Road Blockade for Tea wage - Workers get wages in 20 estates, 50 more gardens could disburse pay today

Payment of wages in progress at Karala Valley tea garden in Jalpaiguri. Picture by Biplab Basak

TT, Nov. 25: Payment of cash by banks to tea companies started in Darjeeling, the Terai and Dooars today.

Around 20-odd gardens in the plains and hills made their wage payment this afternoon while some more gardens, which have managed to withdraw the cash, will make the payments tomorrow.

In a separate development, tea workers had blocked a road to protest the delay in wage payment at Soongachi Tea Estate on the outskirts of Malbazar town in Jalpaiguri. The blockade was withdrawn around 1pm after officials of the subdivisional administration assured them that the workers will get their wages soon.

Police officers from Metelli and administrative officials from Malbazar rushed to the spot.

Workers of Karala Valley Tea Estate, on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri, who had raised a road blockade on NH31D two days back, got their wages today.

"We got a fortnight's wage after 25 days. We had got the last payment on October 29," Ranjita Minz, a woman worker, said.

Initially, the garden management had to face problems as the bank could provide notes of Rs 2,000 only. Later, they managed to change those with notes of lower denominations and make the payment.

"Around 50 other gardens, both in the hills and the plains, have collected cash from banks today. All of them will make payments tomorrow," a tea industry source said.

"It seems that the ball has finally started rolling. We were concerned because of the sudden change in the process of cash withdrawal following a directive from the Reserve Bank of India. It is good that the administration and bankers have extended all possible cooperation so that the gardens can withdraw cash at the earliest," Sumit Ghosh, secretary of the Terai branch of the Tea Association of India, said.

Anurag Srivastava, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, held a meeting with tea sector representatives in Siliguri this morning. Tea associations have requested him to speak to the banks and see if the money that garden owners had forwarded to government accounts could be used to disburse wages under a process that was planned out before the RBI stepped in and scrapped it.