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Exploited for generations, tea garden workers struggle for land rights in Darjeeling hills, Terai, and Dooars
FirstpostDarjeeling is a name synonymous with the most famous and expensive tea in the world. Landless tea garden workers Of all the discriminations faced by the tea garden workers, their deprivation in terms of land rights remains stark. Even today, the majority of the people living in Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars do not have the parja patta rights i.e their ancestral lands registered in their names. In 2019 the West Bengal government permitted the tea companies to use 15% of the land in the garden for ‘alternative use purposes.’ Today, five-star hotels are being constructed in the tea gardens, but the workers continue to be deprived of their basic rights. However, the West Bengal government did not take any steps towards conferring the same rights to the forest dwellers of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts where around 2.6 lakh people live in Forest Areas.
History of this topic
Forest rights concerns could influence electoral results in nearly a third of constituencies, says study
The Hindu
An uphill struggle to grow the Forest Rights Act
The Hindu
2006: Forest Rights Act
The Hindu
Displaced Chhattisgarh Tribals Seek Land Rights In AP, Telangana
The Quint)
Nature Conservation Day 2019: Forest Rights Act attempt to right historical wrongs, recognise role of traditional forest dwellers in conservation'
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