Most of gardens paying 20% bonus
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Three days are to go for the Durga Puja. With around 99 percent of the tea gardens in the state having reached consensus on the percentage of bonus in the Brahmaputra and the Barak Valleys, most of the tea gardens in the state have started paying bonuses to their workers.
Barring a few, most of the gardens have agreed to pay a 20 percent bonus to their workers, some in two installments. The ATC (Assam Tea Corporation) gardens have also agreed to pay a 20 percent bonus to their workers. As the tradition goes, the garden management in Assam pays bonuses to their workers before the Durga Puja.
Speaking to The Sentinel, ACMS (Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha) president Paban Singh Ghatowar said, “Barring a few, the managements of most of the tea gardens have reached consensus with the workers on the quantum of bonus. The ACMS has also played a role in achieving consensus between management and workers. Most of the gardens have agreed to pay a 20 percent bonus to their workers. However, some of the gardens have decided to pay a 20 percent bonus in two installments. A few sick gardens are not able to pay a 20 percent bonus. With the Durga Puja knocking at the door, most of the gardens have started paying bonuses”.
When asked as to when some of the gardens will pay the second installment of bonus to their workers, Ghatowar said, “When gardens in the state pay bonus in two installments, they pay the second installment either on the eve of Magh Bihu or Holi. The gardens will continue this tradition this year also. Some will pay the second installment on the eve of Magh Bihu, and some on the eve of Holi”.
When asked about resentment in some gardens regarding two installments of bonus, ACMS general secretary Rupesh Gowala said, “There was resentment among the workers over this issue initially. However, the negotiations have erased all such resentments. Now the payment of the bonus is underway”.
When asked about the percent of the bonus paid by the ATC gardens, ATC chairman Rajdeep Gowala said, “We have decided to pay a 20 percent bonus to the workers of all ATC gardens and have already paid.”
When asked about the scenario in the Barak Valley, Rajdeep Gowala, who is also the general secretary of the Barak Chah Shramik Union, said, “The negotiations on the percentage of bonus with the management are over in the Barak Valley. Most of the gardens are paying a 20 percent bonus. However, some of the sick gardens are paying 14–18 percent through negotiations with their workers”.
The government did ask the tea gardens to pay bonuses to their workers without delay. The Durga Puja in the state is from October 20–24.
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