The tea industry in Darjeeling has agreed to pay 19.75 per cent bonus to the workers in two instalments this year.

The industry had paid 19 per cent of the gross annual wages as bonus to its workers last year.

The decision was arrived at a tripartite meeting between the State Labour Department, tea garden owners and workers, which was held on September 21 at Uttarkanya in Siliguri.

The expelled Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa, had come down to discuss the plight of the tea garden workers with the Chief Minister on September 18.

Following the meeting with the GJM leaders, the Chief Minister directed that a tripartite meeting be held on September 21 to consider the issue of bonus. As per the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, an employer is bound to pay a minimum 8.33 per cent of the annual wages as bonus every accounting year irrespective of whether the company has any allocable surplus cash. The maximum permissible bonus is 20 per cent.

According to Kaustav Roy, Chief General Manager, Tea Division, Andrew Yule & Company, the first instalment would be paid seven days after the workers resume work in the garden.

Nearly 85,000 odd workers – both permanent and temporary –employed across 87 tea estates in Darjeeling, have not been reporting to work for nearly three months now owing to an indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in support of statehood.

“The agreement was signed yesterday quite late; so not many workers have joined work today. Once they join and work for seven days we will have to pay them the first instalment,” Roy told BusinessLine .

The second round of meeting, likely to be held on October 14, would decide on the payout of the second instalment, he added.

Cash crunch

The tea industry is reeling under a cash crunch following nearly 70 per cent drop of its annual production of 8-million kg of Darjeeling tea this year due to the shutdown.

The collective loss is estimated to be close to ₹400 crore, on account of absence of production of the premium second flush tea, which accounts for nearly 40-45 per cent of the industry’s revenues.

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