GUWAHATI, Sept 3 - Chairman of the Indian Tea Association (ITA) and Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA) today made an ardent appeal to the Government to take over the tea estate (TE) hospitals and to run them under the State and Central Government health schemes.
In a statement here today, Vivek Goenka, who is the chairman of both the ITA and the CCPA, said in the wake of inconducive, insecure and violence-prone environment, like fatal assault on the doctors of the tea estates, it has become practically infeasible for the estate managements to run the garden hospitals.
�It is high time the State Governments seriously consider the takeover of the hospitals (of the TEs) and run them under the aegis of the Central and State Government�s health schemes,� he said.�Goenka was reacting to the fatal assault on Dr Deben Dutta, the senior medical officer of Teok Tea Garden in Jorhat district on August 31.
On the Teok TE incident, Goenka said nothing can justify the perpetrators� attack which was unleashed on the 73-year-old Dr Deben Dutta, who was in service of tea garden residents for decades.
Assaults and intimidations of medical and paramedical staff of tea gardens by the workers and garden residents in Assam seem to have become a frequent feature which in turn is leading to a serious dent in their (doctors and paramedical staff) morale and confidence. In May last, the senior medical officer of Dikom TE in Upper Assam was brutally assaulted. Such incidents deter the medical professionals from seeking employment in the TEs, he said.
Goenka also urged the Government of Assam to apprehend the culprits involved in the August 31 Teok TE incident and take necessary steps to ensure safety and security of all personnel serving in the tea sector.�
