar. Pictures by Anirban Choudhury
Ramjhora Tea Estate (Alipurduar), Feb. 12: They claim 133 people have died of starvation and malnutrition in the garden since its closure on August 11, 2002.

Health officials, however, rubbish the workers’ claim. “If the number was correct, we would have had records since we always keep track of deaths from communicable diseases and starvation. In other cases, it is the family of the deceased that gets the death registered,” said Sudeep Mandal, the block medical officer of health (BMOH) of Madarihat-Birpara in which the garden falls.

Countering the BMOH assertion, a worker of the estate, said: “What do they know about death? We don’t need a certificate to light up pyres on the riverside. Certificates are for people who go to crematoriums. We need a certificate only when the person is a worker (and not a dependant) and dues have to be claimed.”

Once upon a time there were 1,103 workers here. At least half the number has left for Bhutan, 12 km from here, to work in the dolomite factories.

When The Telegraph visited the garden, the few remaining ones crowded around the correspondent in the hope that he was a health official. Sankar Gosai, 18, was one of them. A resident of Jogi Line here, Sankar is suffering from severe anaemia and doctors of Birpara State General Hospital had advised five bottles of blood for him. Since Sankar could not afford it, he had to remain satisfied with only one bottle.

Chandu Munda, whose body has swelled up, feels she has nothing to live for. She cannot get over the deaths of her husband Ghasia Munda and son Khudiram, who died of blood dysentery.

During his recent visit to the region, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had instructed the Jalpaiguri district administration to take care of the workers of closed gardens. But labourers of this estate, 74 km from Alipurduar town, know better for none of them has received the Rs 500 FAWLOI (financial assistance for workers of locked out industries) for the last 10 months.

Assistant labour commissioner of Birpara Arthur Hore dismissed the FAWLOI issue with: “There has been a problem in the official document. We hope it will be settled soon.”

On the other hand, of the 34 chowkidars, who have been going without salary from October, 11 have left the garden to collect minerals from the riverbed for Rs 50 per day. Ganpat Oraon, a member of the operating maintenance committee, fears that “if the chowkidars leave at this rate, the factories will be broken into and the machines stolen”.

The workers, however, are defensive. “What would you have done if your three-year-old cried from hunger?” asked one of them.

Bitter lives under brew shadow
- Ravaged and in a world without hope
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Bharnobari (Kalchini), Feb. 9: The block medical officer of Kalchini today walked into protests at Bharnobari.

“Look at how you treat us,” shouted Manbahadur Chhetri, the convener of the operating and management committee (OMC), pointing to Lala Jhole, 36, and his wife, Kousila. The couple lay huddled in pain in their hut with burn injuries.

Last Tuesday, Kousila had a dizzy spell and fell on the earthen coal stove where a handful of rice was cooking. Her sari caught fire and when her husband rushed to the rescue, he too got burnt, said Suresh Gurung, a relative of the Jholes.

“We took them to the block primary health centre where doctors referred them to the Alipurduar subdivisional hospital, but they have no money for treatment,” he added.

Dinesh Biswas, the block medical officer, had been sent by the Jalpaiguri chief medical officer of health on an assessment recce after there were reports of 28 deaths in the garden in the past 13 months. The estate has been closed since December 2005.

Yesterday, too, a worker from this garden died in the Alipurduar subdivisional hospital from “severe anaemia”.

“One of the reasons for the deaths in the garden is malnutrition,” admitted Biswas.

On his instruction, the Jholes, and Mamata Mangor, 22, who had a complicated pregnancy, were sent once again to the block hospital, 15 km from here, in an ambulance belonging to the garden. The RSP gram panchayat pradhan of the area, Madan Routh, donated 15 litres of petrol for the vehicle.

The same hospital had sent the couple back, saying that the available infrastructure was not enough for the treatment. “I was not aware of the case, but now, since I know about it, they will be treated under my supervision,” said Biswas “We have set up a medical sub-centre here which is open for three days a week. We will now keep it open on all days.” Biswas also examined the children and workers suffering from anaemia. More than five children and six women are on the brink of death due to malnutrition, alleged Routh.

John Philip Khalko, the saha-sabhadhipati of Jalpaiguri zilla parishad, was seen addressing the union leaders in the garden. “There are many problems in this estate and the zilla parishad is taking up schemes to provide work to the labourers. We have received Rs 25 crore under the 100-day employment guarantee scheme, which will be spent on abandoned and closed tea gardens,” Khalko said.

