Dooars Cha Bagan Workers' Union

Last updated

Dooars Cha Bagan Workers' Union
Founded1948
Headquarters Kalchini, West Bengal, India
Location
Members
11,152 (1961)
Key people
 Manohar Tirkey, General Secretary
Affiliations United Trade Union Congress

The Dooars Cha Bagan Workers' Union is a trade union of tea plantation labourers in the Dooars in northern West Bengal, India. It is affiliated to the United Trade Union Congress, the labour wing of the Revolutionary Socialist Party. [1] Historically it held a strong influence among tea plantation labourers in the eastern Dooars. [2] As of 2010, its general secretary was Manohar Tirkey. [3]

The Dooars Cha Bagan Workers' Union emerged in 1948. The first RSP-controlled tea plantation workers union was established at the Sarugaon Tea Estate. Subsequently, the union established its presence in the Majherdabri, Kohinoor and Mathura tea estates. Its founding president was Brojen Das and its general secretary was Suresh Talukdar. [2] The union was registered in the same year. [1] As of 1961, it claimed 11,152 members. [4]

In the 1960s, A.H. Besterwitch served as general secretary of the union. [4] Its offices were located in Kalchini for many years. [1] [4]

During the years of the Emergency in the 1970s, the organisers of union suffered from violent attacks from the plantation owners. At this point, its general secretary was Nani Bhattacharya. [1]

As of 2005, DCBWU was the third largest union in the tea plantation sector in the region. [5] However, the union has lost ground after the entry of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad in the tea plantation union sector. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darjeeling tea</span> Type of black tea from India

Darjeeling tea is a tea made from Camellia sinensis var. sinensis that is grown and processed in Darjeeling or Kalimpong Districts in West Bengal, India. Since 2004, the term Darjeeling tea has been a registered geographical indication referring to products produced on certain estates within Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The tea leaves are processed as black tea, though some estates have expanded their product offerings to include leaves suitable for making green, white and oolong teas.

The Tea-garden community is a term for a multiethnic, multicultural group of tea garden workers and their descendants in Assam. They are officially referred to as Tea-tribes by the government of Assam. They are the descendants of peoples from multiple tribal and caste groups brought by the British colonial planters as indentured labourers from the regions of present-day Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh into colonial Assam during the 1860-90s in multiple phases to work in tea gardens. They are found mainly in those districts of Upper Assam and Northern Brahmaputra belt where there is a high concentration of tea gardens, like Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Biswanath,Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, and Lakhimpur. There is a sizeable population of the community in the Barak Valley region of Assam as well in the districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. The total population is estimated to be around 7 million, of which an estimated 4.5 million reside in residential quarters built inside 799 tea estates spread across tea-growing regions of Assam. Another 2.5 million reside in the nearby villages spread across those tea-growing regions. They speak multiple languages, including Sora, Odia, Assam Sadri, Sambalpuri, Kurmali, Santali, Kurukh, Kharia, Kui, Chhattisgarhi, Gondi and Mundari. Assam Sadri, distinguished from the Sadri language, serves as lingua franca among the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samsing</span> Place where nature smiles in West Bengal, India

Samsing is a small hill village and tourist spot in the Matiali, Malbazar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal situated at an elevation of 3000 ft in the foothills in between Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Assam</span> Period when Assam was under British rule

Colonial Assam (1826–1947) refers to the period in the history of Assam between the signing of the Treaty of Yandabo and the Independence of India when Assam was under British colonial rule. The political institutions and social relations that were established or severed during this period continue to have a direct effect on contemporary events. The legislature and political alignments that evolved by the end of the British rule continued in the post Independence period. The immigration of farmers from East Bengal and tea plantation workers from Central India continue to affect contemporary politics, most notably that which led to the Assam Movement and its aftermath.

Manohar Tirkey is an Indian politician and a member of the 15th Lok Sabha. He was elected on a Revolutionary Socialist Party ticket from Alipurduars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurseong (community development block)</span> Community development block in West Bengal, India

Kurseong is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Kurseong subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Madarihat-Birpara is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Alipurduar subdivision of the Alipurduar district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha</span>

The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha is the largest trade union organizing labourers in tea gardens of the Assam Valley in north-eastern India. The union is affiliated with the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC). As of the early 2000s, ACMS claimed a membership of 1.1 million. The organisational network of ACMS includes 850 company tea gardens.

The All West Bengal Tea Garden Labourers Union is a trade union of tea plantation workers in northern West Bengal, India. It was founded in 1989. Politically, the union is aligned with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). The veteran Naxalite leader Kanu Sanyal served as the working president of AWBTGLU prior to his death in 2010. The union was based in Sanyal's home village Hatighisa, near Naxalbari.

The Terai Sangrami Cha Sramik Union is a progressive and revolutionary trade union of tea plantation workers in northern West Bengal, India. The union is affiliated to the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU). Politically, the union is aligned with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation.

Bagrakote is a village in the Mal CD block in the Malbazar subdivision of the Jalpaiguri district in the state of West Bengal, India. The main reason behind Bagrakote being called as a Tea Garden is that it was by the virtue of the Duncan Goenka Group that established a tea garden in Bagrakote providing a stable livelihood. Thus people from neighbouring villages and even some far off places like Sikkim have migrated to Bagrakote, in search of better living conditions.

Nani Bhattacharya (1917-1993) was one of the founder-members of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, trade union activist, minister in West Bengal, and Member of Parliament.

Ambootia or Ambootay is a tea estate village in the Kurseong CD block in the Kurseong subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal in India.

A. H. Besterwitch was an Indian politician and trade unionist. He belonged to the Revolutionary Socialist Party. As of the 1960s and 1970s, he served as general secretary of the Dooars Cha Bagan Workers’ Union, a trade union of tea plantation labourers in northern West Bengal. He was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in the 1962, 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1977 elections. He led the RSP faction in the Legislative Assembly. Besterwitch died in 1979.

Birpara Tea Garden is a village, a tea garden and two gram panchayats in the Madarihat-Birpara CD block in the Alipurduar subdivision of the Alipurduar district in the state of West Bengal, India.

Hope Tea Estate and Jiti Tea Estate are tea gardens, located near each other in the Nagrakata CD block in the Malbazar subdivision of the Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Both the tea estates are located in the north-central section of the Dooars.

Dheklapara Tea Garden is a village in the Madarihat Birpara CD block in the Alipurduar subdivision of the Alipurduar district in the state of West Bengal, India.

Bandapani Tea Garden is a village and a gram panchayat in the Madarihat Birpara CD block in the Alipurduar subdivision of the Alipurduar district in the state of West Bengal, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dooars-Terai tea gardens</span>

Dooars-Terai tea gardens refers to the tea gardens in the Dooars and Terai regions in the Jalpaiguri Division of West Bengal, India

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bhowmik, Sharit. Class Formation in the Plantation System . New Delhi: People's Pub. House, 1981. pp. xii, 150
  2. 1 2 Gupta, Manas Das. Labour in Tea Gardens . Delhi: Gyan Sagar Publications, 1999. 79
  3. ↑ "The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | North Bengal & Sikkim | Adivasi tea union joins poll fray". Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Europa Publications Limited. The Europa Year Book . London: Europa Publications, 1961. p. 591
  5. ↑ http://www.iufdocuments.org/www/documents/PKMS-IUFstudy.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  6. ↑ "Tribals reject Dooars tea labour unions - Times of India". articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.