Order to open Ringtang

VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, April 18: The Darjeeling district magistrate has directed the owner of Ringtang tea garden, shut for 16 years, to reopen it on Monday and clear all workers’ dues within a month. Trade unions claimed that the dues had touched the Rs 5.7 crore mark and included transport and other reimbursable expenses from 1993 to 1996. “The (land reforms) tribunal had asked the district magistrate/collectorate to conduct a hearing and look into means to reopen the garden. Following the meeting, I directed the owner to open the garden from Monday and also to clear all the liabilities within a month,” said district magistrate Saumitra Mohan. P.T. Sherpa, the president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha affiliated Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union, said the workers would wait to see what the management would do. “We welcome the district magistrate’s order. According to our records, the management has a liability of Rs 5.7 crore, which the owner has to clear within a month,” he said. The management abandoned the garden in Sonada Valley after a devastating fire gutted the factory on December 19, 1996, following a labour unrest. At that time, 977 workers were on its rolls. The district administration had showcaused garden owner Sushil Chowdhury on November 1, 2007, and on July 8, 2009, asking why the renewed lease of 2002 should not be cancelled. Chowdhury had moved the land reforms tribunal challenging the administration’s showcause notices on the grounds that he should not be held responsible for situations beyond his control. The garden owner, who attended the meeting at the district magistrate’s office today, however, refused comment. “Since the matter is sub-judice, I would not like to comment on this issue,” he said. Asked what would happen in the event of non-compliance with the order, Mohan said: “We will apprise the state government of the development. Earlier, the administration had wanted to cancel the lease of the garden and had showcaused the management accordingly.” Industry sources said Chowdhury could appeal to the tribunal once again. In that case, the opening of the garden could be delayed. The government could consider cancelling the lease, if the owner does not appeal or fails to comply with the DM’s order, the sources said. A workers committee was formed in 1998 to run the shut garden. The workers were paid Rs 10 for every kilogram of tealeaves. From this amount, Re 1 was deducted as transport cost, trade union leaders said. Chowdhury, who had claimed he was not on the committee and had provided only the “technical know-how” to run it, had been accused of selling the plucked tea leaves to other gardens at a higher rate without having to pay salaries or other statutory benefits to the workers. Seven workers of Ringtang had been on strike from March 27 to April 4 under the Morcha union’s banner to demand the cancellation of the garden’s lease.(TT)