No bonus in state estates, protests start

TT, Oct. 9: Workers in five government-run tea gardens in the hills and the Dooars have not got their bonus, which sparked protests in both places today.

In Nagrakata in the Dooars, workers of one tea estate confined the manager and later the SDO for nearly four hours this morning protesting the non-payment of bonus by the West Bengal Tea Development Corporation (WBTDC) that owns five gardens.

Their counterparts in three tea estates in the hills also threatened agitation if the bonus was not paid ahead of the Durga Puja at the rate of 20 per cent as had been decided earlier.

The WBTDC owns five tea estates in north Bengal — three in the hills, two in the Dooars.

According to administrative sources, the corporation has a total of 3,300 workers in its payroll on all the five estates.

At a meeting of the tea garden managements and unions in August, it was decided that bonus would be paid at the rate of 20 per cent of a worker’s annual wage in the hills and the Dooars.

“All gardens owned by corporate groups and entrepreneurs have disbursed bonus among workers but we, workers of state-owned gardens, have not yet got our bonus,”said Jainul Mian, the unit secretary of the Citu-affiliated Cha Bagan Mazdoor Union in Hilla. “We were thus left with little options but to launch a protest.”

Supporters and leaders of other trade unions such as the NUPW, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-backed Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union and Trinamul-backed Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union have started protests in the garden.

Over 500 workers assembled in front of the manager’s bungalow in Hilla and confined him at 7.30am.

Hearing the news, Jyotirmoy Tanti, the SDO of Malbazar, reached the spot and was also confined by the agitated workers. Tanti however, persuaded them to withdraw the protest around 11.30am and promised to take up the issue with the district administration and officials in Calcutta.

The industries department is supposed to disburse the bonus, but it was not clear why it had not done so.

“We have apprised the district magistrate and other senior officials of the protests in the tea estate over bonus. Simultaneously, we are also trying to contact officials to see that workers receive their bonus ahead of Durga Puja,” Tanti said.

In Darjeeling, workers of all three gardens —Pandem, Rangaroon and Rangmuk-Cedar —started a three-hour protest from 8am today in their respective gardens to demand immediate disbursement of bonus.

The agitation is being spearheaded by the Morcha-backed union, which has decided to keep in confinement the management of these three gardens from October 14 onwards if the workers do not get the bonus.

The biggest celebrations in the hills take place on October 14, which is Bijaya Dashami. On this day, relatives visit each other’s house and elders anoint “tika” before a grand feast.