GYAN urges cancellation of state’s tea garden land scheme

The Gorkha Youth Activist Network (GYAN), Darjeeling, has formally urged Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) chief executive Anit Thapa to cancel Notification No. 3076-LP/1A-04/23 issued by the West Bengal government and introduce a new scheme for granting land rights in tea garden areas of the GTA region based on ancestral, customary, and continuous possession.

A detailed representation has been submitted by Birendra Rasaily, an advocate and chief coordinator of GYAN. The memorandum, a copy of which has also been sent to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, voices strong opposition to the state’s existing “Scheme for Distributing Homestead Pattas among Landless Tea Garden Labourers in North Bengal,” introduced on 1 August, 2023 following cabinet approval.

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According to GYAN, the current scheme proposes resumption of surplus or unutilised tea garden land by the state and its conversion to government-owned land (Khatian No. 1), after which pattas of only five decimals would be granted to select families. The pattas are described as heritable but non-transferable.

The scheme has been criticised for undermining the rights of aboriginal tea garden residents of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, many of whom have been living and cultivating these lands for generations based on ancestral and customary possession. The residents, GYAN claims, are not truly “landless” but have remained without legal recognition of their traditional landholdings.

It has been pointed out that although a temporary suspension of the scheme was ordered on 12 September, 2023, survey works resumed on 2 November, 2023 without any structural changes to the original notification. This was further confirmed through a reply received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on 17 March.

Despite repeated letters from the GTA chief executive to the state government, including a memo dated 18 February, seeking suspension of surveys in the region, no action has been taken, and Notification No. 3076 remains in force.

A demand has now been placed for a new scheme titled: “Scheme for recognition and grant of Land Rights to Tea Garden workers and long-standing residents of the GTA region based on ancestral, customary, and continuous possession” to protect the rights and identity of the local population.