Darjeeling-dooars

B. CINCHONA PLANTATION:

Other than Tea Industry left by British, the Cinchona Plantation of Darjeeling at Mungpo has a story and history of its own. Like the Tea industry, the cinchona plantation is also a product derived out of the sweat and blood of the hard working aboriginal Gorkhas. The Cinchona Plantation industry came into existence in the year 1865. It was the most flourishing industry in India since its inception, as the demand of medicines made from cinchona plants was much higher than the production. India having a geographical dimension of a sub-continent had only two industries of cinchona plantation located at Mungpoo of Darjeeling and Nilgiri Hills of South India respectively. The available record shows that in the years 1939-1944 the income from cinchona plantation of Mungpoo was rupees 2000775/.Immediately after independence in the year 1948 the West Bengal Government had earned Rupees Thirty Lakhs from quinine alone. But after independence, the reign of administration at the Cinchona Plantation of Mungpo was monitorered by Writers Building. The succeeding generations of indigenous people who had shed sweat, blood and tears in upkeeping the plantation had high hopes and expectations of sharing the fruits of freedom on being relieved from the yoke of the Britishers, but with the passage of time the hopes and aspirations gradually led to belie them. Inspite of acquiring requisite knowledge and experiences, the sons and daughters of the soil are denied of catching up of the helm of affairs in the management and policy decision in regard to cinchona plantation. Like in the private company of tea industries they too are being kept as mere workers and producers of the varied products from cinchona plants. The management, sale and policy making became the exclusive privilege of the Writers' Building, Kolkota alone. Very often in the prevailing reality the exclusive affairs was marred by imcompetent and lethargic management that led to gradual debauchery in the health of cinchona plantation industry at Mungpo. The circle and level of exercising control and command on total affairs seemed pathetically indifferent towards the gradual decline of the industry. The acceleration in decline became perceptible in the later part of the eighties of twentieth century. In the beginning of eighties, the GORKHA NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT AS A PART OF THEIR CAMPAIGN FOR STATEHOOD DEMAND HAD LEVELLED AN ALLEGATION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC NEGLECT OF DARJEELING HILLS BY THE GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL. West Bengal Government as a move for contradicting the allegation of Gorkha National Liberation Front had published a document in 1986. The document in its page number one, last Para shows that in the financial year 1984-85 the income from cinchona alone was Rs. 2.43 crores, but ignoring the fact of that document, the lone industry of the Government of West Bengal in Darjeeling Hill started showing deficit and loss after passing over forty-three years of independence of India. Thus the well organised and vibrant industries left behind by the British, in stable condition have been crippled in independent India by the hands of the rulers of the State. The government of West Bengal, being fully aware of the entire state of affairs of the cinchona industry at Mungpo, has been contemplating the idea of privatisation against their own declared and professed stand. It has become known to all the inhabitants of the cinchona plantation that there are many interested private entrepreneurs, as they are very much optimistic of making the industry viable and profitable, as there is no dearth and scarcity of resources alongwith the dedicated, loyal and hard working manpower in the region. Hence, the unions and the representatives of the workers are raising the point of security and safety of workers on the basis of their service in terms of years and their experience as a whole, but in place of taking expeditious and judicious decision on the points raised by unions, some of the Lands belonging to Cinchona Plantation have been sold to the National Hydel Project Corporation by the Government. Further it was being processed for selling the lands to the Dabur Company as well but the people and Trade Unions of the Cinchona Plantation resented the move of the Government for not taking them into confidence for the sale of the public land. The resentment has had no impact as the National Hydel Power Corporation has constructed vast complexes to push forward their ventures. Thus, the Cinchona Plantation Industry is being left as forlorn concern of the Government of West Bengal. The money obtained from the sale of the land could not be accounted for, to satiate the larger public interest. In course of time, it will surely attact public debate. Despite the assurances for spending the money for revitalizing the ailing industry till date no such assurances have been fulfilled. Further the accelerated sickness of the industry forced the different trade unions and concerned people belonging to cinchona plantation to form an umbrella organisation named as UNITED FORUM for drawing the attention of the authorities and Government for ameliorating the plight of Cinchona Plantation. They held public meetings, rallies and demonstration in almost all the places covering the entire areas of Cinchona Plantation. Further the United Forum waited upon a massive deputation to the District authority with empty plates in their hands to mark the sign of hungry stomachs on 17th November, 2005, but the deputation and rally yielded no result and it again became a case of back to the square peg in a round whole. In the following week, Siliguri and its surrounding places lying at a distance of less than forty kilometres from Mungpo Cinchona Plantation came under the grip of malaria in a disquieting dimension, but Quinine, a time tested medicine for malaria, produced by harvesting and processing Cinchona at Mungpo itself had been made to lie on its death bed. Thus the Government of West Bengal in independent India is seen as a failure in saving and developing Cinchona Plantation that was inherited from the British as the only industry under its management in Darjeeling. The active initiative of the UNITED FORUM resulted in auction of one hundreds seventy tons of cinchona bark in Darjeeling in the month of November 2006. The auction successfully fetched one rupee more in each kilogram than the usual price it used to get earlier, when sold in Kolkata. Thus the auction held in Darjeeling in November 2006 clearly dispelled the much touted rhetoric that the cinchona bark was an unusable item as rumoured and publicized by the concerned authority. This was despite having such great potentialities and possibilities of the cinchona industry at Mungpo, the Left Front Government for the reason best known to them only have been taking one plea after another shrugging off the responsibility for making the industry a flourishing one. In the direction to shrugging off the responsibility no appointment is being made against the retirement of employees. As "there were 9,387 workers, including the casual workers having 26,176 acres of land in 1985-86, in the Cinchona Plantations. Here, if we see the land labour ratio, it comes nearly to 38 workers per acre. It shows that the basic principle of Minimum Wage Board of Government of India has not been adhered to by the plantation industry. Very interestingly, during recent years, the number of regular workers has been further reduced to 1, 72 in 1991-92" (Khemraj Sharma). Thus, in due course, the industry would succumb, a natural death, on account of not having permanent workers and employees for running the industry. The United Forum, being aware of the discreet move of the concerned authority, are taking every possible measure to keep the industry alive and moving. In carrying out the measures the help and guidance of public representatives have become imperative, but the representative to the West Bengal Assembly being the candidates of the Gorkha National Liberation Front from 1991 till 2007 seemed unconcerned to the plight of the lone industry. The member of the 14th Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament, belonging to Congress Party, being the arch rival of the ruling Left Front Government, the move pursued by him was natural to get drowned in the Hubble -bubble of politics at Writers' Building. The membership of Rajya Sabha obtained out of grace of the ruling Left Front or of Indian National Congress was just like an appointment governed and guided by the norms and discipline for upholding the interest of the employers. The public representatives of Darjeeling belonging to the state and national parties are found to have suffered from a syndrome of inhibition for delivering the goods in the interest of the exploited and suppressed wage earners of tea gardens and cinchona plantation. The syndrome of inhibition in the form of party discipline follows like shadow till the tenure is over to each of the public representative belonging to national and state level parties from Darjeeling. As in the decades of mid-ninetieth of twenty century, Messrs. R.B. Rai and Dawa Lama, the representatives of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively from Darjeeling, belonging to the Communist Party of India [Marxists] were expelled for their attempt to pursue a line in the interest of the place and people. The expulsion forced them to form the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists that has become an eyesore for the Communist Party of India Marxists in the political history of Darjeeling in spite of bearing an identical nomenclature as communists.
C. DARJEELING HIMALAYAN RAILWAY [DHR]:

