Landfall of Cyclone Yaas

We are getting updates about the cyclone Yaas and its impact from our members in various villages and anchals from South 24 and North 24. Heavy rains have led to an increase in the sea level, river dams and embankments have broken in various places. There has been a lot of damage to property as well as agriculture. Various villages are flooded. Many people have shifted to safe places and have been able to prepare for a further crisis - with water entering their villages tonight, due to high tide. People have gathered together, preparing meals and helping each other as much as possible. At the same time, there are also people who are yet to find any shelter.

South 24 Parganas:

In Mousuni, Narayanpur, Namkhana, Fraserganj, Shibrampur, Haripur, Buda Khali areas of Namkhana block, the sea water has reached to a dangerous level due to the effect of the cyclone; The river dams are overflowing and water has entered all the villages. Villagers who had kutcha houses are yet to find any shelter, some villagers have been given shelter in flood centers, villagers are very worried about their families and cattle. 

In Sumati Nagar, Muriganga 2, Gangasagar, Dhabalat Chitpur gram panchayat, of Sagar block,  river dams have broken and water is entering the village. 

In 3 places of Maipith GP of Kultali block, river dams have broken and water has entered the villages. The river dam overflowed and flooded two places. It is feared that water may enter some more places during the night at high tide. The people who have kutcha houses have been moved to places of safety, with necessary arrangements of food.

Water was entering in 2 places in the Bhubaneswari GP, but people could successfully construct makeshift dams to stop it. River dams near Majharkheya, Amtala kheyar have broken down. Villagers fear dams could break and water might enter in   several places. 

In Patharpratima and Achinthyanagar GP, river embankments have broken in two places (Hatishur and Virat Bazar). The conditions are alarming in these places, water might enter the villages at night, during high tide. 

The condition of Brajballavpur GP is very bad and there is a possibility of various river dams breaking in different places. The river embankment has broken and water has entered in Raydighi Bazar. 

The river embankment of Nandakumarpur GP has broken in two places. The Hajragheri river embankment of Raydighi Kumrapara GP has broken and water is flowing through the river embankment of Anwar Doctor, the fifth market of Nagendrapur GP. Drinking water tube wells have been submerged due to the inundation of Raydighi GP Bazar.

Besides, several places in Kankandighi, Nagendrapur and Kumrapara GPs are in critical condition. People are preparing meals in various flood centres, schools and houses. Arrangements for water, medicine and electricity have been made. 

River embankments in Nalgora No. 1 and Nalgora No. 3  in Nalgora GP of Joynagar 2 block have broken and water is entering the fields. Nalgora GP has broken dams in 8 places. There are still 2 hours left for high tide. It has been reported that Kumrapara Robekhaki and Shankar Gheri Chatua have been breached and water is entering the agriculture fields. 

North Kumrapara river embankment broke and many villages are submerged. The entire GP of Kumrapara is flooded. A dam has broken Priormor to Haldar Gheri. Villages have submerged.

Narendrapur, Chatua, Nandakumarpur GP, South 24 Parganas

Narendrapur, Chatua, Nandakumarpur GP, South 24 Parganas

Narendrapur, Chatua, Nandakumarpur GP, South 24 Parganas

North 24 Parganas:

Several villages in Mohanpur and Chapali anchal of Minakhan block have been flooded due to the breaking of river dams.

In Fulbari (Chapali anchal), Balaberia, Dhamakhali, Sandeshkhali people have moved to the flood relief centres and are being provided with food items (গুড় , চীড়া, মুড়ি, বিসকুট)  for the time being.

 In Malancho, Chaital GP (Minakhan block), Bhawanipur, Amlani anchal (Hasnabad block)- river embankments have broken, water has entered the villages. The local leaders are providing rice and dal. Some people have taken shelter in the local schools.

