रिङटाङ चियाकमान 23 अप्रेल देखि पुन खोलिने

19 अप्रेल(कालेबुङ):- कलकत्ता उच्च न्यायालयको आदेश पछि दार्जीलिङ जिल्ला प्रशासनले बन्द रिङटाङ चिया कमानका मालिकलाई श्रमिकहरुको बकाया राशि भुक्तान गर्न अनि आगामी सोमबारदेखि कमान पुन खोलाउने निर्देश दिएको छ। बन्द चियाकमानको समस्याबारे उच्च न्यायालयमा गरिएको जनहित याचिकाको संज्ञान लिँदै उच्च न्यायालयले कमानको समस्याको समाधान गर्ने दिशामा जिल्ला प्रशासनलाई पहल गर्ने निर्देश दिएपछि जिल्ला प्रशासनले यो पदक्षेप ग्रहण गरेको हो। बुधबार दार्जीलिङस्थित जिल्लापाल कार्यालयमा डाकिएको त्रिपक्षीय बैठकमा रिङटाङ चियाकमानका मालिक सुशिल चौधरीलाई जिल्लापाल एस मोहनले आगामी 23 अप्रेलदेखि कमान खोल्ने अनि बकाया राशिहरु भुक्तान गर्ने निर्देश दिएका छन। बुधबार जिल्लापालको कार्यालयमा सम्पन्न बैठकमा मोर्चाबाट महासचिव रोशन गिरी, कमानका मालिक सुशिल चौधरी, जिल्लापाल सौमित्र मोहन अनि श्रमिक संगठनका प्रतिनिधिहरु पीटी शेर्पा र सुरज सुब्बा उपस्थित थिए। रिङटाङ कमानको कारखाना सन 1996मा जलेदेखि यता यो कमान बन्द अवस्थामा छ।कमान बन्द भएपछि यहाँका 944जना श्रमिकहरुको परिवारले कष्टकर जीवन भोग्दै आइरहेका छन। चिया कमान खोल्ने माग गर्दै यहाँका श्रमिकहरुले दार्जीलिङ तराई डूवर्स प्लान्टेशन युनियनको नेतृत्वमा गत 26 मार्चदेखि नौ दिनको आमरण अनशन पनि गरेका थिए। युनियनको भनाई अनुसार कमान मालिकले 5 करोड, 70 लाख 30 हजार रुपियाँ भुक्तान गर्न बाँकी छ। जिल्लापालले कमान मालिकलाई यो राशि यो महिनाको अन्तिम सप्ताहसम्म चुक्ता गर्नु पर्ने निर्देश दिएको छ। यता, मालिकले यो राशि चुक्ता गर्न नसकेको खण्डमा कमानको लिज रद्द गरिनु पर्ने श्रमिक संगठनको भनाई छ। हिजो सम्पन्न भएको बैठकको अवधीमा कमानका श्रमिकहरुले जिल्लापाल कार्यालय परिसरमा धर्ना प्रदर्शन पनि गरेका थिए। अर्कोतिर, बैठकमा भएको सहमतिबारे जिल्लापाल एस मोहनले जानकारी दिएका छन।

Read More

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)

Read More

Camera tabs on Siliguri

Traffic moves through Airview More in Siliguri on Wednesday. This is one of the 19 locations where cameras will be installed. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, April 18: Security surveillance cameras will be installed at 19 locations across Siliguri to monitor traffic and watch out for crime on roads. The decision was taken by the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority at a meeting held here today.

The meeting was attended by 113 SJDA members. They also gave their consent to the construction of a new college at Champasari and a climbing wall near Darjeeling More to encourage adventure sports.

“Installation of cameras is a unique project. Keeping in mind the need to monitor traffic and also movement of residents, we have decided to put such cameras at strategic locations across Siliguri. The cameras would help us to keep day-to-day update of the town and help in maintaining law and order ,” said SJDA chairman and Siliguri MLA Rudranath Bhattacharya.

