By Rabindra Nath Sinha
KOLKATA: A surprise announcement by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on February 5 at the plenary session of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS)about higher cap on use of tea plantation land for non-tea, commercial purposes has prompted trade unions to make it an issue for protests in north Bengal .
The chief minister’s announcement also has political implications, particularly in the Darjeeling hills, where her party, Trinamool Congress, has hardly any base and circumstances have been forcing TMC to be a junior partner of a more prominent hill-based political outfit.TMC has also changed the majority partner depending upon the political situation in the Darjeeling hills at a given point in time.
At the BGBS plenary on February 5, the chief minister said that yesterday (February 4) the government decided that wherever in tea gardens land is available, “where tea plantations are not there”, the government would allow 30 per cent of such land for hotel business, commercial utilisation and promotion of eco-tourism. With the next Assembly election just 14 months away, the chief minister is desperate to prove that the state government is making all-out efforts to attract investments for industrialisation and employment generation.
The new provision for 30 per cent has to be seen against the existing provision for use of 15 per cent of the specified category of land for non-tea, commercial purposes which was the subject of the land and land reforms department’s gazette notification dated November 28, 2019, Thursday. It is known as the tea tourism and allied business policy, 2019.
The opening paragraph of the gazette notification reads: “A proposal to allow unutilised and fallow land in the tea gardens allowed to be retained under Section 6 (3) of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act 1953 in the districts of Uttar Dinajpur, Alipurduar, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong to promote eco-friendly tea tourism and allied business activities has been under active consideration of the Government”. After consideration of all aspects the new policy has been formulated. It has been clarified the 2019 policy gazetted on November 28, 2019 modifies policies notified on July 17, 2013 and March 4, 2015.
The new policy aims at attracting more investments and generating employment opportunities “for sustainable and inclusive economic development by way of effective utilisation of vacant / surplus land’ in tea gardens without any curtailment / compromise in area under tea plantation. Tea gardens will be allowed to utilise 15 per cent of the total grant area subject to a maximum of 150 acres for tourism and allied activities. Out of this allowable area a maximum of 40 per cent can be used for construction activities in conformity with extant rules and regulations and provided the proposed activity is in harmony with ecology and environment.
The allowable business activities shall include tea tourism, plantation, animal husbandry, hydro power, non-convention energy resources, social infrastructure and services. Activities under these broad categories may include tourism resorts, wellness centres, schools, colleges, universities, medical / nursing colleges, hospitals, cultural / recreational and exhibition centres, horticulture, floriculture, medicinal plants, food processing units, packaging units etc.
Land is a sensitive issue in tea garden areas and the state government did not take the workers’ unions into confidence. In the difficult circumstances prevailing when the November 2019 notification was issued, the unions had reluctantly accepted the 15 per cent cap. But, Mamata’s announcement of the decision to raise the cap to 30 per cent instantly caused strong resentment in the Opposition camp. CPI(M)’s Darjeeling district secretary and president of CITU-affiliated Darjeeling district Chiya Kaman Mazdoor Union Saman Pathak said the decision has caused a sense of insecurity among workers who are still waiting for ownership rights of their land. Instead of empowering workers with land rights the state government is creating avenues for realtors and private corporate groups. “We oppose the decision and want other trade unions to join us in protest”, Pathak has said.
Anit Thapa, who heads Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and is the chief executive of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), has conveyed to the state authorities the disenchantment in the hills over the decision. Thapa has gone on record saying that increasing the use of land for non-tea purposes will impact the landscape and dent the widely shared perception that tea growing areas have for all practical purposes a heritage status and a strong linkage with the culture in this part of the country.
In this context it may be mentioned that on August 1, 2024 the state government issued a notification for distribution up to five decimals of land to residents of tea gardens across north Bengal. The GTA chief executive has urged the state government to distribute land pattas on ‘as is where is’ basis without reference to any limitation on area held. He has also sought a halt forthwith of the land survey undertaken following the August 1, 2024 notification.
BJP’s MLA from Kurseong B P Sharma (Bajgain) confirmed to IPA his strong opposition to the state government’s decision raising the cap to 30 per cent for use of tea land for non-tea, commercial purposes. Ajay Edwards, who heads the Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front, has said the hills “are out homeland, We have no vacant space for others, forget about 30 per cent. We don’t have even one per cent vacant space. There will be no survey too for the five decimal land scheme”, has added.
BGPM chief and GTA CEO Thapa, who met state labour minister Malay Ghatak on Tuesday, February 18 on the land issue, is currently recognised by the hills people as a politician of stature who has consolidated his party’s position in the last two years. After TMC distanced itself from Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Mamata’s party chose Thapa’s BGPM as an ally.
It remains to be seen how the state government tackles the resentment over the 30 per cent cap. If the state government remains firm, BGPM’s ties with TMC may come under strain. For Thapa’s party, the 30 per cent cap, five decimal land distribution and the ongoing land survey are sensitive issues. (IPA Service)
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