The management of the Toorsa tea estate in Alipurduar district announced the suspension of work in the garden on Monday, over a month after managerial representatives had abandoned the garden.

The matter came to light on Thursday evening when some trade union leaders received the notice. There are 652 workers in the garden.

According to administrative sources, on July 10, the managerial staff of Toorsa, which is run by the Toorsa Tea Company Private Limited, left the tea estates, citing lawlessness due to the activities of a section of workers.

“The same company runs Mahua, a small tea estate located near Toorsa, with around 100 workers. The management has abandoned this garden as well, along with Toorsa,” said a source.

Both gardens are in the Kalchini block of the district and are around 60 kilometres far from the district headquarters.

Trade union leaders mentioned that the workers are yet to receive wages of four fortnights (in the tea industry, wages are usually disbursed on a fortnightly basis). This led to workers’ protests in the garden.

“On July 10, the managerial staff left the garden without any issue. On August 19, they announced a suspension of work on flimsy pretexts. We want the state labour department to intervene and take necessary steps so that regular activities resume at the garden. Also, the problem in Mahua has to be addressed,” said Lalit Kairala, president of the Trinamul Cha Bagan Sramik Union at the garden.

He mentioned that after the management abandoned the garden, the state labour department had convened three tripartite meetings to resolve the issue. “None from the management, however, turned up at the meetings. It is disappointing that the management has left the workers and their families in a pitiable plight. In Mahua, even the drinking water is not available,” the trade union leader added.

In the three-page notice issued by the management, it has been mentioned that the workers are not ready to cooperate even though they are aware of the financial crisis faced by the management.

“They are hell-bent to adopt their pressure tactics and indiscipline activities only to forcibly bow down to the management to concede to their demands. Repeated gate meetings and illegal assembly by a cross-section of workmen have affected the yield and fund generation,” says the notice.

The management has also alleged that on July 10, some workers assembled in front of the factory. They even entered the manager’s bungalow and damaged the garden.

“The mob threatened the managerial executives with dire consequences and chased the executives outside the garden,” said the notice.

The workers, however, have denied the charges. “The last wage payment was done in May. Yet, we kept our patience and cooperated with the management. There had been some protests but the allegations levelled by the management are baseless,” said a senior worker.

With such being the situation, officials of the labour department said they are taking steps to end the stalemate.

“We have received the notice and have passed the information to our higher authorities. Earlier, we had convened three tripartite meetings but the management didn’t attend,” said Amit Das, the assistant labour commissioner posted in Birpara.