'May Day' Observance

Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS) and Shramajivee Mahila Samity (SMS) observe May Day across 12 districts in West Bengal

'May Day' has always been a special occasion for unarguably the largest independent trade union of marginal farmers, agricultural workers and plantation workers in India. The struggle which began in 1988 with the enforcement of an eight hour work day for agricultural workers in the district of South 24 Parganas continues even today in upholding the constitutional rights of the unorganized sector workers within the farm and non farm sectors of the economy. PBKMS has been at the forefront whether in advocating for implementation of the provisions of MGNREGA, 2005 in its true spirits or for mobilizing plantation workers to struggle for the realization of their pending wages from unscrupulous tea garden owners. The systemic apathy of the state amidst a raging pandemic and rising inequality in the society points towards the relevance of May Day in the present times. The day gives us renewed hope and instills belief in the power of collective strength of the working class to march forward in our demand for an equal world order watering the dreams of a 'classless society'.

With strict adherence to social distancing norms and state government guidelines on gatherings, we have observed the sacred day across our field areas. Calls of 'Workers of the world unite' have reverberated through the morning air challenging the hegemonic grip of the bourgeois class over community resources.    

Senior leadership in Badu Collective, Madhyamgram preparing to hoist our union flag 

SMS leaders posing before indigenous paddy collecting systems in Konkondighi Gram Panchayat, Raidighi block, South 24 Parganas

Youth leaders unfurling the union flag in Uttar Dinajpur 

SMS activists raise their fists during sloganeering in Chapra, Nadia

Members observing a minute of silence in Siborampur, Namkhana, South 24 Parganas

Block leadership commemorating the day in Mathurapur, South 24 Parganas  

Puncha block in Purulia marks the day with a reduced attendance owing to a spike in covid-19 cases in the district

Activists of Belma block in Purulia raise slogans with the red flag of PBKMS flying high    

The following charter of demands has been sent to the political leadership on behalf of our union to ensure the access to necessary means of survival for vulnerable sections during the pandemic and the policy measures required to address the concerns of the working class:

• Facilitating all economic activities in West Bengal with restrictions only in movement and access to certain enclosed public spaces like stadiums, shopping complexes, restaurants, etc.

• Immediate formulation of a policy to facilitate the safe return of migrant workers stranded in states where partial or complete lockdown have been announced.

• Provision of at least 200 days of guaranteed wage employment to each and every willing adult individual in rural areas under MGNREGA, 2005. Immediate roll out of a similar programme in urban areas.

• Universalization of the Public Distribution System while ensuring a minimum quantity of 14 kilograms of food grains, 1.5 kilograms of pulses and 800 ml of edible vegetable oil per month for each and every individual.

• Disbursal of a monthly sum of ₹7000 to vulnerable families, at least for six months.

• Immediate rollback of the four labour codes and the three central farm laws which have the potential to disproportionately affect the interests of the unorganized sector workers and their families

Who Is the Actual Thief?

PBKMS protests against the illegal takeover of the abandoned Birpara Tea Garden by Merico Agro Industries Limited

Gardens in the Doars have been ruined since the crisis in 2003-04 by theft. The sufferers have been ordinary workers – the women pluckers and their children who survive on the green leaves alone. The latest accusation of theft has been made against the 1300 workers of Jateswar Division of Birpara Tea Garden. But we would like to raise the question - Who is the thief in this case?

Birpara tea garden was abandoned in 2015, to be re-opened in 2017  and then again abandoned by the Duncans Industries Ltd. In September 2019, 1300 workers of Jateshwar Division of Birpara garden made a collective of their own to run 405 acres of the garden.  Since then, the workers have received Rs. 10 per kg for plucking leaves, earning Rs 250-300 per day during the season. The collective started saving successfully right from September 2019. Each received an average of Rs. 11,280 as bonus from the surplus savings on October 7,2020. They have also received money for their paid leave (“saal chutti”) during the off season.

Workers feel the past year has been better for them than even when Duncans was managing the garden.  The workers are also convinced that while employers may come and go , workers would be dependent on the tea bushes for generations to come . Hence it was their responsibility to maintain and safeguard these bushes, shade trees and other garden properties. It is these responsible workers who have been called thieves.