The 19 important locations were identified at a meeting with district police officers two months back, Bhattacharya said. Darjeeling More, Panitanki More, Champasari, Station Feeder Road, Hill Cart Road and Hashmi Chowk are some of the spots where the cameras will be erected.

“These cameras have lenses which can move 180 degrees with the zoom. They can record videos and store it for one week and are weatherproof. The estimated price of each of these cameras is likely to be Rs 3 to Rs 4 lakh,” he said.

At the board meeting, it has been decided that the SJDA will also install decorated lights along the 12km stretch from Darjeeling More to Airport More in Bagdogra of NH31 to attract tourists and visitors.(TT)

Read More

Forcible entry charge sparks ally war

Gautam Deb, Shankar Malakar

Siliguri, April 18: Darjeeling district president Shankar Malakar today accused Trinamul of using force to make its presence felt in the district’s rural belt ahead of next year’s panchayat polls, an allegation that has been met with a volley of protests and allegations from minister Gautam Deb.

Trinamul said Malakar’s outburst was prompted by the party’s “insecurity” about its support base in north Bengal — adding one more dimension to the uneasy, and often bitter, relation between the two parties. The rift had started over the sharing of the posts of the mayor and the chairperson, soon after the two parties won the Siliguri Municipal Corporation election in 2009.

In recent times, the relation between the allies have dipped all the more because of clashes between the student wings of the two outfits and the arrest of a Chhatra Parishad leader.

“Trinamul, which has a limited base in Siliguri town, is now forcibly trying to penetrate into the rural areas of Siliguri sub-division. A section of workers and leaders, who were with the CPM and have now joined Trinamul, is intimidating people, grabbing government land and trying to create tension in areas as a desperate move to garner support,” Malakar said today. “It seems to be a planned strategy to gain control in rural areas before the panchayat polls. However, we will not relent and continue our struggle with workers and supporters who have been with the Congress for decades.”

In Darjeeling district, of the three plains MLAs, two are from the Congress. The third is Trinamul’s Rudranath Bhattacharya, who represents Siliguri. Both Phansidewa and Matigara-Naxalbari, represented by Sunil Tirkey and Malakar in the Assembly, are in the rural belt.

The district Congress president said north Bengal development minister Deb, a Trinamul MLA from Jalpaiguri district, was keeping him in the dark about the development projects in the region. “It seems to be a politically-motivated move to keep us in the dark and announce projects like fire brigade and a disaster management training centre in Naxalbari without our knowledge. Although I am the local MLA, I am never consulted,” Malakar said.

The Congress has lined up a series of programmes starting from April 20 across Siliguri to mobilise support before the panchayat polls. In the seven-seat Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, equivalent to the zilla parishad, three belong to the Congress and the rest are from the CPM. Of the four panchayat samitis, two are under the Congress and the rest with the CPM. The Congress is also in power in 12 of the 22 gram panchayats.

“It is clear that the influence of Trinamul is confined to some pockets of the Siliguri town only. We don’t know if there will be any alliance. But we can hold on our own. We will organise meetings, rallies and other events from April 20 to May 17. State level leaders will visit the region to interact with the workers. Even today, we are the only and principal opposition of the Left Front in rural areas,” said Malakar.

Responding to the charges, Deb, who is the president of the Darjeeling district Trinamul, said it would be difficult for the Congress to retain its support.

“More and more people, from youths to elderly residents and women, are joining our party from the rural areas of Siliguri sub-division. This happened because of our performance and the fulfilment of commitments made by the chief minister,” he said.

“The Congress, whose representatives have failed to fulfil even the basic needs of people in the past 10 months after being elected, is suffering from the insecurity of losing support. So the party is levelling such baseless charges against us. The common people will understand that these leaders are trying to hide their failure,” Deb added.

Like the Congress, Mamata Banerjee’s party will also line up programmes in rural areas of Siliguri, the minister said.(TT)

Read More