There has been no starvation deaths in tea gardens in north Bengal, state Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak today said.
"There has been no starvation deaths in the tea gardens. Neither has any tea garden worker died due to lack of treatment," Ghatak told the assembly in reply to questions.
He said around 142 tea gardens are closed in Dooars.
"In those tea gardens which are closed we have provided all kinds of facilities such as drinking water, rice at Rs 2 per kg and other facilities," he added.
There have been reports of a number of alleged starvation deaths in closed tea gardens.
