Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar has praised the 20 per cent bonus given to tea workers in BJP-ruled Assam and mocked the Trinamool-led Bengal government for failing to do so in the state.
On X, Majumdar questioned what Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has done for tea workers while praising her Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“On the occasion of Durga Puja, Assam's BJP govt has announced 20% bonus for tea workers — kudos to CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for this initiative!
Meanwhile, in West Bengal, what is CM @Mamataofficial doing for tea workers welfare? Standing among them once a year for photos and making empty promises won't bring real change.
It's time for concrete action, not theatrical (sic),” Majumdar, also a junior Union minister, wrote.
His post comes at a time when protests are rocking north Bengal's tea belt over the bonus rate. In the plains of Dooars and the Terai, a 16 per cent bonus has been paid despite sporadic protests. In the hills, protests escalated as trade unions and planters could not reach a consensus over the bonus rate. As talks failed, the state labour department advised planters to pay bonus at 16 per cent. Some planters transferred the bonus money to worker bank accounts but the latter did not budge from the "20 per cent" stand. The department intervened again by calling for a meeting on November 6 after the festivities.
Trinamool has slammed Majumdar's remarks.
Ritabrata Banerjee, the state chief of INTTUC, the TMC's workers' front, pointed out the difference in the price of teas produced in Bengal and Assam.
“Teas from Assam fetch higher prices. Also, tea gardens here (in Bengal) are owned by private companies and not the state. Even then, the state labour department has intervened to address the issue. Sukanta Majumdar should say what the central government has done for Bengal's tea population,” he said.
Majumdar seemed ignorant of Mamata's initiatives for tea workers, he said. “The state government is giving land rights and houses to tea workers. The tea population benefits from all state-run social welfare schemes."
