Tea garden workers to get pending wages by April 1st week

MP, Kolkata: Tea garden workers in Darjeeling will get their pending wages cleared by the first week of April, while the dues for Terai and Dooars will be cleared within a week. In the month of February, the wage of tea garden workers was raised by the state to Rs 150 a day, from Rs 132.50. The rise in the wage was made effective from January, 2018. 

"90 percent of tea garden workers in Terai and Dooars have already received their increased wages. The remaining dues will be cleared in a week. The tea garden association in Darjeeling has sought some time for the payment and has agreed to clear the dues by the first week of April," state Labour minister Moloy Ghatak said, after a tripartite meeting held in Siliguri on Thursday. 

Apart from Ghatak, the meeting was attended by state Tourism minister Goutam Deb and state Public Works department minister Aroop Biswas, who is also the observer of Trinamul Congress for North Bengal. 

Representatives from tea garden associations in North Bengal and trade unions were also present in the meeting. 

It may be mentioned that the minimum daily wage of the tea garden workers was Rs 67 in 2011 and after the change of guard, the Trinamool government has raised it to Rs 150. 

It has been decided in the meeting, that the Puja bonus for tea garden workers in Darjeeling, which remains unpaid, will be cleared fully by March 10. 

The first installment has already been paid and the second and final ones are due. 

The tea garden owners were unable to pay the bonus due to stalemate in the Hills for more than three months, due to the bandh called by the GJM.