Trade union leaders of Trinamul, along with party workers, have set a target to meet workers employed across 130-plus tea estates across the Dooars belt during the next 11 days.
From Monday, the Trinamul Cha Bagan Shramik Union (TCBSU) will launch the Chai Shramik Ekta Yatra, a march from the Bengal-Assam border in eastern Dooars that will cover Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts to reach western Dooars on February 29.
“Our trade union leaders cover tea estates of the Dooars. The leaders will tell workers and their families of the benefits extended by the Bengal government and simultaneously remind them of the hollow promises made by the BJP leaders, including central ministers,” Ritabrata Banerjee, the state president of IINTTUC, Trinamul’s trade union front, said here on Sunday.
“Every day, the march will move through several tea estates. Also, there will be general meetings where workers of two-three gardens will be present. Altogether, 15 such meetings will be held across the tea belt. On March 1, we will have a public meeting in Banarhat,” he added.
The march will move through eight to 10 tea gardens a day. “On some days, the yatra will cover 15 to 20 gardens. The idea is to reach out to the maximum number of tea workers,” said Nirjal Dey, the Darjeeling (plains) district INTTUC president.
After defeat in three Lok Sabha seats in the brew belt in the 2019 polls, Trinamul faced another debacle in the Assembly elections of 2021. Although the party won handsomely in the state, it could win only two of 14 Assembly seats in the tea belt.
Over the past couple of years, Trinamul renewed its focus on the tea belt to repair damage, with daily wage hike and land rights for tea workers, among others. Trinamul performed better in the rural polls and won the Dhupguri Assembly bypoll.
The BJP sounded unperturbed. "Tea workers know they are getting benefits of central schemes which the state runs in its name and that the state has failed to fix the minimum wage rate so far...," said Shankar Ghosh, the BJP MLA of Siliguri.
