Kolkata, Sep 25 West Bengal Labour Minister Arjun Singh on Friday held a meeting with tea estate managements and officials to review issues concerning workers’ pending dues, payment of bonus and the reopening of closed tea gardens.
The meeting was held at Shramik Bhavan in Siliguri, and was attended by representatives of tea estates, officials of the Labour Department, besides MPs of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar.
Singh said the state government had already announced a 20-per cent bonus for tea garden workers, and that 19 companies had already paid the amount, while the others have assured they would make the payment.
The minister said the department was also pursuing cases involving non-payment of provident fund, Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) dues and other statutory payments to workers.
Singh said around 35 tea gardens in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and the Dooars were facing various problems.
Of these, 21 are officially recorded as closed, while there are allegations of illegal operations in some of the remaining gardens, he said.
Labour Department officials said its intervention in a tea plantation in Darjeeling has resulted in the management depositing Rs 83.36 lakh against outstanding provident fund dues of Rs 1.22 crore.
The management of that tea estate has given a written undertaking to deposit the remaining amount by October 25, they said.
Singh said nearly Rs 100 crore in provident fund dues had been recovered through interventions since the previous review meetings, and the recovery process was ongoing.
The minister said the state government would provide seven days to closed tea gardens to come forward with plans for reopening, and asserted that outstanding workers’ dues would have to be settled.
He said new companies or entrepreneurs willing to take over and operate such gardens could be considered if they cleared the previous dues and submitted viable proposals to the government.
Singh also said the government had taken a serious view of alleged illegal sale of tea leaves from closed gardens, and constituted a special task force to monitor such activities.
At another meeting in Siliguri, Singh, who also holds the transport portfolio, emphasised on enhanced revenue collection with effective enforcement, strict vehicle fitness checks, promotion of e-autos, improvement of RTO/ARTO office infrastructure, citizen-friendly service delivery, and establishment of additional check-posts wherever necessary.
(PTI News)
