JOIN USWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is against closure of Duncan tea gardens in the Dooars region said on Tuesday that her government is ready to run the tea estates if required.
Closed for more than seven months, dismal condition in the gardens and its workers came to light in the wake of reports that 26 people had faced malnutrition deaths since October.
“If Duncan can’t run its estates, they can quit. We’ll run these gardens,” Banerjee said at a public meeting during her tour of north Bengal on Tuesday.
She added that the power and water supply at the 13 closed gardens of Duncan, which were disconnected since the company did not clear its bills for months, utility services have been restored on her orders.
The gardens have remained closed since late May and no work took place during the peak plucking season from June to September.
Although tea garden owners have closed down gardens from time to time over the last few decades, Banerjee seems to have taken strong exception to the ongoing crisis at the gardens owned by top industrialist G P Goenka’s Duncan group.
“It will require a lot of investment, but we’ve taken over sick gardens in the past. We believe these gardens can be turned around in the next four to five years,” said a senior government official.
While Banerjee’s commitment to workers could be looking at the Assembly polls in 2016, officials said that her concern also stems from the fact that a long line of deaths in one of the most lucrative industries in Bengal would reflect poorly on her.
Reportedly serious about taking to task a defaulting Duncan, she ordered a probe by the state CID.