The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) staged a protest at Madarkhat Tea Estate on Monday. They were protesting against the non-release of provident fund (PF) of the tea garden workers of the estate.
ACMS Dibrugarh branch secretary Nabin Chandra Keot warned that if the garden management did not release the pending PF and gratuity amount within a week, the labourers will intensify their agitation.
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The tea garden labourers staged protest holding placards and banners against the garden management.
Fumed ACMS Dibrugarh branch secretary Nabin Chandra Keot, “For two years the garden management has failed to release the provident fund amount of almost Rs 2 crore. The workers of the tea estate are leading a wretched life.”
Keot alleged that for the past eight months, the garden workers have not been getting their ration too. He further stated that the “garden management has not taken any step to release the PF and gratuity amounts.
Some of the workers died in penury for not receiving the PF amount. Despite several reminders by the ACMS and the garden workers, the management failed to release the same.”
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Keot further stated that innumerable pleas to the Dibrugarh district administration have “fallen on deaf ears”. “We are going through tough times as the ration is not being supplied on a regular basis and the PF and gratuity amounts have not been released. We are living a hand-to-mouth existence but the tea estate authorities seem least bothered,” a tea garden labourer lamented.
The ACMS Dibrugarh branch secretary said they have submitted a memorandum to the Dibrugarh DC in this regard. “The tea estate has failed to provide basic amenities to the garden workers. There is no doctor in the tea estate health centre. The labourers are going through harrowing times as the basic amenities have also not been made available to them. The houses allotted to them are all in a dilapidated condition with no renovation having been done,” Keot further alleged.