The accusation of theft has its origins in an illegal opening agreement. On 12^th February trade union leaders of 4-5 major trade unions signed an agreement with Merico Agro Industries Limited to re-open the garden on 16^th February 2021. No Government official or Duncans representative has signed this agreement.

The Jateswar workers claim this re-opening is illegal and they will be cheated by this so-called management. This contention is based on the following :-

1. According to the High Court Order (MAT 562 of 2016) dated 29^th September 2016, the Duncans Industries Limited are not allowed to sell the garden to any other owner. They are to run the garden themselves and return dues to workers.
2. Since 5^th March 2021, Duncans Industries Limited has been declared bankrupt. All  Duncans properties are now  under a Resolution Professional and a Committee of Creditors are now considering a plan to sell Duncans properties and re-pay their creditors. Hence the garden cannot be handed over by any person to Merico Agro Industries.
3. Due to the illegality of Merico’s ownership, even a case of theft of green leaves filed by the Merico senior manager against 14 Jateswar workers was not considered valid.  The ACJM (2^nd Court ) Alipur Duar while giving  unconditional bail to the workers arrested in this case on 26^th March 2021 has questioned the locus standi of the senior manager of Merico in filing this theft case and has expressed doubts about the “authorities”   who have signed the agreement handing Birpara over to Mericos. She has sternly warned the Birpara Police from filing any such illegal theft cases against Jateswar workers.
4. Workers of Jateswar and our union have been asking the management and the administration to provide us with legally valid documents of Merico’s ownership of Birpara. So far, we have not been shown even one document. No such document has been filed even in a case filed in the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri

Workers lodging their joint complaint with the Assistant Labour Commissioner, Birpara, Alipurduar

The workers therefore continue to pluck leaves and maintain the bushes, providing irrigation, fertiliser , pesticides etc. and would like to raise the question – who are the actual thieves ?

We have seen the theft in gardens where whole buildings have been reduced to the ground, with every brick, rod and stone being stolen. We have seen a timber mafia that flourishes with the illegal cutting of shade trees in closed and open gardens, where management colluded with the mafia to make a quick buck at the cost of the employer who is in faraway Kolkata or Siliguri.

The largest theft has been by employers who have abandoned gardens without paying workers’ dues . Paschim Banga Khet Majoor is at present fighting a case in the Supreme Court for 29 such gardens where the total dues that employers have not paid amount to over Rs.350 crores. There has been theft in Gratuity, where under the Labour office in Birpara alone at least 8-10,000 workers have not been paid gratuity even though they have retired 10 to 15 years ago. Even after the direction and order of the Assistant Labour Commissioner, the management has denied to pay the gratuity money to the workers. Garden management  also steals, deducting provident funds from workers but not depositing their share or the employees' share. Desperate workers agree to illegal and invalid opening agreements, where their leaders sign away all their dues and agree to payment of only daily wages for the reopening of a garden.

Workers from Jateshwar division protesting against police action preventing them from plucking tea leaves in Birapara Tea Garden 

We are surprised by the silence of some trade unions about these huge thefts. We suspect collusion between some trade union leaders, administration and rogue employers in these thefts. Instead of accusing works who are trying to prevent the loot of their garden by an illegal owner, let us all work together to rid the gardens of the thieves who steal our gratuity and provident fund, who open gardens without legal documents and who run away with our dues and our assets without caring about our children and our survival.

 

Identify the Real Thieves. Stop the Real Theft.

'Na Pati Tippenge , Na Choron Ko Tipne Denge' ( We Will Not Pluck The Leaves Ourselves, Nor Will We Let Thieves Pluck)

An interesting development took place in the dispute between the workers of Jateswar division of Birpara Teas Garden and the so-called new owners, Merico Agro Industries Limited on 26th March 2020. The magistrate, ACJM 2, in Alipurduar Court expressed doubts about the legality of Merico’s ownership of the garden. She was hearing the bail petition of Parmeswar Oraon and Sagar Munda, two workers of the Jateswar division in Birpara Case No 47/2021, where the workers have been accused of “stealing green leaf” by a Shri Prasun Chakrobroty, purportedly the manager of Merico Agro Industries Limited.