It was regarded as a superb piece of wonder, produced by one of the finest engineering faculty on earth. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway also known as the Toy Train starts at the level, hisses and crawls uphill to reach Ghoom Pahar, where a Railway Station situated at the highest altitude in Asia, was constructed, and the same is in existence to this day. During the British period the railway was the life line of Darjeeling, as it had carried the heavy poles, bar, machines for the construction of the factories, bridges and buildings. It had contributed a lot in the development and making of modern Darjeeling. Besides carrying materials and provisions, the toy train was the means of communication for the people for reaching the most beautiful hill that was known as the Queen of Hills in the world. The well known leader of socio-culture and spiritual renaissance of Bengal, Swami Vivekananda, the legal and political luminary C.R. Das, the ‘Father of the Nation’- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Nobel laureate Mother Teresa among several others have been carried to Darjeeling by the Toy Train. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway while moving on its tract from the plains to the empyrean knoll of Darjeeling has also created a glorious tract record, which is associated with modern history of India and also the Queen of Hills of the world. Science and technology has made a rapid stride after Independence of India but, the Toy Train has failed to keep pace with the time and tide of development. The wonder of the bygone days, lacking improvement and modernisation compatible to the science and technological speed of time has been gradually heading to the status of obsolescence. And being aware of the fact that the Toy Train has become an outdated mode of conveyance, the authority has declared it as heritage by providing a diesel engine, but the diesel engine also has not been able to push the business with swiftness in proportion to the technological advancement of the day due to its century old tract, alignment, engines and coaches. After declaring the Toy Train as heritage both diesel and steam engine are pulling the coaches for joy ride to the foreigners and moneyed domestic tourists, but the diesel engine bears its name as Indian Railways. The Toy Train starting from Siliguri had its extension upto Gielle Khola on the National Highway 31A till 1950 for carrying passengers and materials for Sikkim, Kalimpong and Tibet. During that period, the trade through Jalepla route was in a flourishing condition, but the operation of the train on that tract has been abandoned since 1950 as in that year landslides had caused damages to the railway tract. The authority thought it appropriate to abandon than to repair and keep the movement of the train on that tract. Today, Sikkim is making every possible endeavour for having a railway service to the state. The Toy Train of Darjeeling has been a victim of negligence its engine, coaches and other related matter are all begging for care and revitalisation. The tract at several places passes parallel to the National Highway 55A and also criss -crosses the national highway at many places in between Silguri and Darjeeling. The road was constructed by the British and named as Hill Cart Road. Today the road is called 55A National High Way is the life line of Darjeeling and remains busy due to heavy traffic, but the parallel railway tract and the crossing of the 55A national high way over it have made the life line of Darjeeling narrow and congested for smooth traffic movement. Thus, the tract has been allowed and destined to become like an old ox lying on the road, it neither moves nor leaves the passage for others. Hence, in the modern history of Darjeeling, the old Toy Train seemed to have occupied a unique place of inconvenience for the vehicular traffic. Though the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has its glory of being and plying in the hill, there is not a single hill man at the command of the helm of the affairs. The ones associated are found to be working below the decision and policy making level since its inception. In earlier days, there was a DHR Workshop at Tindharay with regard to repair, maintenance and other corelated works of Darjeeling Himalayan Railways. The work shop and the station had brisk activities, but today the Tindharay Work Shop and the Railway Station appear as forlorn and desolate station for the Himalayan Railways. The railway despite plying in the hill region of Darjeeling has its head office and command in the plains. In spite of leaving occasioned of the track by the coaches and some times by engine, till date no major misfortune has occurred and this is the other side of the wonder of the wonderful toy train in its record of century and a score. Thus the non-occurrences of the major catastrophe for years together by sheer luck have given complacency. Under the current circumstances it stands to be treated as a forgotten object by the successive Railway Budget and its ministers in charge of Independent India. The overhauling of the Himalayan Railways to match its pristine grandeur remains a far off dream.

