Tea garden hands drop return plan

TT, February 9: Over 350 people who left the ailing Bagracote Tea Estate for other states in search of jobs have cancelled their plan to return home after the management backtracked from an assurance to pay workers their dues in phases from January 31.
Bagracote in the Dooars is one of the 14 estates owned by the Duncans Industries Ltd and workers complained that there had been irregularities in distribution of rations and payment of wages in all the gardens since April last year.
On January 22, the management told the state government that workers would be paid their dues in phases from January 31 and activities in the garden would be regularised from February 1.
However, the Centre authorised the Tea Board on January 28 to take over seven of the 14 gardens. Following the decision, the management decided not to go ahead with the January 22 assurance in the remaining seven gardens, including Bagracote.
"So far, 372 men in Bagracote have migrated to states like Kerala, Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu and are doing odd jobs at industrial establishments and construction sites to run their families. The migration had started in June and even last month, a number of workers left the garden in search of jobs," said Hemant Pradhan, a resident of Bagracote.
According to him, these people were sending money to their families who were still staying in the garden. "They could at least save their families from death because back in the garden, it is only rice which is available from the state government. Many of them would speak of the problems they are facing at the new workplace," said Pradhan.
The dues in all the 14 Duncan gardens were said to be around Rs 70 crore. Several deaths have also been reported in some gardens although the suspected cause - malnutrition - has not been conclusively established.
After the January 22 assurance by the management, over 350 men, most of whom were workers in Bagracote, decided to come back home from their current work sites.
People like Francis Lakra who is in Chennai and Kishore Chhetri who is in Kerala, decided to buy train tickets.
"Those staying outside Bengal were happy to hear the promise. The family members told them that it was imperative that they were back in the garden and collected the dues. They had to spend extra money to get the train tickets. We had spoken to them and they were so happy to know that the impasse was finally over," Laurantus Kerketta, another resident of Bagracote, said.
However, the ray of hope faded away within a week.
"As the central government issued a notification on January 28, mentioning the acquisition of seven tea estates of the Duncans Group, the management wrote to the state labour department on January 30, saying it was deferring its plan. The migrants were contacted by the family members and asked to cancel train tickets. They were also told to continue working at their respective places," said Pradhan.
"I have spoken to at least a couple of them. They are desperate to return home at the slightest opportunity but cannot afford to do so. Otherwise, their families would be struggling to live," he added.