Responding to a proposal made by the Tea Association of India (TAI), State Bank of India (SBI) set up CSPs in five tea gardens in the Terai belt today. SBI's authorized 'Banking Correspondent' Save Solutions Private Limited (SSPL) will run those CSPs.
Tea association official says gardens are taking all precautions, following guidelines.
It is learnt that 50 percent of the total donation amount will be given to the West Bengal state government relief fund and the remaining 50 will be given to the Prime Minister’s relief fund.
Though tea garden owners are virtually upset at the state government's decision, despite several reminders to the CM to continue operations and even other officials including state finance minister Amit Mitra, trade union leaders and other political leaders, including Darjeeling’s BJP MP, Raju Bista, welcomed the state government's stand.
According to Mr Dasgupta, the management of the Mujnai Tea Estate has also not turned up yet despite several reminders.
A fissure has emerged in the state BJP between state president Ghosh who opposes Manirul’s inclusion in the party and Mukul Roy, the leader who was instrumental in his walking into BJP.
On the other hand, fear gripped the local populace as they believe that the mother leopard had become “more ferocious” after it lost its cub.
The Munda Kothi tea garden is registered under the Darjeeling Organic Tea Estate Private Limited and is owned by the Bansal group which owns a majority of the gardens in the hills.
Official sources said that the management had to leave the garden following workers' agitation on 18 July as the management had been having problems in paying the due wages.
Demanding Minimum Wages Act to be implemented in tea gardens of the Hills, the Dooars and the Terai, the around 23 trade unions, in a meeting in Darjeeling, have decided to launch a series of programmes.
