Salary relief for tea estate workers

SNS | Kurseong | 29 April, 2016:Normalcy has returned to the Jogmaya Tea Estate near Ghayabari under the Kurseong sub-division after workers there received part of their salary from the management on Wednesday. 
Talking to reporters, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) trade union central committee leader at the tea estate, Rajesh Thapa, said that the workers had been agitating for the past few days to press their demand for immediate release of their salary dues. He said out of the total of Rs.16 lakh in dues, the garden management on Wednesday distributed Rs.3 lakh. 

“The management has decided to release another Rs.3 lakh on Friday. It has also said that it will pay the remaining amount of Rs.10 lakh next week,” Thapa said. 

He added that they are hopeful that the management will pay the remaining dues within the stipulated time. “We will take further steps as per the situation or the management’s role,” he said. 

Thapa said that they served memoranda to different authorities concerned, including the labour department, on Wednesday. 

“Following our request, the labour department officials are in the process of fixing a tripartite meeting soon between them, us and the garden management to discuss matters or disputes in the tea estate,” he said.