Tea workers’ group on Chai Sundari Housing Scheme: ‘Housing scheme’s top-down approach to disrupt lives’
Based on a “study”, it claimed to have been conducted with the help of an architect, the Paschim Banga Cha Majdoor Samity said that tea workers live in community settlements and “the shift to new houses where only a nuclear family can reside will mean a breakdown of the community”.
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“The Chaa Sundari units use costly materials such as gypsum board as false ceiling, and fly-ash bricks for walls that are not available locally. The maintenance cost of these houses will increase the cash expenditure of the workers greatly. The houses are also only suitable for the use of gas for cooking, which the workers cannot afford," read the report. An association of tea workers has expressed concern over the West Bengal government’s Chai Sundari Housing Scheme, saying it would lead to “large-scale disruptions in the lives of already impoverished community”.
Based on a “study”, it claimed to have been conducted with the help of an architect, the Paschim Banga Cha Majdoor Samity said that tea workers live in community settlements and “the shift to new houses where only a nuclear family can reside will mean a breakdown of the community”.
The TMC government had announced the housing scheme for tea workers in its 2020 budget. Under the scheme, the state government will provide funds to tea workers for the construction of houses. “Such a top-down approach of the scheme disregards and disrespects the tea garden workers and does not consider their lives and livelihoods,” the association said quoting the “study”.
“A large scale spreading of misinformation about the existing houses has also crept in due to lack of any official statements… Only decisions that offer inclusivity through a bottom-up approach can give justice to the landless tea garden worker community,” the association said, adding the scheme is meant only for permanent tea garden workers. “The Chaa Sundari units use costly materials such as gypsum board as false ceiling, and fly-ash bricks for walls that are not available locally. The maintenance cost of these houses will increase the cash expenditure of the workers greatly. The houses are also only suitable for the use of gas for cooking, which the workers cannot afford,” read the report.
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