Raid on Illegal Brick Kilns: A Story from Jalpaiguri
Alipurduar is a picturesque place tucked away in the northern district of Jalpaiguri in the state of West Bengal. At 2500 sq. km, it is almost half the district of Jalpaiguri in term of area and has a population of over 14 lakh people. Peopled by different linguistic communities including a substantial tribal population, the mainstay of the local economy rests on the 66 tea gardens where a good number of local people including the emigrants from neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand are employed. In fact, the tea gardens, even though a good number of them are sick, still continue to provide employment to a substantive number of people and thereby create demand for other sectors of the local economy.
It is surrounded on its north by Bhutan, on its east by Assam, on south by the district of Cochbehar and on its west by Sadar and Mal sub-divisions of Jalpaiguri. Very lush and beautiful place with very good scenic locales and forests, Alipurduar is one of the tourist delights in the state of West Bengal.
Even though the District Magistrate of Jalpaiguri is in overall control of this sub-division, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate is the actual guy who calls the shots locally as the 130 kilometres distance between Alipurduar and district headquarters makes SDM the de facto Collector in his jurisdiction for all practical purposes. Being one of the very important sub-divisions of the state, SDM is usually a direct IAS officer.
Ram Mohan joined as the new Sub-Divisional Officer at Alipurduar in the year 2004. Like every new regular recruit, he was full of energy, ideas and motivation to do something for the local society. As such, he was very pro-active and accessible to all. Soon, he endeared himself to the local people who responded very well to all his initiatives and activism. He would meet everyone and respond to all public complaints with alacrity and empathy. He would keep his weekends free for some enforcement activities which usually comprised matters relating motor vehicles, land revenue, excise, different illegal medical practices including drive against quackery, illegal pathological labs and any other public grievances.
It was against this background that it was brought to his notice that there are certain illegal brick kilns running for many years in the Ethelbari area of Birpara Block of his sub-division, which has a substantial population from North India. He gathered all the requisite information relating thereto and got to know that about 23 brick kilns have been operating illegally for years together on tribal land. He was informed that non-tribals were operating these brick kilns on tribal land which is an offence as tribal land can not be converted or transferred to non-tribals but for certain specific procedures and formalities. Not only this, they were also not paying any revenue to the government for the purpose which is quite obvious.
He also got to see an old Supreme Court judgement clearly ruling against these brick kilns on tribal land, giving direction to the local administration to immediately shut down these kilns and take appropriate measures against those involved. Having known all this, SDO was raring for some action against these illegal operators. Be it noted that the post of the Sub-Divisional Land Officer was being held by one of his Deputy Magistrates making his control over the local land department further strong. So, accompanied by his Second Officer (senior most Deputy Magistrate in his office) and a team of some officials from the land department together with the relevant case records of each brick kiln, SDO headed to the spot on a pre-determined day.
While SDO proceeded to the spot, he did not deem it fit to find out the reasons for inaction or no action against these illegal operators all these years. He just thought that may be his predecessors did not have enough guts for the same and he would prove that he definitely has it. So, they all proceeded to the spot. However, SDO did not take any police force with him as he was not used to taking police force with him on all occasions as he had led many of the enforcement drives successfully without any assistance from the police. He would also not do this because doing that would also mean spoiling the entire drive as police would invariably leak the information, defeating the very purpose of the enforcement. He just had a wisp of a man for his personal security officer (PSO) with him.
So, there they were all at the enforcement site in Ethelbari. Since it was a big expanse of land, secluded from the populated areas as well as very dusty, SDO’s PSO requested him to exempt him to accompany him any further as he could not tolerate dust because of his asthma problem. SDO granted his request. So, whatever trace of police support SDO had, was also gone.
Undeterred, SDO proceeded further with his team to the first brick kiln where more than hundred labourers including some children were busy working. He asked his Second Officer, Arshad Hasan Warshi, a very good and dynamic state civil service officer accompanying him, to call the owner. The owner was not readily available, so the Munshi Babu supervising the kiln activities came rushing to attend on him. The Munshi was brimming with humility and invited SDO and his entourage for some tea and snacks.
Without responding to Munshi’s mealy mouthed reception, SDO, matter-of-factly, asked the Munshi to produce the kiln license to which the latter replied that there was none to show. SDO asked for some land papers, any authorisation to run the kiln or any document proving that the requisite land revenue and other tariffs had been paid. When the Munshi again replied in the negative, SDO grabbed him by his collar, slapped and kicked him. Then, he directed his Second Officer to arrest him.
