Two North Bengal tea gardens to reopen Sunday

Two tea gardens of Alipurduar in North Bengal -- Kalchini and Raimattang -- will resume operations from Sunday after 11 months, a senior state government official said. Additional Labour Commissioner of North Bengal, Md Rizwan, said the two estates together employ around 3,200 people.

Both the tea gardens were put under suspension of work late last year. Rizwan said a tripartite meeting had been convened by the Labour Commissioner's Office of North Bengal, and it was agreed to reopen the estates by the respective managements.

He said the workers and employees will receive no pay during the period of suspension, but service continuity will be maintained in respect of statutory dues like provident fund and gratuity.

The workers will also receive bonus at 12 per cent for 2019-20, the official added.