Chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's
pet project, Tea Tourism, seems to have ruffled feathers in
the Congress, Intuc and the Forward Bloc.
While Congress and Intuc leader Mr Subarata Mukherjee today
declared war against any such project, Forward Bloc leader
and the secretary of its workers’ union North Bengal
Tea Plantation Workers’ Union, Mr Prabal Raha, stated
that his party and union were altogether opposed to the idea.
“The Congress and Intuc would shut down any such project
in north Bengal,” Mr Mukherjee, said.
“The state government perhaps wants tourists across
the world to descend here and see the wrinkled bodies of the
half-starved plantation workers to amuse themselves,”
Mr Raha observed.
With the edge of criticism being sharpened
against the state government for the doddering state of the
tea industry in north Bengal, the proposed Tea Tourism project
is providing a fresh handle to the Opposition as well as to
the disgruntled Front constituents.
Describing the proposed project as a blue print for converting
the tea plantations in north Bengal into centres of flesh
and liquor trades the president of the West Bengal unit of
Intuc and senior Congress leader Mr Subrata Mukherjee today
said from Kolkata that the state government's move would be
resisted.
“The project, a brain child of Buddhababu and the state
urban development minister Mr Asok Bhattacharya is nothing
but a camouflage to hoodwink the people.
The main objective behind it is to hand over the plantations
to the capitalists to convert them into brothels.
“We will not allow this. Our organisation will not hesitate
to forcibly shut down any such project in any part of north
Bengal,” he affirmed.
Mr Alok Chakravorty, president, Intuc, Darjeeling district
committee, added that he had already informed the Union ministers
Mr Kamal Nath, Mr Pranab Mukherjee and Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi
about their objection to the project. “There is every
possibility that widespread poverty among the tea plantation
workers would be used by the affluent class and consequently
the plantation areas would be transformed into centres of
physical amusement,” he added.
Branding the proposed project as a governmental mockery with
the thousands of starving plantation workers, a Forward Bloc
leader and the secretary of the North Bengal Tea Plantation
Workers Union Mr Prabal Raha said that he fully shared the
Intuc leaders’ apprehension.
“The state government perhaps wants the tourists across
the world to descend here to see the wrinkled bodies of the
half-starved plantation labourers and to amuse themselves
with the rare sights,” he complained.
Courtesy: The Statesman |
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