In view of globalization and techno-economic development context, the Himalayan Railways which were a wonder in the earlier days is expecting a new approach from the concerned level so as to enable it to march with time and tide. Even in the highly developed era of science and technology of today, the Toy Train being pushed by the steam of boiling water is still occupying a distinct place among the wonders as some of the tourists are making Darjeeling their destination on hearing the account of the glory of the Toy Train. In the world, it is the only Toy Train that facilitates its passengers for enjoying the breath taking scenic beauty and its panoramic view of ridges and mountains from a close angle, while sitting on a cozy seat of the moving Train. The glimpse of the beautiful ridges and mountains flashing on the canvas of nature extending up to the horizon can be enjoyed by the passengers as the train leaves the plain and climbs higher and higher. Before reaching the final destination of the journey, that is Darjeeling, the passengers will sink into an extreme joy and bliss by seeing the ultimate beauty of nature from Batasay Loop. Batasay ridge is the only view point that provides a glimpse of the vast expanse of hills and mountains rising from a little above the sea level and the majestic Kanchanjunga ready to command the adjacent mountains and surrounding hills. The very scene - scenery is regarded as the supreme and unique creation of splendour by nature on earth. On a clear, sunny and fogless day, the scene and landscape of such mysterious creation of nature as seen from Batasay Loop while moving, in the toy train, gets passengers surcharged and invigorated. No such enjoyment and ecstasy could derived while riding a train elsewhere in the world, but the Toy Train which only could give such an ineffable joy and bliss to its passengers on earth has been declared as running on losses year after year. If the Toy Train of Darjeeling had been in other countries of the globe having endowed with such ingredient, the major chunk of the tourists from across the globe would have been taken there with other added facilities. The flow of the tourists would have been certainly turned into a flourishing Tourism Industry providing means of earning and sustenance for major chunk of the population of that country. But in Darjeeling, the Toy Train in spite of having immense potential and capability for providing means of sustenance and earnings, the people are being made to starve of employment and earnings. The authority as of today has shown neither skill nor faculty for making improvement and modernisation of the wonderful toy train keeping in mind the socio-economic upliftment of the people and the place. The toy train if it is linked and co-coordinated with tourism by developing infrastructures and other accessories as required for different section of the tourists, it would easily engage ten percent of the total population of Darjeeling hills in the venture and that alone accounts for eighty thousand people. Thus, the toy train and tourism, if moved together, have the potentialities for providing the socio-economic prosperity to Darjeeling not only for the present day but for the following decades also. A paradigm shift in management of the day to day affairs for ensuring the involvement, participation and sharing of liability and asset of the Himalayan Railway by the people of its origin could be the solution. The policy pursued as of today has made the people mere spectators. Thus, the present state of affairs of Tourism Industry in Darjeeling could easily be understood in brevity from a paragraph written by renowned social-scientist, Dr. T B. Subba on the movement of 1986-88. He has written "my brief engagement on the subject of tourism in Darjeeling has also divulged an important factor operating behind this movement. Contrary to the wide spread belief that the people of Darjeeling are heavily dependent on tourism I found that the Nepalis, who constitute about 70 per cent of the population there, are rather marginally integrated into the tourist industry. They have been in fact found to be more affected than benefited by this smokeless industry. The lion's share of the profit from it goes to the merchant capitalists from the plain areas and to the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation which alone makes an annual profit of 36 crores of rupees from Darjeeling (1988:10-15). This has also affected the ethnic relations between the hill and plains communities {1987-88}. [Ethnicity, State and Development…]. Hence, it is required that the spectators be turned into participators that would help in assuaging the sense of deprivation felt by them for years together. The growth of population and the pressure exerted by it has also been leading unplanned and visionless development, which has been gradually endangering the inexpressible beauty of nature on earth in Darjeeling. A stitch in time, saves nine, has to be the immediate concern for all. Hence, in order to push the toy train in the direction of profitable viability and the prosperity of the Himalayan Railways and also for the people and place, a strong political will and administrative decision has become the need of the hour.

