Minister steps in as tea garden workers call off protest

Tea garden workers from Merico-run plantations withdrew their agitation late on Monday night following the intervention of state labour minister Moloy Ghatak.

The protest was called off after Joint Labour Commissioner Jayanta Sarkar, acting on the minister’s instructions, informed the agitating workers and union leaders that a tripartite meeting would be convened at Dooars Kanya, the administrative building at the Alipurduar district headquarters, on Wednesday.

Advertisement

Notably, workers of Merico-run tea gardens have been protesting under the banner of Chai Mazdoor Ekta Andolan against the prolonged non-payment of wages and alleged denial of provident fund, gratuity and bonus. According to the unions, wages have been pending for periods ranging from three to seven fortnights.

On Monday, around 300 workers staged a peaceful “Dooars Kanya Chalo” march followed by a sit-in, demanding that the company issue a written, time-bound commitment to clear at least the pending wages.

“The denial of wages is not merely illegal, but a constitutional offence, as it violates the workers’ right to life and dignity,” said senior trade union leader Anuradha Talwar.

The workers had sought to meet the District Magistrate and the Additional District Magistrate (Land Reforms), Alipurduar. However, both officials declined to meet the delegation, citing preoccupation with a visit by the Election Commission of India. The Deputy Labour Commissioner later met the protesters but reportedly expressed inability to offer any concrete assurance.

Following sustained protests, the Joint Labour Commissioner and other officials held discussions with the workers close to midnight after the labour minister’s intervention. Nearly 200 women workers had remained seated through the night in the open amid cold conditions, refusing to withdraw their agitation without assurances.

Ziaul Alam, convener of the Joint Forum of Tea Workers’ Trade Unions, West Bengal, said the Joint Labour Commissioner assured that a meeting would be held on Wednesday to resolve the issue of pending wages. “If the company fails to clear the dues, the government has assured that it will take back ownership,” he claimed.

Mr Alam further alleged that in several tea gardens earlier established by the Duncan Group—such as Birpara, Hantapara, Gerganda, Dhumchipara and Lankapara—control has been handed over illegally to favoured gate-pass traders, pushing nearly one lakh people into an acute humanitarian crisis.

The Joint Forum demanded immediate and effective steps by the state government and concerned departments to recover all dues from the responsible owners. It also called for the tea gardens to be handed over to competent owners through legal procedures involving the ministry of commerce.

Failing this, the Forum reiterated its demand for the revival of the West Bengal Tea Development Corporation—sold in 2012 at what it described as throwaway prices—and for the takeover of all closed, defunct and abandoned gardens to safeguard the livelihoods of over one lakh distressed tea worker families.