LOK ADALAT ORGANIZED AT RED BANK TEA ESTATE OF DOOARS

By Atish Sen (TNI Banarhat)  |  Edited By D. Prasun (TNI Siliguri)

Webdesk, TNI Banarhat 15^th May, 2016: A Lok Adalat was today organized at Red Bank Tea Estate under the initiative of the Honorable Chief Justice of High Court Smt. Manjula Chellur. The initiative was supported by Darjeeling District Legal Aid Forum. Today various hearing was done based on the complaints of the tea workers of the closed tea garden in the Lok Adalat. In the Lok Adalat, the presiding judges were Retired Justice Mr. Malay Sengupta and Retired Justice Mr. Prabhat Kumar De. Apart from those the other personnel present were advocate Mr. Arup Ratan Choudhury, Mr. Samir Sarkar, Mr. Amit Sarkar, Chairperson of State Women’s Commission Smt. Sunanda Mukherjee and others. Today most of the hearing was related to Old age allowance, Widow allowance, Indira Awas yojana, Ration, Job Card, Health problems etc. Many Government officers were also present on the occasion. The Judges told the press that since, the tea garden was closed for a quite long time, so this Lok Adalat may be of some help for the tea workers here. State Women Commission chairperson Smt. Sunanda Mukherjee informed the press that women traffickers are taking the benefit of the situation and illegally trafficking women from the tea garden. She will put up a report to the government depicting the problem. Secretary of Darjeeling District Legal Aid Forum Mr. Amit Sarkar said that such Lok Adalat took place for the first time in this garden. The tea workers are also happy with the outcome. They have also urged the officials to take measures for the opening of the garden.

Photo: Atish Sen (TNI)