Darjeeling tea gardens disburse 16 pc bonus

SNS, SIIGURI, OCTOBER 4, 2024: At a time when the coordination committee of eight trade unions in the Hills has been demanding a 20 percent bonus, the management of many tea gardens in Darjeeling Hills has disbursed bonuses at a rate of 16 percent online, following the advisory issued by the labour department. 

It is worth noting that the labour department issued another notification yesterday for a tripartite meeting, which will be held immediately after the festival season concludes. 

Labour commissioner Jawaid Akhtar mentioned in his letter that he was directed by the labour minister to convene the tripartite meeting in response to the unions' letter to the minister. 

Mr. Akhtar also urged the trade unions to maintain peace, as tea workers, led by their union leaders, had taken to the streets and continued their agitation. Official sources said the trade unions had written a letter to the labour minister, Moloy Ghatak, expressing their dissatisfaction with the advisory that asked planters to pay a 16 percent bonus. 

Although official sources stated that the upcoming tripartite meeting would review the disbursement of bonuses for tea workers in the Hills, political sources indicated that trade union leaders are likely to push for an additional 4 percent bonus, bringing the total to 20 percent. 

When asked to comment, the secretary of the Darjeeling Indian Tea Association (DITA), Mohan Chhetri, said, "The management of all 17 tea gardens belonging to the ITA in Darjeeling, including Goodricke, has disbursed bonuses at a rate of 16 percent online, following the advisory issued by the state government." 

The labour department, in its advisory, directed planters to complete bonus payments by Friday. 

Meanwhile, tea plantation management in the Dooars and Terai regions has also started disbursing bonuses after the Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA) announced the base rate for 'bonus-cum-compensatory' payments at 16 percent. 

Andrew Yule & Co. Ltd. (West Bengal) has already disbursed bonuses at a rate of 11 percent on account yesterday, with the remaining 5 percent to be disbursed among the workers of four gardens—Karbala, New Dooars, Choonbhutti, and Banarhat—after the festival season ends. 

This decision was made during a tripartite meeting held at the Dooars Branch of the Indian Tea Association (DBITA) office in Binnaguri yesterday, in the presence of officials from the central regional labour department.