Duncan garden relief

TT, 7 Mar 2019, Alipurduar: Managers returned on Wednesday to some gardens of the Duncan Goenka Group, bringing relief to the workers who had been fearing abandonment.

Their arrival in the gardens has also brought some respite for the Trinamul leaders, who had been trying to assure the workers that the situation would become normal. Many gardens of the group had been abandoned in 2015.

"As per the decision made at the tripartite meeting held in Calcutta (last week), managerial employees have returned in all the six tea gardens of Duncans on Wednesday. In most of these gardens, the wage dues of three weeks were disbursed and the remaining will be paid soon. The workers are happy and we are relieved. We have also asked representatives of the group to prepare a plan on how they intend to run the gardens in the future," said Mannalal Jain, vice-president, Cha Bagan Trinamul Congress Mazdoor Union.

In north Bengal, there are 13 tea gardens of the group, among which, 11 are in the foothills. After the group abandoned most of its gardens in 2015, the state government had convinced the group to reopen most of its estates.

As of now, two gardens of the group, both located in Alipurduar district are closed.

According to Trinamul insiders, they are taking initiatives have been taken so that these two gardens reopen. But the sudden departure of the managerial staff from six other gardens had abruptly changed the situation.

"The BJP had to face criticism for failing to resolve the crisis in 2015. Trinamul had highlighted how its endeavours helped in reopening of the gardens. ," said an observer.

"On March 9, we will hold a meeting with the workers know their views and problems and whether they have any alternative plan by which the gardens can run smoothly. ," said Mohan Sharma, president, Cha Bagan Trinamul Congress Mazdoor Union..