Happy Valley, a tea garden owned by Darjeeling Organic Tea Estates Pvt Limited (DOTEPL), has not lived up to its name. Its 13 sister gardens in the hills are also in distress.
Reason, their parent company, which happens to own the most number of gardens in the Darjeeling tea industry and exports all the tea produced in its 14 gardens, is virtually collapsing under the burden of dues.
The company has run up dues of Rs 15 crore — Rs 10 crore in provident funds (PF) and Rs 5 crore in gratuity payable to its employees.
Now, the company has requested the Centre to allow it permission to pay the PF in 72 equal monthly installments to its 8,179 employees.
V. Kumar, assistant commissioner of the regional PF office in Darjeeling, said they asked the company to fulfill certain conditions such as paying current contributions regularly within the 15th of each month, among others. “But the decision will be taken by the head office in Delhi. Regional offices can only decided on dues not exceeding Rs 25 lakh,” he said.
Many are surprised that a company, which started with its flagship estate, Ambootia in 1986 and added 13 more gardens between 2005 and 2015, is now unable to fulfil its statutory obligations.
A June 17 letter to the regional provident fund office provides the company’s explanation. It states that the group acquired mostly “sick gardens” and had invested “hugely to clear pending statutory payments of erstwhile owners, infrastructure development” and marketing.
The “dismal condition” of the industry from 2010 to 2018, the “drought” of 2016, followed by 104-day strike during the Gorkhaland agitation in 2017 were also cited.
Anil Bansal, DOTEPL director (plantations), also talked about the Covid-19 pandemic. “This year we lost most of the first flush with no plucking for almost 16-17 days because of the pandemic. There was overgrowth of leaves, and quality suffered,” he said.
Even after producing tea they found it difficult to export as no containers were available in Calcutta ports, he said.
Bansal added they exported 100 per cent of their 10.5 lakh kg tea produced from the 14 Darjeeling gardens.
Dismissing speculation that the company had failed in its marketing strategy, Bansal said: “There was no support from the government or banks. Also, absenteeism (among workers) is as high as 50 per cent. Those who export are facing problems. Those who are blending Nepal tea and selling it are making profits.”
But things had not been smooth at DOTEPL even before the pandemic. A regional PF official said at least “five FIRs” had been filed against the company and their bank accounts frozen in the past.
Happy Valley employees recently stopped working over alleged wage delay. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha trade union stopped the despatch of made tea from this garden since Friday. Bansal claimed to have only one week’s wage due.
