24/06/2025
जीटीए क्षेत्रका चियाबारीवासीलाई 5 डेसिमल जमिनको मात्र पर्जापट्टा दिने सरकारी स्किम पहाडमा आज पनि यथावत् रहेको गत 17 मार्च 2025 को दिन आएको आरटीआईको जवाफले स्पष्ट गरिदिएको छ। यो अत्यन्तै संवेदनशील अनि गम्भीर विषय रहेको छ। यसै विषयलाई लिएर आज मैले जीटीए प्रमुख कार्यपाल अनित थापालाई पत्रचार गरेको छु। जसमा 5 डेसिमले स्किम खारेज गरेर चियाबारीवासीलाई पुर्ख्यौली, परम्परागत अनि निरन्तर बसोबासो गर्दै आएको आधारमा भूमि अधिकारको मान्यता प्रदान गर्नुपर्छ भनी जनाएको छु। जसको कपि मैले मुख्यमन्त्री ममता ब्यानर्जीलाई पनि फर्वर्ड गरेको छु।
पत्र यस्तो रहेको छ-
To,
Sri Anit Thapa,
The Chief Executive,
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration,
Lal Kothi, Darjeeling.
Date: 24/06/2025.
Subject: Urgent request for cancellation of Notification No. 3076-LP/1A-04/23 and introduction of a new Scheme for granting Land Rights based on ancestral, customary, and continuous possession in GTA Tea Garden areas.
Sir,
I am writing to you in my capacity as the son of a tea garden labourer from Kalej Valley Tea Garden (Milling) in the GTA region, an advocate, and the Chief Coordinator of the Gorkha Youth Activist Network (GYAN). I wish to draw your attention to Notification No. 3076-LP/1A-04/23 dated 01/08/2023, issued by the Deputy Secretary to the Government of West Bengal, Department of Land and Land Reforms and Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation. This notification introduced the “Scheme for Distributing Homestead Pattas among Landless Tea Garden Labourers in North Bengal,” with Cabinet approval in its 44th Meeting dated 24/07/2023. Following this, Memo No. 3078-LP/1A-03/17 directed District Magistrates and Collectors of several districts in North Bengal, including Darjeeling and Kalimpong, to conduct surveys to identify unutilized or surplus tea garden land and grant homestead pattas up to five decimals to the eligible beneficiaries.
The major issue with this scheme lies in its design and intent. It mandates that unutilized or surplus tea garden land, once identified, will be resumed and recorded in Khatian No. 1, meaning ownership will shift to the Government of West Bengal. Homestead pattas of only 5 decimals of land will then be granted to eligible families, with the pattas being heritable but non-transferable. However, in the GTA region, tea garden workers and age-old permanent residents have been in possession of homestead and agricultural land even before the British established tea gardens. They are aboriginal inhabitants of the land and have been residing and cultivating it for generations based on ancestral, customary and continuous possession. These individuals are not truly “landless” but have long been demanding legal recognition of their ancestral possession and land rights.
The imposition of this scheme in the GTA area is arbitrary and deeply unjust. Rather than granting land rights as per long-standing possession, the government seeks to resume land under its ownership and re-grant only a fraction to rightful occupiers. This has triggered strong opposition across tea gardens in Darjeeling and Kalimpong, where surveys have been disrupted and workers have outright rejected the scheme.
In response, on 11/08/2023, you had written to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal requesting that agricultural pattas be provided to tea garden workers as per their possession to ensure dignity and land security. However, the letter stopped short of demanding a complete overhaul of the scheme or proposing a new scheme tailored for the GTA region.
Following this, through Memo No. 3848(2)-LP/1A-04/23 dated 12/09/2023, the Deputy Secretary directed that works under Notification No. 3076-LP be put on hold in GTA until further orders. This gave people hope that a new and just scheme would be designed for the GTA. However, Memo No. 4549(2)-LP/1A-04/23 dated 02/11/2023 again resumed survey works in the GTA on an “as is where is” basis, without changing the core structure of the existing scheme. This effectively reinstated Notification No. 3076-LP, which remains in force. This was confirmed in an RTI reply I received on 17/03/2025, where the SPIO and Assistant Secretary of the same department stated that Notification No. 3076-LP/1A-04/23 is still in force in the GTA.
You had again written to the Labour Minister on 18/02/2025 through Memo No. d20/I-I/Correspondence/CE/GTA/2024-25 requesting that the ongoing land survey be stopped in GTA tea gardens until clarity is provided. Yet, this request has gone unanswered, and the original notification remains operational, which continues to pose a grave threat to the land security and future of tea garden workers in Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
Sir, this situation is deeply alarming. The people of the tea gardens have placed their faith in you and your party by electing you as Chief Executive of the GTA. The current scheme not only disregards the legacy and identity of the aboriginal tea garden communities of Darjeeling and Kalimpong but attempts to displace them from land they have nurtured for generations. The land they have inhabited for generations is being resumed and reallocated in a manner that fails to recognize their historical rights and legal entitlements.
Therefore, I sincerely urge you, as the elected Chief Executive of the GTA, to act in the best interests of the people who have placed their trust in you. I request you to:
1. Take immediate steps to ensure the permanent cancellation of Notification No. 3076-LP/1A-04/23 in the GTA region.
2. Formally propose and coordinate with the Government of West Bengal to introduce a new scheme under the title:
“Scheme for recognition and grant of Land Rights to Tea Garden workers and long-standing residents of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration region based on ancestral, customary, and continuous possession.
Only a new scheme that recognises ancestral, customary, and continuous possession can uphold the rights of the aboriginal and rightful landholders of the tea gardens in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration region. It is through such a measure that justice can be meaningfully delivered by protecting their heritage, securing their livelihoods, and honouring their long-standing relationship with the land they have nurtured for generations.
I hope and trust you will take urgent steps to address this matter and stand firmly with the rightful landholders for the better future of the people of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.
With sincere regards,
Birendra Rasaily
(Advocate)
Chief Coordinator,
Gorkha Youth Activist Network (GYAN), Darjeeling.
Contact No: 9593523559
Copy to:
The Honourable Chief Minister,
Miss Mamta Banerjee,
Government of West Bengal.
