Mujnai Tea Estate Back to Normal Life

After remaining closed for 17 days, Mujnai Tea Estate limped back to normal with three assistant managers reporting for work today.

The garden was shut down after the manager of the estate was assaulted by workers on October 29.

Trouble erupted when the manager, K.K. Tiwari, told workers that he could not arrange the total amount necessary for the payment of monthly wages. This irked the workers, who beat him till he lost consciousness.

A team of policemen from Madarihat, which, came to rescue the injured manager from the site was rebuffed. Tiwari was finally saved when a large police contingent led by subdivisional police officer Bhashkar Mukherjee arrived at the scene. He was then taken to Birpara State General Hospital from where he was sent to Siliguri for proper treatment.

On October 31, on instructions of the administration and in the presence of the garden’s accountant, Sujit Dutta, wages for 15 days and ration for one month was distributed among workers.

The garden manager then filed an FIR with the Madarihat police station against nine workers, accusing them of assaulting him. On November 7, seven of the nine accused surrendered at the Madarihat police station. They were produced in the court of the Alipurduar subdivisional judicial magistrate the same day and were released on bail. The garden remained closed till yesterday and workers plucked green leaves of their own accord and sold them without permission.

This morning, normality was restored in the garden and the management has decided to take action against the accused persons. The workers will not be given wages for the last 16 days.
Sanjoy Bagchi, the secretary of the Dooars branch of the Indian Tea Planters’ Association, said: “During the last 17 days, workers illegally sold green leaf and we intend to file an FIR in this connection. On Thursday we will discuss our problems at a meeting in the chamber of the deputy labour commissioner of Jalpaiguri.”

Nakul Sonar, the secretary of the Congress-backed National Union of Plantation Workers, has welcomed the management’s decision to restore normality.

Source> The Telegraph