Raju Bista faces tough challenge within BJP in Darjeeling
Breaking the BJP’s tradition in Darjeeling, sitting MP Raju Bista has won the first round as his name was announced by the party as a candidate from Darjeeling LS constituency.
Himalayan Plantation Workers Union (HPWU), the trade union of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), on Wednesday, claimed that they have stopped dispatch of manufactured tea at the Rangli- Rangliot Tea Estate in Darjeeling with effect from 14 April.
The trade union has been demanding payment of the second instalment of bonus for tea workers, along with other dues. The union has also demanded legal action against the management and the owner of the Rangli Rangliot TE.
“There are dues worth over 1.5 crore of workers there, along with the second installment of the puja bonus. Demanding this, we stopped the dispatch of manufactured tea there. We also submitted a memorandum to the Darjeeling District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police SP and the Assistant Labour Commissioner (ALC), urging them to take legal action against the owner and the management,” HPWU general secretary JB Tamang said.
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According to the HPWU, the garden is run by the Duncans Group and has around 350 workers and about 100 staff and sub-staff.
“We will allow dispatch of the manufactured tea only if the second installment of the puja bonus and the other dues are paid,” the president of the Darjeeling Branch of the HPWU, Sudesh Rai, said.
The dues include gratuity, provident fund, leave travel allowance (LTA) of staff and sub-staff, bonus, salary of permanent staff, wages of temporary workers, and medical bills, among others.
According to Mr Rai, gratuity has not been paid since 2011. “I request other trade unions to also mount pressure on the management on the demands as we do not know why they are still quiet. We have also not yet received any call for a tripartite meeting. If that does not happen soon, we will stop dispatch of tea from all the 87 tea gardens from the 21st of this month,” said Mr Tamang. The HPWU has set a 20- April deadline for a tripartite meeting to be called.
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