There was tension in the Madhu tea garden this morning when workers, having arrived for work at 7 am, found the gates locked and the management missing.
The 323-hectare garden belongs to Diabari Tea Company and employs 951 workers.
The general secretary of the National Union of Plantation Workers, Pravat Mukherjee, who had gone to the garden to speak to the workers, said the management had promised to pay arrears last Saturday, but had failed to do so. “The workers had kept the management staff confined in the office for seven hours, but the block development officer and the police intervened and some payment was made yesterday,” he said. “Despite that, the management has abandoned the garden.”
Sanjoy Bagchi, the secretary of the Indian Tea Planters Association, said the workers had rejected the management’s proposal of paying them in two instalments, one on Saturday and the other on Monday. “The workers became violent and harassed manager Subrata Roy and the two garden owners, N.M. Kedia and U. Sharma, and also broke furniture in the office,” Bagchi said.
“The new owners who took over in March this year have been clearing the arrears left behind by the previous owners, but now they are feeling threatened and have declared a suspension of work,” Bagchi added. He also said an FIR against 10 workers has been filed with the police outpost in Hashimara and the garden will remain closed till they are arrested.
Kumar Chhetri, the unit secretary of the workers union, alleged that there was no drinking water supply in the garden and no health facilities. “Sixteen persons, including children, have recently died of malaria and diarrhoea. Yesterday, two more persons died, among them an eight-year-old boy,” Chhetri said.
Alipurduar subdivisional officer Soumitra Mohan said the labour department would sort out the problem in the garden.
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