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Saturday, August 18, 2012

Child trafficking thriving in tea gardens of Dooars



With a number of tea gardens in Jalpaiguri district closed or reported to be sick, hundreds of children whose parents worked there, are being trafficked each year, a report said.

Highlighting the vulnerability of children living near the defunct tea gardens of Dooars, the joint study was done by UNICEF, Save the Children and Burdwan University. The report says it has been estimated that 3500 children migrated from 12 tea gardens in 2010.

"Children of Adivasi, poor and large families especially girls are prime targets," the report said.

"Many never return and nearly 8 to 10 children out of every 100 migrating every year go missing and the same number of children per tea garden is being trafficked every year," it said. Delhi remains the most preferred destination followed by Kerala, Sikkim, Punjab, Bangalore and Bhutan.

"Poverty was ranked as the number one contributing factor, as labourers are left to fend for themselves by tea garden owners who abandon their estates without paying salary/wages, provident fund and gratuity to them," the report said. It was followed by unemployment, poor wages, large family, illiteracy and promise of a better life.

Save the Children's state programme manager Jatin Mondar said poverty is just one of the many contributing factors in child trafficking but not the root cause of the problem.

"The level of poverty among the labourers in tea gardens is the result of deep rooted and long-term non-development in these areas," he said. Lack of educational and health infrastructure have also been affecting the children, the report observed. Only five out of 12 gardens have secondary schools while only two have higher secondary schools. Only four out of 12 tea gardens have arranged transportation but the students have to pay for this.

Malnutrition, lung infection, chest pain, headache and water borne diseases are frequent among children due to poor diet, contaminated drinking water and unhygienic conditions, the report said.


Friday, August 10, 2012

Creation of Separate Alipurduar District


It is good news to the people of Alipurduar Sub-division that in an All-party meeting convened by the Hon'ble Chief Minister, Mamata Bannerji, on 3rd August 2011, proposal for bifurcating of Jalpaiguri District and creating of a new District called Alipurduar, along with proposal for rechristening the name of the State, was discussed. It is hoped that sooner or later, Alipurduar is going to emerge as a separate District.

Historical Background:

The creation of Alipurduar Sub-division was not smooth. A lengthy controversy took place between J.C. Haughton, the then Commissioner of Cooch Behar Division and Colonel E.A. Rowlatt, respecting the suitability of Alipurduar as a Sub-divisional Station. Colonel Rowlatt wanted that Alipurduar should be made a Sub-division instead of Falakata as recommended by Haughton. At length, Falakata was selected as a Sub-division. The origin of the name of Alipurduar was first reported by D.H.E. Sunder, the then Settlement Officer, in his Settlement Report of the Western Duars, Jalpaiguri District in 1896 in which he reported that Alipurduar was named after the late Colonel Hedayet Ali. Sunder's proposition appears to be unfounded, considering the fact that when Captain Hedayet Ali took the command of Cooch Behar Troops in June 1864, the name Alipur had already existed.

After the conclusion of Anglo-Bhutan War of 1864-65 by a Treaty of Sinchula signed on 12th November 1865, the Western Duars tracts were taken over from the Bhutan Government by the British Government. The British Government then proposed to create a new District called Jalpaiguri and by a Notification dated, Fort William, the 8th December 1868, the name Western Duars was ceased and its Sub-division called Buxa was abolished. Thereupon, a new District called Jalpaiguri was formed on 1st January 1869 with two Sub-divisions - one the Sudder Sub-division with Head-Quarters at Jalpaiguri and the other the Falakata Sub-division with Head-Quarters at Falakata. However, at length, in 1876 the Sub-divisional Station of Falakata was closed and the Sub-divisional Station was transferred to Alipurduar. Since then Alipurduar remained as a Sub-division till this day.

NOBLE STEP :

Presently, the area of Jalpaiguri District is 6,277 sq.km. After remaining as a District for about 142 years, Jalpaiguri is at last going to be divided into two Districts for administrative conveniences. This is certainly not only a noble step but also an historic step on the part of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of West Bengal. We rejoice in her practical concern for overall development of the people in general and in particular for her concern for the people of Alipurduar Sub-Division.

Shri Deba Prasad Roy, a Congress MLA from Alipurduar Assembly Constituency, supported the demand of the creation of Alipurduar District and assured the people that he would voice for the same in the Assembly. His contribution towards the fulfillment of the aspirations of the people is no doubt very great and highly appreciable.



(Compiled & circulated by: N.BURMAN, President, Dooars Terai Nagarik Manch)
                                                    Source : H.Mech

Thursday, August 2, 2012

ECONOMIC IMBALANCES IN DOOARS


We are introducing us an apex body of various social organization and citizen forums. We are fighting for the cause of social unrest and ethnic problems since its inception. We believe in communal harmony and a tension free society. We are also taking selective approach for pursuing the developmental works in and around dooars & terrain area in the immediate future.

Raise your voice:

Government must address to important issues of Dooars for its extreme economic imbalances hence special package should given for Dooars region. It is the most underdeveloped region in road connectivity, education and health infrastructure development. The Dooars region received till now no substantial development.

Government must consider to form Dooars Development Authority immediately and it should be given a statutory status with a corpus of Rs 1000 crores from Plan allocation for flood management and infrastructure development of Dooars. Dooars would be a prosperous zone of State of West Bengal if it provides enough financial support from the State.

ON THE ABOVE QUESTION A BRAIN STORMING SESSION AS WELL SEMINAR IS GOING TO BE HELD AT HAMILTONGANJ AT THE END OF AUGUST MONTH, 2012. HON’BLE MINISTERS, MLA’S, MP’S OF WEST BENGAL GOVERNMENT, EMINENT EDUCATIONISTS, AND RENOWENED SOCIAL WORKERS ARE EXPECTED TO TAKE PARTICIPATION ON THE SAID SEMINAR.

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(Bodo Peoples Forum, All India Mahali Association,Rava Development Council, Buxa Fort Dukpa Welfare Society, Dooar Terai Nagarik Manch, Toto Development Council….etc.)