|
|
Tea plucking disrupted in 3 gardens over bonus
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
|
|
|
SME Times News Bureau | 13 Mar, 2018
Ahead of the Hill Business
Summit staring on Tuesday in Darjeeling, plucking operations in at least
three tea gardens were disrupted on Monday as the Darjeeling Terai
Dooars Plantation Labourers Union agitated against non-payment of Puja
bonus.
Union General Secretary Bharat Thakuri on Sunday had
threatened to halt plucking of first flush of tea leaves in the
Darjeeling gardens demanding the clearance of last year's bonus.
He claimed that only 14 out of 87 gardens in Darjeeling have cleared the dues.
After
a tripartite meeting between unions, tea garden owners and the
government in September last year, it was decided that the bonus for the
financial year 2016-17 would be paid at 19.75 per cent of the annual
wage earnings.
"Disruption of plucking operations in three
gardens was reported on Monday and officials in these gardens were also
gheraoed. Estate management are bound to pay bonus at the agreed
amounts.
"We sought more time as the industry is facing
financial crisis. We have promised them to pay dues of bonus by March
23," the Darjeeling Tea Association's principal advisor Sandeep
Mukherjee told IANS.
The 87 gardens in the hills produce around 8 million kg of tea annually.
However,
production as well as the industry were severely hit last year
following a 104-day strike demanding a separate state of Gokhaland.
Meanwhile,
Joint Forum of Trade Unions, an umbrella organisation of trade unions
working in tea sector, alleged the state government was "reluctant to
implement new minimum wage" for tea workers after the 10th round of
minimum wages advisory committee meeting held in Kolkata on Monday.
"The
outcome of today's meeting is not satisfactory. The government was
supposed to table a calculated amount for minimum wage. They again took
time to prepare it and proposed to pay Rs 9 on account of entitled food
grains money value as an interim measure.
"We will sit together
in the next 3-4 days to decide our next course of action," Joint Forum's
Covenor and Citu's General Secretary (tea industry) Zia- Ul-Alam told
IANS.
West Bengal government proposed an interim hike of Rs 17.50
to increase the remuneration from Rs 132.50 to Rs 150 with effect from
January 1, 2018 in the last tripartite meeting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
|
64.50 |
UK Pound
|
87.50
|
84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
|
75.65 |
Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
|
|
Daily Poll |
|
|
PM Modi's recent US visit to redefine India-US bilateral relations |
|
|
|
|
|
Commented Stories |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|