India: Tea estate lockouts lead to starvation deaths
Asia retail and food agriculture India lockouts strikes February 18th, 2006 by libcom
Assam and Darjeeling tea estate lockouts have led to malnutrition and starvation deaths in India this month.

Roopacherra tea estate in South Assam has been under lockout for nearly month after the executives abandoned it. Leading to the death of a three-year-old girl, Shivani Kalindi and two workers, Yogendra Kalindi, 22, and Manorama Dev, 60, according the workers' panchayat (council). Shivani had been taken to the garden hospital on Tuesday evening, but no doctor was available. “Even electricity to the healthcare centre had been cut off,” a union member said.

After the death of the girl, workers defied the lockout and began picking and selling leaf to other factories for their survival. The Katlicherra police have registered a case against the "absconding" tea executives and a fact-finding team has been set up to look into the deaths by the Hailakandi administration. Some food was given by the local administration after a hunger strike by a large group of women workers.

Dilip Singh, president of the garden panchayat, claimed that the out-of-work labour force was scavenging for roots and tubers of plants in the absence of food as most women and children in the labour colony were suffering from malnutrition related ailments. “We are afraid workers may consume something poisonous without knowing it”. Singh said the workers’ patience was wearing thin and warned of a bigger crisis if the estate management did not change its attitude.

Roopacherra tea estate has a 1,400-strong workforce, who have been paid no wages since a lockout was declared on January 19.The reason cited by the management for the lockout was “flagrant violation of instructions relating to attendance”.

Also this week, a bandh (24-hour general strike) was called by workers in Calcutta over more closed tea gardens in the Dooars and Darjeeling.

A spokesman from the Intuc union told a press conference: “Enough is enough. We as trade union leaders cannot be silent spectators when the ruling Marxists are giving false promises of reopening the closed tea gardens in north Bengal. So, a bandh is the last resort,"

He said families of over 30,000 permanent workers of 17 closed tea gardens are “almost starving”.

In addition to the starvation deaths in Assam, Joyma Teli, 23, a mother of two young children, and employee of the Dalsinghpara tea garden attempted suicide this week. She set herself on fire and had to be admitted to hospital with severe burn injuries. Joyma has a son, Ajoy, aged six and a daughter, Rinku, aged 18 months, and was unable to feed them properly having not received her wages. The 2,295 workers of Dalsinghpara tea estate were left in the lurch when the management fled the garden on February 9th, the third garden to be abandoned that day.

Entrepreneur Gopi Nath Das ordered his managerial staff to leave the Dalsignhpara estate. It was pay-day and Rs 8.56 lakh was required to clear the wages. Workers alleged that eight managerial staff members, who told them that they were short by Rs 90,000, left the garden one by one on the pretext of getting the deficit amount from the bank.

Manohar Tirkey, the secretary of the Dooars Cha Bagan Mazdoor Union, said the garden was taken over by the Calcutta-based LMJ International Ltd in June 2004. “They had promised to clear the dues, but did not. As a result, more dues have accrued since then. The workers have not been paid four months’ wages, provident fund and gratuity worth more than a crore,” Tirkey said.

Compiled and edited from reports in the Calcutta Telegraph by libcom.org
Assam tea plantation workers strike to protest against hundreds of co-workers deaths from water-borne diseases
Balaji Reddy, Special Correspondent
October 02, 2004
Assam tea garden workers went on strike this week to protest against hundreds of coworker deaths due to water borne diseases.

Unions said the strikes, which shut down some 800 tea plantations, were part of a campaign for cleaner water in remote sites. But managers said the action was a tactic to support wage claims in annual talks under way.

India produces more than 800m kg of tea each year and is the world's largest producer by volume, accounting for about a third of global production.

But most of this tea is drunk locally, while India's tea exports, mainly to Russia, the Middle East and the UK, form about a 12 per cent share of world exports.

India exported about 167m kg of tea last year, ranking fourth after Sri Lanka, Kenya and China.

While the major tea gardens have expanded the tea gardens with more virgin lands, the working conditions of the tea gardens have gradually deteriorated. The tea garden owners deny this allegation.

The strike may not disrupt the tea export completely. But it is an early sign of coming major problems in worker rights and suitable working conditions. Labor conditions in some parts of India are less than adequate. This is more prevalent in Northeast Indian tea gardens.

The local parties in Northeast strive on these kinds of mass dissatisfaction over working conditions!