This year’s Durga puja for Assam’s over four lakh tea labourers is not going to be as festive as before, thanks to their employers’ inability to pay them bonus at the usual rate of 20 per cent. With the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), the apex body of tea labourers refusing to accept less, several of the companies have already hiked the bonus rate, though top players are yet to announce a rate that would be accepted by the labour unions. Garden workers resort to indefinite stir TEZPUR: About 15,000 workers of about 11 Eveready India Ltd gardens in northern Assam have resorted to indefinite strike to protest against non-settlement of the bonus issue. The tea workers were demanding 15 per cent bonus against 8.3 per cent last year, to which the company was willing to pay 13 per cent but the tea workers have rejected it, sources said. Meanwhile, all police stations and police outposts in Sopnitpur district have been instructed to remain on the alert. (Agencies) The situation, however, has improved significantly over the past fortnight with the majority of companies offering bonus ranging from 13 per cent to 20 per cent, though several companies including Hindustan Lever Ltd still refuse to budge from their stand of 8.33 per cent. Meanwhile, the government has fixed a deadline for Sunday for the tea companies for a settlement with respective labour unions, so that the festive season passes off peacefully. Interestingly, while the tea industry has been insisting that the overall health of the industry has not been very encouraging due to various factors, the Congress government in the state has dismissed such ‘‘excuses’’ and pressed the companies to pay more. The Congress has an interest — the ACMS is headed by none other than Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Paban Singh Ghatowar, and is affiliated to the INTUC. Chief minister Gogoi has gone on record that it is the tea industry that is to be blamed for the ongoing crisis. ‘‘The tea industry has failed to prepare itself to face the global competition once the economy of the country was thrown open in the early 1990s,’’ Gogoi told the state assembly recently. Industry minister Bhubaneswar Kalita has also criticised the industry on similar lines. ‘‘Several gardens are still selling tea at good prices, but do not want to provide the basic amenities,’’ remarked Labour minister Rameswar Dhanowar, a former ACMS leader. Industry officials, however, do not want to come on record. ‘‘The government should understand the problem and come forward to solve the issue,’’ said a senior planter on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, at least two big companies have already completed payments to the full satisfaction of their labourers — George Williamson and Amguri, the latter belonging to the Goodricke group. Both the companies had agreed to pay bonus at 20 per cent.
