Estate abandoned after law & order 'breach' - Officials allege ransack, workers say no notice was issued in Jaybirpara garden

Jaybirpara Tea Estate. File picture

TT, Alipurduar, Jan. 7: The management of Jaybirpara Tea Estate left the garden yesterday evening alleging "breach of law and order".

The labourers said no notice had been issued and today, most of them worked as usual.

The estate owned by Vishwamitra India Tea Estates Pvt Ltd is in Madarihat-Birpara block, 65km from here. It has 635 workers.

Garden officials alleged that yesterday around 5pm, 150-odd labourers had asked them to leave the estate within 24 hours after an altercation over payment of wages and dues. The workers asked the officials to step out of their chambers, ransacked the offices, locked them up and took the keys.

Sanjoy Bagchi, the secretary of the Dooars Branch of Indian Tea Association, said: "The management is willing to run the garden, although the company has faced huge losses in the past two years. The wage payment was timely, except in December, when it was paid a week after the scheduled date. The manager had told the workers that dead shade trees and scrap would be sold and the amount would be used to pay their dues. But on January 5, when the management started marking trees for felling, the workers stopped them. We have lodged an FIR and informed officials concerned. Assistant managers are in the garden."

The FIR was lodged with Birpara police last night.

In the letter addressed to the district magistrate, the management has stated: "... Some of the staff members and Unit Officials of the operating Trade Unions entered the Garden Office along with a mob of about 150 workers and non-workers and created a chaotic situation in the Manager's chamber thumbed the table broken the glass top, ransacked the office ... forcibly taken the undersigned and other managerial staff ... closed down and locked the Office and taken away ... keys..."

The letter mentioning "serious breach of law and order" also addresses the district police chief, Alipurduar subdivisional officer, block development officer, the deputy labour commissioner, Jalpaiguri, assistant labour commissioner, Birpara, and trade union heads and others.

A CITU leader in the garden, Kedar Chhetry, said: "For six months, we haven't been getting rations and other facilities. Now, the wage has become irregular. There is no assistant manager. We worked on our own today."

Bikash Roy, a central committee member, Terai Dooars Plantation Workers' Union, backed by Trinamul, said: "From December 28, there has been no power. Water supply stopped yesterday. Shade trees and machineries are assets of the estate. How can they sell those? The allegations of locking up office and taking away keys are baseless. We have got no letter from the management. On January 9, a tripartite meeting has been convened by the assistant labour commissioner."

In another development, Kohinoor Tea Estate, which has been shut since October 18, will reopen on January 16. Meetings convened to discuss problems in Turturi and Rahimabad tea gardens were cancelled as the management did not turn up today.