Jalpaiguri, June 9 -- Workers' unions affiliated to the BJP, Trinamool Congress, and Congress staged a joint sit-in protest at Ambari Tea Garden in the Dooars on Monday, raising demands related to unpaid wages, poor infrastructure, and management apathy.

The unions alleged irregular wage payments, arbitrary dismissal of workers, lack of tea bush replantation, poor school transport facilities, dilapidated staff quarters and substandard healthcare services. The garden employs around 750 permanent and temporary workers. Shankar Azam, president of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union (TCBSU) of that garden, said: "The ambulance often breaks down. Despite unused land, no new bushes are planted. Since 2019, the management has refused bilateral meetings."

Congress-affiliated union leader Reshma Baraik said: "About 200 children travel to school, but the bus only holds 50. In the heat, overcrowding is making them ill. The management is ignoring the issue."

Hiran Bishwakarma of the BJP-backed BTPWU said: "Staff quarters are crumbling, the hospital is in poor condition, and no manager stays more than a year. Every demand gets passed to the head office."

Repeated attempts to contact Ambari Tea Garden management went unanswered.

Meanwhile, protests have escalated at four tea estates - New Dooars, Karbala, Chunabhati, and Banarhat - run by Andrew Yule & Company, a Central Public Sector Enterprise. Initially led by the TCBSU at Chunabhati and New Dooars, the agitation has now spread to the other two gardens over unpaid wages.

Facing criticism for inaction, BJP leaders joined the protests on Monday, gherao (Surrounding) the Chunabhati garden manager. Senior TCBSU leaders, including Central Committee President Birendra Bara Oraon, visited protest sites across the four gardens.

Oraon said: "I'm heading to Kolkata to meet with state leaders. A roadmap for the next phase of the movement will be finalised."

BJP union leader Sanjiv Gurung added: "We are with the workers. If necessary, we'll intensify our protests."

Garden manager Ram Pravesh said low production and inadequate supplies are to blame for the dues.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.