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Darjeeling Hill workers on strike for inner line permit
Siliguri, Aug 11: Darjeeling Hill Construction Workers` Union (DHCWU) has called a strike on August 11 demanding introduction of inner line permit system in Darjeeling Hills to help secure their jobs.
Siliguri, Aug 11: Darjeeling Hill Construction Workers' Union (DHCWU) has called a strike on August 11 demanding introduction of inner line permit system in
Darjeeling Hills to help secure their jobs.
The DHCWU vice- president Tika Prasad Rai told reporters that labourers of Darjeeling hills were losing their jobs fast following rush of workers from the plain areas.
The DHCWU had been demanding introduction of inner line permit in Darjeeling hills since long but neither the district administration nor the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council paid any attention to the demand, Rai said.
If introduction of inner line permit was not possible for some reason or the other there must be a safeguard for daily labourers in the hills, he said adding that outsiders who usually agree to work for lower wage replacing the hill worker which, according to him, was 'unfortunate, unfair and against the general interest of the workers'.
The DHCWU vice- president Tika Prasad Rai told reporters that labourers of Darjeeling hills were losing their jobs fast following rush of workers from the plain areas.
The DHCWU had been demanding introduction of inner line permit in Darjeeling hills since long but neither the district administration nor the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council paid any attention to the demand, Rai said.
If introduction of inner line permit was not possible for some reason or the other there must be a safeguard for daily labourers in the hills, he said adding that outsiders who usually agree to work for lower wage replacing the hill worker which, according to him, was 'unfortunate, unfair and against the general interest of the workers'.
According to the president of the Hill Plantation Labourers' Union, Suraj Subba, the problem of the daily workers became acute recently following closure in many tea gardens.
The jobless tea workers were now marching to hill towns seeking jobs. The problem would even cause a serious law and order problem if the administration and public representatives did not attach any importance to the mounting problem right now, Subba said.
Bureau Report