Raju Bista, the BJP MP of Darjeeling has sent letters to Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal and chief minister Mamata Banerjee, requesting their intervention to facilitate the reopening of the closed tea estates in Darjeeling hills.

As of now, 12 of 87 tea estates which produce the world famous Darjeeling brew, are closed.

“Altogether, 15,000 tea workers are jobless now in the hills. It is unfortunate that over the past few months, five gardens have closed down. That is why I have sent the letters (to the Union commerce minister and the Bengal chief minister), seeking their intervention to help the jobless workers and their families,” said Bista.

In the hills, the Panighatta tea estate, which is in the Mirik subdivision, has been closed since 2008. In 2021, some more gardens closed down and have not reopened. During the past couple of months, five gardens stopped production.

On Monday, the management of Longview, a tea estate located around 20 kilometres from Siliguri, announced suspension of work.

In his letter to Goyal, Bista mentioned that according to the Tea Act, of 1953, the Tea Board of India can take over distressed tea estates.

“We want the board to take over these tea estates or let those run by workers’ cooperatives under the Union ministry of cooperation,” theMP added.

Sources in the tea industry concurred with Bista, saying that by invoking the Tea Act, the Centre could take control of closed tea estates and hand over such tea estates to prospective entrepreneurs interested in running tea estates.

“But there are certain legal formalities.... Also, it largely depends on the Centre and the Tea Board (which functions under the Union commerce ministry) as to whether it will make such a move,” said a tea planter based in Siliguri.

Over the past few years, stakeholders of the Darjeeling tea industry, which produces around six million kilos of tea that is considered one of the finest brews across the globe, have expressed concern over the influx of Nepal tea.

Teas made in Nepal are imported to India and then exported abroad as Darjeeling tea, they had alleged.

Such tea from the neighbouring country is affecting the market of the Darjeeling tea in domestic and international markets, theyhad pointed out.

“The Darjeeling tea industry needs active support from the state and central governments. Most of the estates are reeling under financial crisis and a section of gardens are closing down,” the planter said, adding that the tea industry was in dire need of help.

The crisis continues to deepen, as was evinced by the management of Longview tea estate that issued the notice announcing suspension of work.

The notice mentioned that a series of agitations and gross indiscipline by a section of workers regularly have directly impacted the financials of the company and the tea garden operations. There are 1,240 workers in the garden.

In his letter to Mamata, Bista requested her to activate the state labour department to expedite the reopening of the shut gardens.

“A section of these gardens have not disbursed the bonus to the workers ahead of the festivities which has left them disgruntled. I have requested her for a prompt intervention to address the issues related to the tea estates of the hills. Or else, there is an apprehension that the situation might deteriorate,” said the MP.

Additional reporting by Bireswar Banerjee