Planter gifts his stake to Makaibari tea estate workers in Darjeeling

A planter, whose family owned the iconic Makaibari tea estate in Darjeeling hills for more than a century, announced on Thursday he would “gift” 12% of his share in the Makaibari Tea and Trading Company to workers, according to Indian media reports. Swaraj Kumar Banerjee made the announcement at a program in the presence of workers’ representatives in the garden two weeks after he decided to quit the 150-year old tea estate, writes The Hindustan Times. The relation of the estate with the family that began in 1859 came to an end with the announcement. Banerjee had previously sold the majority of his stake to Kolkata-based Luxmi Group in 2014. 70-year-old Banerjee said the shares would be divided to four bodies – Fair Trade Premium Committee, which is a joint body of the workers and the management; Jari Buti Committee, a self-help group; and a voluntary organization formed by the workers. Most of the workers’ representatives, who were present during the event, readily accepted the offer. Banerjee, who is also known as Rajah, said he would like to hand over his shares to the workers on the first day of the Bangla New Year (Pohela Boishakh -- that will be celebrated on April 15 in West Bengal this year). Without revealing the value of his 12% stake in Makaibari Tea and Trading Company – of which he is the chairperson – Banerjee said Makaibari was “his soul” and he would miss it . For years, Makaibari has carried the signature of Darjeeling and India around the world. Reportedly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Queen Elizabeth Makaibari tea when he called upon her at the Buckingham Palace in 2016. According to The Hindustan Times, the brew from Makaibari estate, which produces about 100,000 kg of tea a year, was also served to participants and officials at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil. Makaibari’s Silver Tips Imperial was sold at Rs 117,000 per kg in 2014, the news outlet writes. Banerjee’s two sons, who are not in the tea business, are not aware of his move. The announcement has come a year after an accidental fire swept through his 19th-century bungalow in March 2017 and gutted Banerjee’s prized possessions – hunting trophies, paintings and antiques, some dating back to the 1850s and a number of books – his family received down the decades from 87 countries, writes The Hindustan Times. The tea industry in north Bengal that consists of 283 gardens in Darjeeling and the foothills of Terai and Dooars often hit the headlines for closed gardens and worker deaths allegedly due to effects of malnutrition, reports The Hindustan Times.