‘Nearly Rs 10 cr PF dues pending in 4 tea gardens under Centre in Bengal’

Kolkata: Provident fund worth nearly Rs 10 crore is due in four tea gardens of Bengal that come under the aegis of the Central government.

The amount is due from September 2023 admitted the Ministry of Heavy Industries in reply to a poser by Trinamool Congress (TMC), MP Ritabrata Banerjee, at the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Workers of four tea gardens under Andrew Yule and Company Ltd — Karballa, New Dooars, Banarhat, and Choonabhutti — are protesting over pending dues, including provident fund, gratuity, and salaries.

Agitations have been ongoing in front of these gardens, with workers demanding immediate clearance of their dues. Around 100 tea garden workers also staged a protest at the Andrew Yule head office in Kolkata. The Banarhat and Karbala tea gardens come under Dhupguri Assembly Constituency, while New Dooars and Choonabhutti are under the Nagrakata Assembly.

“In June, there were two conventions involving these four tea gardens, where I was informed that since September 2023, the workers of these four tea gardens are not getting their PF amount deposited in their respective accounts. I raised the matter at Rajya Sabha through a question, and the Ministry of Heavy Industries, in a written reply, has admitted that PF amounting to Rs 9.81 crore is due,” said Banerjee.

The reply states that Andrew Yule has been facing an acute financial crisis in the tea sector due to pest and fungal infection attacks on tea plantations.

“The deprivation of the tea garden workers proves that the Modi government has been apathetic towards the tea garden workers. We will continue our protest against such apathy of the Centre towards tea garden workers,” said Banerjee, the state president of TMC’s trade union wing, the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC).