Thapa warns tea group over unpaid wages

SNS, DARJEELING,  10 JUNE 2022:  The Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) today issued a warning to tea gardens run by the Bansal Group in areas falling under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), and said that a "strong decision" would he taken against them if they do not provide wages to workers by the 12th of this month.

"There are 10 tea gardens of t he Bansal company in the GTA area and they are victimizing our people . Our people are being made to work very hard during the rainy season, but they have not been paid. It has been two months that our workers in these tea gardens have not got their wages." said BGPM president Anit Thapa, who raised questions on how the garden workers were feeding their family and surviving. 

"They are meting out such atrocities to tea garden workers. We have raised the issue with them, while discussions were also held with the district administration, but they are only giving us assurances that it will be sorted out soon. But these types of assurances will not feed the tea garden workers," Mr Thapa said. 

According to the BGPM president. if any untoward incident takes place in these tea gardens due to this issue, the Bansal Company will have to take the blame for it.

"The administration should also take up this matter seriously for which we have been requesting them time and again, but feel that they are not listening to us," said Mr Thapa.

" We will be holding a meeting on the 12th of this month with representatives of these 10 tea gardens, and if before that, they do not get their wages, then I will have to take a strong decision on that day," he said.

He said that the "strong decision" could be anything, including starting farming in these tea gardens, which according to him, would be helpful to garden workers to earn a living. 

The BGPM leader also gave examples of tea gardens like Longview and Panighatta, which they had run on their own for the benefit of the workers.

"We have the capacity to run the tea gardens on our own, as it is the same tea leaf, factory and tea garden. The workers there can sell those leaves and earn their wages and we could start a practice where the workers themselves run the tea garden," he said, adding that other options like opening homestays in the gardens were also open.