A section of workers and their families of the Madhu tea estate in the Kalchini block of Alipurduar district blocked a stretch of a state highway for three hours to protest the management’s decision to transfer them to another tea garden.

Traffic on the state highway that connects Hasimara with Kalchini came to a halt. Vehicles had to take detours.

Around 9.30 am, tea workers walked out of the Madhu garden that is off the highway and blocked it.

“The management had assured temporary workers like us that we will be made permanent. However, it didn’t keep the promise and now wants us to shift to another garden. We will not move to any other garden and will continue to work in Madhu,” said worker Amal Munda, who joined the protests. "We want to work at Madhu and be made permanent workers."

The tea estate was closed for around eight years. It reopened in 2022. As of now, there are around 400 permanent workers and 40-odd temporary workers in the garden.

Sources said the yield at the tea plantations of the garden has reduced over the years, which is why the management wants to transfer temporary workers to Nimtijhora tea estate, some 15km apart from Madhu but owned by the same tea company.

“We want to send them to Nimtijhora and don’t think they should have a problem with it,” said Madhu estate manager Kallol Sengupta.

As the blockade continued, a team from the Hasimara police outpost and Sengupta went there and spoke to the demonstrators. Based on their assurance that the two demands would be looked into, workers lifted the blockade around 12.30pm.

“If our demands are unmet, we will protest again,” said a worker.