From there he proceeded to the next kiln and almost same sequence was repeated there as well. SDO thus kept entering deep into an uncharted land, replete with billowing brick kilns and working labourers, unaccompanied by any police force. He kept moving from one brick kiln to another, arresting either the owner or the Munshi. In all this, he was ensuring that he gave a good thrashing to the guy giving wrong answers to his queries before arresting him. At many occasions, it also happened that the person he beat up and arrested was almost double his size and taller than him, but he had the confidence of the power enshrined in his office and a courage stemming from the company of a retinue of officials.
It was when he had beat up and arrested about ten people that his Second Officer Warshi whispered in his ears that they had entered quite deep into the influence area of these illegal operators and it was advisable to get back and move out at the earliest. SDO sensing the situation, immediately decided to retrace his steps. As they were retracing that they saw a crowd of people approaching them. It was the local panchayat member Ms. Sabita Chhetri accompanied by the local party functionaries and followers.
On approaching SDO, she remonstrated with him saying that as a local public representative she should have been informed of the action. To this, SDO politely replied that he is not supposed to inform her of all his decisions and activities. He informed her as to how these people had been operating illegally for years together on tribal land and not giving any revenue to the government. Ms. Chhetri told him that had she been informed of it, she might have taken action against the same. Knowing very well that taking action in such cases was beyond the jurisdiction of a panchayat member, SDO told her that she should be happy that he had made her job easier. All this conversation was going on while SDO and his team were walking back with these people to the place where their vehicles were parked.
Talking and discussing with them, SDO and his team were soon near their vehicles. In the meanwhile, the crowd led by Ms Chhetri and another local leader called Rajesh Singh had got very agitated. They soon started shouting all sorts of slogans against SDO including ‘SDO ki gundargardi nahi chalegi’ and ‘SDO murdabaad’. SDO tried to pacify them and explained to them everything, but to no avail. They soon placed a demand to SDO that they would not allow the kiln owners to be arrested. Sensing the mood of the situation, SDO conceded the demand after a while and handed over the three owners to the crowd. Immediately, the crowd led by Ms Chhetri asked for all the Munshis to be let off too. SDO had no other option available but to discretely concede to the demand. His refusal may have led the crowd to be more agitated and violent resulting in stone pelting and what not.
SDO along with his team members soon left the scene amidst the slogan shouting by the agitating crowd which had by now swelled to over five hundred people including labourers from the various nearby brick kilns. Directing the other team members to go back, SDO along with his Second Officer went straight to the local police station and met the local Circle Inspector and Officer-in-Charge. He spent time discussing various aspects and nuances of the incidents with them. Then, he directed Mr. Warshi to lodge an FIR against the people involved in the incidents for obstructing a public servant in the lawful discharge of his duty. It was seen to it that the FIR was lodged in such a way as to implicate them under more sections and for cognizable/non-bailable offences.
Soon, it was all big news all over the district. Very soon, many people were arrested by the local police. Since all the illegal brick kiln operators including those arrested were local influentials and also the important members and financiers of the locally dominant party, they were soon out of the custody at the instance of the local Minister. The District Minister, a member of the locally dominant Scheduled Tribe, was furious with the way SDO had handled the entire affair and prevailed upon the DM and SP to have his men out of the jail the same day.
The Minister is learnt to have pushed for SDO’s transfer, but nothing happened as DM wanted SDO’s continuance who had also been a probationer under him in the same district. The District Magistrate reportedly advised against the proposed transfer of SDO to the Personnel Secretary. The media were salivating having got a good story and since there were many admirers of the young SDO among them, the entire incident got reported in almost all the newspapers, with a positive bias in favour of SDO. But there ended the entire matter as the Minister ensured that FIR is not taken to its logical conclusion and no inquiry or action was taken after that. SDO got so many calls thereafter including those from some of his batchmates for not pursuing the matter too seriously (pointing to the connection these people have in high places), but SDO knew very well that pursuing the matter further or not was no longer in his hands. He, however, kept quiet. After all, if you can not help the situation, at least, an opportunity to oblige someone should not be lost, even if doing the obligation is by default of your helplessness.
The local people were, however, very happy with SDO’s action as very big wigs had been beaten up by a very young officer. SDO was disappointed with the way the entire matter was hushed up, but he felt satisfied with the fact that, at least, he penalised them through humiliation by way of public thrashing of the offenders, in front of their own employees. SDO did send a detailed report on the entire matter later along with his recommendations including the proposal to regularise these brick kilns for realisation of the government revenue. People still talk about the incidents, all the illegal brick kilns are still continuing there without any hindrance or obstruction from any quarters and thousands of local and outside labourers still work in unhygienic conditions for less than minimum wages and sans any work site amenities.
