Tea Garden Land Survey in Darjeeling Highlands Resumes After Months of Delay

After months of debate and disagreement, the land survey in the Darjeeling highlands' tea gardens has finally begun.

The development was confirmed by Rajesh Chowhan, the deputy chairman of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Sabha.

"Today (Thursday), the survey got underway in two hill gardens: Dooteriah and Jungpana," Chowhan stated.

People who have spent decades cultivating tea gardens in the hills are not entitled to the land they live on.

The state government announced on August 1st that laborers and other residents of north Bengal's tea gardens would receive pattas for five-decimal household plots.

But there were loud objections to the decision in the hills. The opposition parties in the hills objected to the move, claiming that since tea garden workers were in possession of more than five decimals of land, pattas should be awarded for the whole plots.

Anit Thapa, the head of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and chief executive of GTA, played a key role in persuading the state government to approve the patta distribution. However, he changed his mind after first endorsing the five-decimal layout scheme.

In many Darjeeling gardens, government surveyors were not permitted to carry out the surveys. Consequently, on September 12, the survey plan in the hills was canceled.

On November 2, however, the government once more announced that it will "resume" the survey in the GTA area's tea gardens "as in where is basis," with no mention of any restrictions on the area held.

The survey was also rejected by Sunil Rai, a spokesman of the Joint Forum, an umbrella group of about 20 trade unions that represent tea garden workers.

Rai noted, however, that the Forum would only permit the land survey and that no decision had been made regarding the kind of land document that would be most appropriate for the hills after the notice of November 2 was sent out.

Rai stated, "We have decided not to oppose the survey as it is important to determine the amount of land that the workers possess."

However, some opposition leaders have claimed that the notice from November 2 does not guarantee that the workers will receive all of the land that is in their ownership.

The notice is limited to the survey itself. An opposition leader stated, "We will permit the survey at this time, but we haven't reached a consensus on the best documentation for the workers.

Nearly 70% of people live in the 87 tea gardens dotting the slopes.

In order to manage the survey, the GTA has also chosen to establish committees at the district, block, and local levels.

"The district-level committee, which will be made up of trade union representatives, the district magistrate's office, and the GTA, will function as a supervisory body," Chowhan stated.

Block authorities and union representatives will make up the block-level committee, which will assume the role of a "program implementation committee."

"A garden-level local committee will be established as well," Chowhan declared.

For GTA head Thapa, the survey's commencement is anticipated to be a huge relief.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.