Karimganj: The Supreme Court Commissioners (SCC) on the Right to Food have taken cognisance
of alleged starvation deaths in Bhuvan Valley tea garden in Assam's Cachar district on the basis of a complaint filed by
the Barak Valley Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC).
BHRPC General Secretary Neharul Ahmed Mazumdar told
said that the SC Commissioners had taken cognisance of the
complaint and asked the Assam State Advisor to initiate
further action in this regard.
The office of the SCC has also assured the BHRPC that they would follow-up the matter to its logical conclusion.
The BHRPC had alleged 12 workers have died of starvation,
malnutrition and lack of medical care during the four months
period from October 8, 2011, to February 8, 2012, when the
garden remained closed and the workers were dumped by the
Kolkata-based owners.
Mazumder alleged that it found blatant violations of
the provisions of the Plantation Labour Act, 1951,
Constitutional mandates regarding right to food, health
and adequate housing as well as violations of the Supreme
Court directives issued on cases related to the Right to Food
case.
The Supreme Court had appointed Commissioners on the
Right to Food by an interim order dated May 8, 2002 and
stipulated their power to investigate violations of interim
orders related to the case and demanded redress.
This was supplemented by an interim order dated October
29, 2002, which expanded the Commissioners’authority to
monitoring and reporting the implementation status of the
orders of the Supreme Court and conducting an inquiry by
respective government authorities on their efforts to make the
orders functional.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 01, 2012, 20:33