Alipurduar is a picturesque place tucked away in the northern district of Jalpaiguri in the state of West Bengal. At 2500 sq. km, it is almost half the district of Jalpaiguri in term of area and has a population of over 14 lakh people. Peopled by different linguistic communities including a substantial tribal population, the mainstay of the local economy rests on the 66 tea gardens where a good number of local people including the emigrants from neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand are employed. In fact, the tea gardens, even though a good number of them are sick, still continue to provide employment to a substantive number of people and thereby create demand for other sectors of the local economy.
It is surrounded on its north by Bhutan, on its east by Assam, on south by the district of Cochbehar and on its west by Sadar and Mal sub-divisions of Jalpaiguri. Very lush and beautiful place with very good scenic locales and forests, Alipurduar is one of the tourist delights in the state of West Bengal.
Even though the District Magistrate of Jalpaiguri is in overall control of this sub-division, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate is the actual guy who calls the shots locally as the 130 kilometres distance between Alipurduar and district headquarters makes SDM the de facto Collector in his jurisdiction for all practical purposes. Being one of the very important sub-divisions of the state, SDM is usually a direct IAS officer.
Ram Mohan joined as the new Sub-Divisional Officer at Alipurduar in the year 2004. Like every new regular recruit, he was full of energy, ideas and motivation to do something for the local society. As such, he was very pro-active and accessible to all. Soon, he endeared himself to the local people who responded very well to all his initiatives and activism. He would meet everyone and respond to all public complaints with alacrity and empathy. He would keep his weekends free for some enforcement activities which usually comprised matters relating motor vehicles, land revenue, excise, different illegal medical practices including drive against quackery, illegal pathological labs and any other public grievances.
It was against this background that it was brought to his notice that there are certain illegal brick kilns running for many years in the Ethelbari area of Birpara Block of his sub-division, which has a substantial population from North India. He gathered all the requisite information relating thereto and got to know that about 23 brick kilns have been operating illegally for years together on tribal land. He was informed that non-tribals were operating these brick kilns on tribal land which is an offence as tribal land can not be converted or transferred to non-tribals but for certain specific procedures and formalities. Not only this, they were also not paying any revenue to the government for the purpose which is quite obvious.
He also got to see an old Supreme Court judgement clearly ruling against these brick kilns on tribal land, giving direction to the local administration to immediately shut down these kilns and take appropriate measures against those involved. Having known all this, SDO was raring for some action against these illegal operators. Be it noted that the post of the Sub-Divisional Land Officer was being held by one of his Deputy Magistrates making his control over the local land department further strong. So, accompanied by his Second Officer (senior most Deputy Magistrate in his office) and a team of some officials from the land department together with the relevant case records of each brick kiln, SDO headed to the spot on a pre-determined day.
While SDO proceeded to the spot, he did not deem it fit to find out the reasons for inaction or no action against these illegal operators all these years. He just thought that may be his predecessors did not have enough guts for the same and he would prove that he definitely has it. So, they all proceeded to the spot. However, SDO did not take any police force with him as he was not used to taking police force with him on all occasions as he had led many of the enforcement drives successfully without any assistance from the police. He would also not do this because doing that would also mean spoiling the entire drive as police would invariably leak the information, defeating the very purpose of the enforcement. He just had a wisp of a man for his personal security officer (PSO) with him.
So, there they were all at the enforcement site in Ethelbari. Since it was a big expanse of land, secluded from the populated areas as well as very dusty, SDO’s PSO requested him to exempt him to accompany him any further as he could not tolerate dust because of his asthma problem. SDO granted his request. So, whatever trace of police support SDO had, was also gone.
Undeterred, SDO proceeded further with his team to the first brick kiln where more than hundred labourers including some children were busy working. He asked his Second Officer, Arshad Hasan Warshi, a very good and dynamic state civil service officer accompanying him, to call the owner. The owner was not readily available, so the Munshi Babu supervising the kiln activities came rushing to attend on him. The Munshi was brimming with humility and invited SDO and his entourage for some tea and snacks.
Without responding to Munshi’s mealy mouthed reception, SDO, matter-of-factly, asked the Munshi to produce the kiln license to which the latter replied that there was none to show. SDO asked for some land papers, any authorisation to run the kiln or any document proving that the requisite land revenue and other tariffs had been paid. When the Munshi again replied in the negative, SDO grabbed him by his collar, slapped and kicked him. Then, he directed his Second Officer to arrest him.
