West Bengal’s Labour Department has given shut tea gardens seven days to submit reopening plans and settle outstanding workers’ dues, as the state government reviewed bonus payments, provident fund and Employees’ State Insurance arrears across north Bengal.
Labour minister Arjun Singh held a meeting with tea garden management representatives and Labour Department officials at Shramik Bhavan in Siliguri on Friday. The review covered the payment of the 20 per cent bonus announced for tea workers, statutory dues and the status of estates that have remained closed.
Singh said 19 companies had already paid the 20 per cent bonus, while the remaining companies had assured the government that they would clear the payment. The department is also following up on unpaid provident fund and ESI contributions and other statutory dues owed to workers.
The meeting examined problems affecting around 35 tea gardens in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and the Dooars, according to the minister. Of these, 21 are officially recorded as closed. Singh also said there were allegations of illegal operations in some of the other gardens.
Labour Department officials said an intervention in a Darjeeling tea plantation had led its management to deposit Rs 83.36 lakh against outstanding provident fund dues of Rs 1.22 crore. The management had given a written undertaking to deposit the remaining amount by October 25, officials said.
Singh said nearly Rs 100 crore in provident fund dues had been recovered through government interventions since the previous review meetings. The recovery process is continuing, he said, without providing a further breakdown of the amount recovered from individual estates.
The government’s seven-day deadline applies to closed tea gardens that want to come forward with plans for reopening. Singh said new companies or entrepreneurs willing to take over and operate such estates could also be considered, provided they clear previous dues and submit viable proposals to the government.
The administration has also taken a serious view of alleged illegal sales of tea leaves from closed gardens. Singh said a special task force had been constituted to monitor such activity.
The review places reopening, worker compensation and the enforcement of statutory contributions within the same administrative process. The next step is for closed gardens and potential operators to submit proposals within the seven-day period, while the Labour Department continues its follow-up on outstanding provident fund, ESI and other worker dues.
