10th August: Darjeeling MP Raju Bista made a compelling case in Parliament on Friday, demanding recognition of land rights (parja patta) for the people of his constituency. He highlighted a critical issue: the West Bengal Forest Department’s claim over lands historically used for tea and cinchona cultivation, dating back to the mid-1800s—long before the department’s inception in 1864.
Mr. Bista pointed out that despite the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 mandating the recognition of traditional land rights, the state government has failed to implement it in Darjeeling. This ongoing denial echoes British colonial practices, leaving workers in tea gardens, forest villages, and DI Fund land without legal land ownership.
Bista urged the central government to establish a national policy to grant land rights to these ancestral lands and to enforce the FRA 2006 in West Bengal. He stressed the urgency of protecting the heritage and rights of the people in the Darjeeling Hills, Terai, and Dooars regions.