From there he proceeded to the next kiln and almost same sequence was repeated there as well. SDO thus kept entering deep into an uncharted land, replete with billowing brick kilns and working labourers, unaccompanied by any police force. He kept moving from one brick kiln to another, arresting either the owner or the Munshi. In all this, he was ensuring that he gave a good thrashing to the guy giving wrong answers to his queries before arresting him. At many occasions, it also happened that the person he beat up and arrested was almost double his size and taller than him, but he had the confidence of the power enshrined in his office and a courage stemming from the company of a retinue of officials.
It was when he had beat up and arrested about ten people that his Second Officer Warshi whispered in his ears that they had entered quite deep into the influence area of these illegal operators and it was advisable to get back and move out at the earliest. SDO sensing the situation, immediately decided to retrace his steps. As they were retracing that they saw a crowd of people approaching them. It was the local panchayat member Ms. Sabita Chhetri accompanied by the local party functionaries and followers.
On approaching SDO, she remonstrated with him saying that as a local public representative she should have been informed of the action. To this, SDO politely replied that he is not supposed to inform her of all his decisions and activities. He informed her as to how these people had been operating illegally for years together on tribal land and not giving any revenue to the government. Ms. Chhetri told him that had she been informed of it, she might have taken action against the same. Knowing very well that taking action in such cases was beyond the jurisdiction of a panchayat member, SDO told her that she should be happy that he had made her job easier. All this conversation was going on while SDO and his team were walking back with these people to the place where their vehicles were parked.
Talking and discussing with them, SDO and his team were soon near their vehicles. In the meanwhile, the crowd led by Ms Chhetri and another local leader called Rajesh Singh had got very agitated. They soon started shouting all sorts of slogans against SDO including ‘SDO ki gundargardi nahi chalegi’ and ‘SDO murdabaad’. SDO tried to pacify them and explained to them everything, but to no avail. They soon placed a demand to SDO that they would not allow the kiln owners to be arrested. Sensing the mood of the situation, SDO conceded the demand after a while and handed over the three owners to the crowd. Immediately, the crowd led by Ms Chhetri asked for all the Munshis to be let off too. SDO had no other option available but to discretely concede to the demand. His refusal may have led the crowd to be more agitated and violent resulting in stone pelting and what not.
SDO along with his team members soon left the scene amidst the slogan shouting by the agitating crowd which had by now swelled to over five hundred people including labourers from the various nearby brick kilns. Directing the other team members to go back, SDO along with his Second Officer went straight to the local police station and met the local Circle Inspector and Officer-in-Charge. He spent time discussing various aspects and nuances of the incidents with them. Then, he directed Mr. Warshi to lodge an FIR against the people involved in the incidents for obstructing a public servant in the lawful discharge of his duty. It was seen to it that the FIR was lodged in such a way as to implicate them under more sections and for cognizable/non-bailable offences.
Soon, it was all big news all over the district. Very soon, many people were arrested by the local police. Since all the illegal brick kiln operators including those arrested were local influentials and also the important members and financiers of the locally dominant party, they were soon out of the custody at the instance of the local Minister. The District Minister, a member of the locally dominant Scheduled Tribe, was furious with the way SDO had handled the entire affair and prevailed upon the DM and SP to have his men out of the jail the same day.
The Minister is learnt to have pushed for SDO’s transfer, but nothing happened as DM wanted SDO’s continuance who had also been a probationer under him in the same district. The District Magistrate reportedly advised against the proposed transfer of SDO to the Personnel Secretary. The media were salivating having got a good story and since there were many admirers of the young SDO among them, the entire incident got reported in almost all the newspapers, with a positive bias in favour of SDO. But there ended the entire matter as the Minister ensured that FIR is not taken to its logical conclusion and no inquiry or action was taken after that. SDO got so many calls thereafter including those from some of his batchmates for not pursuing the matter too seriously (pointing to the connection these people have in high places), but SDO knew very well that pursuing the matter further or not was no longer in his hands. He, however, kept quiet. After all, if you can not help the situation, at least, an opportunity to oblige someone should not be lost, even if doing the obligation is by default of your helplessness.
The local people were, however, very happy with SDO’s action as very big wigs had been beaten up by a very young officer. SDO was disappointed with the way the entire matter was hushed up, but he felt satisfied with the fact that, at least, he penalised them through humiliation by way of public thrashing of the offenders, in front of their own employees. SDO did send a detailed report on the entire matter later along with his recommendations including the proposal to regularise these brick kilns for realisation of the government revenue. People still talk about the incidents, all the illegal brick kilns are still continuing there without any hindrance or obstruction from any quarters and thousands of local and outside labourers still work in unhygienic conditions for less than minimum wages and sans any work site amenities.
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