Tea garden workers receive bonus after police arrest managers over payment failure

Workers of five tea estates in the Madarihat block of Alipurduar district received their annual bonus on Sunday after police arrested the managers of all five gardens for allegedly failing to make the payment before Durga Puja.

However, the workers have warned that they will resume their agitation after the puja holidays, demanding payment of the outstanding 10 per cent of last year’s bonus. They have also raised concerns over unpaid bonus dues for the current year, signalling that the dispute with the management is far from over.

The arrests are believed to be the first of their kind in the Dooars, where a tea garden manager has been taken into custody over delayed bonus payments to workers. The five managers were remanded in police custody for four days.

Kishore Biswakarma, vice-president of the central committee of the Bharatiya Tea Workers’ Union (BTWU), said the arrests had put considerable pressure on the management, prompting the company to release the bonus payment.

“The company came under pressure after the managers were arrested. As a result, the management paid a 10 per cent bonus to workers in all five tea gardens on Sunday. After the Puja holidays, we will hold discussions on the bonus dues,” he said.

The five tea estates are Birpara, Tulshipara, Huntapara, Dhumchipara and Garganda, all located in the Madarihat block of Alipurduar district. Together, they employ approximately 7,500 workers.

Somnath Ghosh, manager of Birpara Tea Estate, and Dinesh Choube, manager of Tulshipara Tea Estate, were among the five arrested.