“Not Received a Single Penny”: Tea Workers Block Roads in Madhu Bagan, Over Months of Unpaid Wages

Alipurduar– Tension rose in the Madhu Bagan area yesterday as nearly 150 tea garden workers, mostly women, gathered for a massive protest against the non-payment of long-overdue wages. The tea workers’ association organized a road block and halted traffic for several hours, demanding the immediate disbursal of their salaries, which have reportedly been pending for months.

The protesters gathered around 11:30 a.m., carrying placards and chanting slogans against the garden management. According to the agitating workers, they have not received a “single penny” in months, leaving their families on the brink of starvation.

Belantu Oraon, one of the women protesters, said, “We have worked every day, but our kitchens are empty. Why this ruthless behaviour with us?” She added that the wait for their unpaid wages is getting longer as the management fails to keep promises.

Workers from Kalchini, Raimatang, and Chinchala also joined. Their demands were:

1. FAWLOI should be started at Madhu Tea Garden with immediate action.

2. The owner should be forced to pay all outstanding wages and dues.

3. The lease of the defaulting owner should be canceled and a new owner appointed.

4. All retired workers’ pensions and PF claims should be processed immediately.

5. Issues of ration card holders should be resolved.

The Long-Overdue Crisis in Madhu Tea Garden

The Madhu Tea Garden has seen intermittent closures since 2014. It was temporarily reopened from December 2021 to May 2025 by the owner of Nimitijhora Tea Garden, Shyam Sundar Goyal, with government approval and a legal lease and labor disputes.

Members of the tea workers’ association stated that the management has consistently failed to meet wage deadlines. This failure has led to widespread “unpaid labor” across the estate.

 Madhu Tea Estate is not alone in these protests against the management.  There are several other tea estates in North Bengal where tea workers are protesting over unpaid labor.

The association said, “Due to management’s refusal to sign PF claim documents, at least 29 elderly workers died. Though funds were available in the Provident Fund, they could not get proper food or medical care. In a similar negligence case in 2024, Dhani Oraon died of hunger. His wife was found severely malnourished. She was admitted to a local hospital for treatment.”

Administration Steps In

A heavy police presence was there at the roadblock. Since the protest was peaceful, no adverse action was taken. After sitting and blocking the road for 4 hours (from 12 pm to 4 pm), the police contacted the Labor Department and Block Office, and the following outcomes were achieved:

1. The Deputy Labor Commissioner, Alipurduar, invited ten workers to Dooars Kanya on January 28 to discuss their demands.

2. A state-level committee will hold a meeting on January 28 to approve FAWLOI for Madhu.

3. The Additional Labour Commissioner informed that the documents of Bandapani Tea Garden have also been processed and sent to the state-level committee today.

4. The Deputy Labour Commissioner said the formalities for cancelling Madhu’s lease have been completed, and the information will be sent to the Labour Minister the next day.

5. The Food Inspector of Kalchini Block met the women at the roadblock and said action on their complaints would begin the next day.

The tea workers of Madhu Tea Garden ended the sit-in following administrative intervention. However, they announced that they are ready for larger protests if government assurances are not fulfilled.