GUWAHATI:
Doloo Tea Company Ltd has announced lock-out in the entire Estate with effect from Tuesday following “regular obeying lawful kamjari deployment order” by a large section of workers of the tea estate.
In the lock-out order issued by the deputy general manager Supriyo Sikdar said that the permanent workforce, as well as contractual ones, have been frequently violating the lawful kamjari order several times.
“Due to complete lawlessness and delay in reporting at work place by workers, plucking round could not be maintained and the management of Doloo Tea Estate has suffered an irreparable loss in terms of quantity and quality of tea production,” the lock-out order said.
“The above act of the workers not maintaining of statutory working hours denying kamjari order of lawful management order has been viewed seriously by the tea garden management. It has become absolutely impossible to run and manage the garden meaningfully the management meant of Doloo Tea Estate constrained to hereby declared lockout of all operation of the garden with immediate effect,” the order also said.
“During the period of the lockout, the employees will not be entitled to any wages, ration or related facilities/ benefits,” the order further said.
“The legal claim in respect of any financial loss during such illegal acts of workers and the consequent lock-out also be filed on the garden panchayat without any prejudice,” the order added.
The announcement of a lock-out in the tea garden has triggered protest from the tea labourers and other political parties.
Reacting sharply to the order, Assam Trinamool Congress president Ripun Bora warned the state government and the tea garden management not to go ahead with the proposal for setting up of green field airport by pushing the livelihood of the workers into uncertainty.
“This is the fall out of a secret understanding of the tea garden management with the state government for handing over 2,500 bighas of land for construction of green field airport,” he added.
Doloo Tea Estate has been in the midst of controversy after the state government approached the owner of the tea garden to relinquish 2,500 bighas of land to set up a greenfield airport there.
On May 12, protests erupted in the Lalbagh division of the tea estate when the district administration deployed bulldozers to clear the tea plantation from that area to acquire the land for the proposed airport.
Hundreds of tea garden workers rushed to the site, soaked in heavy rain, ignoring the restrictions imposed under Section 144 in the area. The workers raised slogans against the destruction of the plantation in the garden.
But due to the heavy deployment of security personnel, the workers could not enter the eviction site.
The state cabinet has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to 1,263 tea garden workers as a goodwill gesture from the government.