Union minister stresses revival of tea, cinchona sector, workers’ rights protection

Union minister of labour and employment Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday held a meeting here with stakeholders from the tea industry and cinchona gardens, underlining the urgent need to take concrete steps to revive and revitalise the sector while safeguarding workers’ rights.

The meeting was organised on the initiative of Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, who facilitated the interaction between the Union minister and industry representatives.

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Highlighting long-standing issues in the region, participants pointed out that for decades workers in this historic tea belt ~ India’s first industrial region in the hills ~ have been subjected to outdated, colonial-era labour practices.

Mr Bista alleged that the Trinamul Congress (TMC) government has denied tea garden workers dignified wages, parja patta (land deeds) to their ancestral land, and access to basic facilities. He said thousands of workers continue to suffer due to garden closures, delayed wage payments, and the denial of pensions and statutory benefits.

The Union minister said the government has recently implemented four new labour codes aimed at transforming the lives of tea and cinchona workers in the Darjeeling hills, Terai, and Dooars.

Responding to a demand from workers, Mandaviya assured that a labour court would be set up in Darjeeling at the earliest.

He said the code on wages would directly address long-standing injustices by ensuring fair and dignified wages, timely payments, equal pay for men and women, and by reducing excessive in-kind deductions. He added that the new labour codes mandate that no worker be paid below the national floor wage, which the West Bengal government would also be required to implement.