The arrested worker Parmeswar Oraon is the petitioner in a case filed at the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court (case no. 751/2021), where he has questioned the validity of Merico’s ownership and has complained of police harassment. He and Sagar Munda were returning from Jalpaiguri after the first hearing of the case on the 25th when they were arrested by the Birpara police at 7.30 PM. On the same day at 3 PM their fellow worker Dinesh Sharma, who had been arrested the previous day on the same charges in Case No 25/2021, was granted bail by the same ACJM on the assurance that no further plucking of green leaf would take place. She was therefore surprised to find that another case on the very same complaint had again been filed within an hour of her giving bail. Suspecting connivance and illegality, she therefore asked the two police IOs (investigating officers) to produce documents showing that the complainant (Merico ) was actually an owner and therefore could accuse others of stealing green leaf. The IOs produced a hand written document signed by some supposed trade union leaders . She was extremely angry and told the police that they were in connivance with an illegal owner. She gave specific instructions that her order which questioned the legality of the owner should be placed in the circuit bench on the next date.

In the circuit bench, the connivance between illegal owners , administration and vested trade unions became even clearer. Merico Agro Industries Limited did not produce any documents proving ownership. Incidentally Birpara tea garden which was earlier owned by Duncans is now being dismantled and sold under the supervision of a Resolution Professional by an order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) dated 5 th March 2021. (Duncans Industries Limited Vs Sangita Fiscal Services Pvt Ltd.) It was without the permission of the NCLT and the Resolution Professional that Merico took over the garden, and now has no documents to prove ownership. They keep showing an agreement with 4 trade unions, none of whom have the authority to hand over the garden to new owner. Also, on 25th March, at the High Court , 4 trade unions showed great “unity of purpose” in safe guarding the illegal owner’s interest . Cutting across party lines and in the midst of one of the most bitterly fought elections in West Bengal, unions belonging to BJP, TMC CPI (M) and an Adivasi union (PTWU) in one voice said there was no problem in the garden and they wanted the new owner.

The Superintendent of Police, despite dharnas in the police station by Jateswar workers, arrests and police raids claimed in court that there was “total peace” in the area . As a result the judge did not give any interim relief to the workers and has asked for the case to heard again on the 19th of April.

Birpara is a typical example of the misery of workers with gardens changing hands between fly-by-night operators. It was abandoned by the Duncans Pvt Ltd in 2015 and then temporarily opened in 2017 by Duncans , but was again abandoned in September 2019. After this, the Jateshwar Division of Birpara garden formed an informal co-operative to run the garden. 1300 workers started working on 1700 bighas or 567 acres. Since then, the workers have earned around Rs 250-300 per day during the season. The collective also started saving right from September 2019, so that it was able to give Rs 11280 to each worker as bonus on October 7,2020. They have also recently distributed money in January for the traditional paid leave (“saal chutti”) during the off season. Workers feel the past year has been better for them than even when Duncans was there. According to the workers of Jateswar division, they have put a lot of effort to turn the garden into a paying venture ,after it was deserted by Duncans. Now that it is in profitable condition a new greedy owner is wanting to take over.

The workers are angry with the management, the unions as well as the government, and do not have any faith in the new employer who didn't even consult with them before taking this decision. They are also concerned about the legality of the ownership because despite repeated requests by the workers to the Labour Department, the police and the owner, no documents proving ownership have been shown. Nor is there any assurance about the payment of past workers’ dues, including unpaid wages, gratuity and provident fund , which according to the Tea Board stands at Rupees 6 crores and 97 lakhs . Workers of Jateswar division have decided to continue the struggle. They are now accusing Merico of theft. 'Na pati tippenge , na choron ko tipne denge' is their slogan (we will not pluck the leaves ourselves, nor will we let thieves pluck).