By IANS
Kolkata : The central government is keen to constitute a high-level committee for reopening closed tea gardens in Jalpaiguri district of north Bengal.
"The suggestion of forming this committee was given by West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen in a meeting with me Friday. The committee will be headed by the additional secretary of union commerce ministry," Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Jairam Ramesh told reporters here Saturday after attending the annual general meeting of the Tea Board of India.
He said Sen had suggested four West Bengal officials be included in the committee as state representatives – the state commerce secretary, labour secretary, finance secretary and land reform commissioner.
Tea Board chairman Basudeb Banerjee will also be a member of the committee.
Ramesh Friday held a high-level meeting here with Sen, Banerjee, state Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb and Commerce Secretary Sabyasachi Sen. The committee will look into several issues to reopen 13 closed tea gardens in north Bengal.
There are 302 tea gardens in West Bengal of which 288 are presently functioning. One at Surendranagar in north Bengal was reopened recently.
Speaking on the initiative to revitalise closed tea gardens, Ramesh said after reopening of 13 tea gardens in Jalpaiguri, 17,000 tea garden workers will get back their jobs and about 85,000 people will be indirectly benefited.
"These 13 tea gardens have been categorised in four types – firstly there are those where owners' lease has expired, secondly there the ones where bilateral settlement between present owner and the prospective buyer can be done. The third category is where offer can be revaluated and the fourth type is those which can neither be offered or evaluated," he said.
There are two tea gardens – Ramjhora and Chamurchi – that fall under first and second categories respectively and the remaining tea gardens are categorised in last two types.
"We have given a deadline till July 30 this year to the closed tea garden owners and if the matter has not been settled by then the special committee will intervene through implementing Section 16E of Tea Board Act of India," Ramesh said.
The central government, for the first time, is also trying to do a comprehensive survey of all small tea growers in West Bengal and Assam through satellite imaging. The system will have a satellite report of all tea growers and the land used for tea plantation. The system is likely to be completed by March 2008, Ramesh said.