Tea worker reinstated in tea garden after 23 years dismissal

A worker was reinstated in Mogalkata Tea Estate after 23 years of his dismissal from the garden, thanks to a court order.

Pijush Khariya, 58, however, could not utilise the opportunity because of his age. He, instead, recommended his 20-year-old only daughter Sorpeena for the job.

The garden management, which took over the reins two months ago, allowed the girl to join work today.

A resident of Gudamline of the garden in the Banarhat police station area, Khariya and four others had been sacked from service in 1984 for allegedly gheraoing the then manager. The workers had been demanding their dues, said Pradip Mallick, the secretary of the central committee of National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW), affiliated to the Intuc.

The management had also registered a case against the five workers with the Banarhat police.

“But in a blatant case of favouritism, the garden management had taken back four workers, who were the members of the Citu-controlled Cha Bagan Majdoor Union, the same year. Since Khariya was a member of the NUPW, he was not reinstated,” Mallick alleged.

The police had referred the case to the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Jalpaiguri.

In 2006, the court directed Khariya’s reinstatement in the garden after declaring him “innocent”.

Mallick said Khariya, however, is not staking any claim to his dues of 23 years.

Source: The Telegraph