Similarly, the congestion and narrowness of the Hill Cart Road of the British day and national highway 55A of today has also been mentioned in the preceeding page. If it is allowed in the manner as it is maintained to day then within a couple of years its utility will totally dismal and immobile. There is a tremendous growth in the production and plying of vehicles, but the capacity and capability of the national high way 55A after erosion and depreciation of hundred years use and service has remained unattended. As the days ahead is of globalization and technological advancement that is destroying and sweeping the old system and order by giving presence to a fast and fair order which is in conformity to the changing world and the taste of the generation. The present life line of Darjeeling, the national highway 55A is in dire need to be converted into an all weather road or an alternative should be found.

D. THE PLIGHT OF FOUR Ts:

Darjeeling was known for four Ts and they were namely Toy Train, Tea, Timber and Tourism for the people out side the region. But the Toy Train laid and left by the British today has turned into a mere object that glissades up hill on two rails for carrying luxurious people for their Joy Ride. Darjeeling tea once known as the best Champagne among the teas in the world has been fighting a battle for survival. The Timber from Darjeeling has vanished due to magic wand exercised by the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation. The West Bengal Forest Development Corporation was formed by the Govt of West Bengal in 1971 with a cherished objective of developing forest more precisely in Darjeeling. After finishing the forest and forest product of Darjeeling hills, the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation has disappeared without holding anybody accountable for indiscriminate deforestation in Darjeeling hills. Thus finally out of four Ts, all are riveting on one T that is Tourism. In order to take care of the Tourism in Darjeeling there are three parallel bodies namely, West Bengal Tourism Corporation under the Government of West Bengal, Tourism of the govt. of India and the Tourism under Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, but the infrastructure required for running the Tourism as industry is deplorably lacking. In spite of not having adequate and requisite infrastructure for the comfort and convenience of the tourists, the flow of various classes of people in the month of May/June and October/November remains staggeringly high. The private tour and travel agencies and motor syndicates have listed some of the places as worth seeing and visiting by the tourists. Those places are called Seven Point and Five Points. Besides the points, the sunrise from Tiger Hill, the Majestic View of Kanchanjunga, breath taking scenic beauty of the hills and mountains, trekking the mountains and enjoyment of divine gorgeousness of the flowering season at Sandakphu and Phalut are the eternal attractions for tourists. The period with influx of visitors is called tourist season. People during May-June season come from across the country seeking relief from the scorching heat of the places and, in October -November the people come to enjoy holidays. It is not only the people but also the Ministers of different States and Government Officials who make it a point of visiting the Queen of Hills during the season. The sales agencies of several companies organise their conferences in Darjeeling during the season and keeping in mind the assemblage of people from the different parts of the world during the season in Darjeeling, the Leather Company, Handloom Corporation, the Khadi Board and many other organise EXPO(s) so as to popularize their for sale and also earning goodwill from the costumers. Thus, Darjeeling has become a tourist spot and the local administration remains busy and fatigued during the season looking after the VIPs and VVIPs of the state and outside state without the help of additional resources. Many of the ‘High-ups’ during their short stay get acquainted with some of the pressing socio-economic problems of the place and express concern and also make pronouncement of doing something in order to get rid of the problems, but surprisingly, they forget everything once they leave. No sooner do they reach Siliguri they would be carrying home only the sweet memories of the good time that they have had in Darjeeling.
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