Ramjhora tea estate, located in Madarihat block of Alipurduar district, will reopen on Friday.

It had closed on January 15 this year as the management had announced a suspension of work in the garden, alleging indiscipline among some workers and trade union leaders.

On Thursday, the decision to reopen the tea estate was made at a tripartite meeting at the office of the additional labour commissioner of north Bengal zone here, much to the relief of its 750-odd workers who had become jobless.

“The management of Ramjhora has agreed to reopen the tea garden from Friday. It also agreed to pay (workers) due wages of a fortnight (January 3 to January 14) within three working days after reopening the garden,” said an official of the state labour department.

Sources said on January 19, a meeting was convened by the state labour department in Jalpaiguri but representatives of the management had not turned up. This made the department convene the second meeting here on Thursday.

At the meeting, some more decisions were made which include eight hours of work, particularly plucking (from 7am to 11.30am and 1pm to 4.30pm).
“No wages will be paid during the period of closure. Also, assurances given to the workers regarding payment of dues and appropriate benefits would be reviewed after a month,” the source added.

Additional labour commissioner Mohammad Rizwan said as of now, 10 other gardens were shut in north Bengal and efforts were on to open them.