Silchar, Dec. 18: The spectre of starvation is looming large over the 2,000-strong labour force of Hatticherra and Subong tea estates in south Assam?s Cachar district.
The Calcutta-based Hindusthan Tea Company, which owns both estates, declared a lockout on July 18 following a dispute with the labour union over wages.
The woes of the workers have been compounded by the lack of medical facilities.
Amar Mahali, secretary of the Hatticherra Subong Cha Bagan Sangram Samity, told newspersons here last night that at least 57 tea workers had died of various diseases since the lockout was declared.
He accused the Cachar administration and the joint director of health services of ignoring repeated pleas for medical facilities.
Sushil Choudhury, secretary of the Cachar Cha Mazdoor Samity, said labourers were keeping the home fires burning by selling forest produce to the residents of nearby villages or working as farm hands for a pittance. ?People will die of starvation in Hatticherra and Subong if the administration continues to ignore them. The nearby forests have already been denuded and the harvesting season is almost over. The workers will soon run out of options to eke out a living,? he added.
The assistant labour commissioner of Cachar, M.N. Bhattacharjee, had last week termed the lockout in both gardens ?illegal?.
He said the Hindusthan Tea Company had been served a showcause notice in this regard.
Trade union leaders of the district attributed the financial crisis in the company, which used to produce eight lakh kg of tea annually, to the feud between the brothers who own it.
The siblings had separately moved the Supreme Court, which, in turn, nominated retired Justice Manoj Mukherji as the arbitrator. However, he failed to end the dispute.
A senior official of the company told The Telegraph today that the two brothers, B. Agarwal and C.P. Agarwal, were now toying with the idea of selling the twin gardens to end the impasse.
An Agartala-based automobile dealer with business interests in Cachar district is reportedly interested in buying the estates, whose liabilities amount to Rs 11 crore.
The two estates are spread across 4,737 hectares, but adverse market conditions have turned the assets into liabilities. The owners failed to implement the wage agreement that took effect in the Cachar tea belt in June last year.
The beleaguered labourers have threatened to start an agitation programme on January 7, including a fast-unto-death.