106 tea workers die in six months in West Bengal

At least 106 workers in tea estates of India’s West Bengal state have died of hunger and malnutrition in the last six months, Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury has said.

Addressing the Lok Sabha (Lower house) on Tuesday, the former minister called for the Indian government to intervene immediately to save the tea workers in the northern districts of the state.
 
His appeal came on a day workers in 250 tea gardens in northern Bengal observed a relay hunger strike to the worsening situation.
 
The strike was meant to draw attention to the serious situation in which most estates were closed after managements enforced lockouts due to cash crunch and claimed losses during the past one year.
 
Adhir Chowdhury said 56 tea workers had died between April and October in the Alipurduar district alone.
 
In one tea estate alone, eight workers had starved to death, he said.
 

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“Many are dying every day. It is a slow and painful death,” said the MP from Murshidabad in West Bengal.

Darjeeling tea fetches good prices but the gardens in Dooars in the Himalayan foothills have been suffering belatedly due to rising input costs and poor auction prices for their tea.

“I appeal to the Modi government to intervene as the state government is oblivious to the fate of these hapless tea workers,” the lawmaker said.

“Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee goes to North Bengal frequently for khela and mela (sports and fairs) but she has no time for the dying tea workers,” Chowdhury alleged.