Articles by TheDC News Desk

Parliamentary Standing Committee Scathing Findings on Darjeeling and Dooars Tea Industry – Recommends Legislative Action for Ensuring Parja Patta Rights and Other Reforms

The report takes note that “the tea garden workers in Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars do not have land or ‘Parja-Patta’ (land rights) on their ancestral tea growing lands. To dwell on their ancestral homes, they must send at least one family members to work for the tea company. On failure to send a family member for work, they lose their rights to live on their ancestral lands. Since the land rights are vested with tea company, there have been instances when the aged workers having no children were denied the right to even repair their houses on their ancestral lands.”



Sukriti Lama, Scientist WBPCB

TheDC team sends a warm “Shout Out” to Sukriti Lama, a Scientist and In-Charge of the Siliguri Regional Laboratory, West Bengal State Pollution Control Board for being awarded as the “Best Performing Scientist” for environmental issues by the Department of Environment, Govt of WB.



Happy Birthday Damber Singh Gurung

Damber Singh Gurung was the only Gorkha in the nation’s Constituent Assembly, which was setup to draft the Constitution of Independent India. It is in his name that Kalimpong’s famous Damber Chowk has been named… Yet there was no commemoration of his birth anniversary



Politicising Education in the Hills – Generations Ruined

Spotlighting such unfair practices in teachers’ recruitment does not seem to create much outrage among the hill public these days, as the whole education system in the hills is widely politicised by the politicians and their party workers. So, the practice of nepotism and favouritism is very overt in the hill education system, and it has become a culture of sorts and is perhaps appreciated and expected by the educated hill mass.