MARIYANI: The difference between the demands for the puja bonus and the puja bonus given by the authorities led to a heated situation in the Jorhat district of Assam on Saturday.
The incident took place in the Kakajan Tea Estate of the Jorhat district of Assam. The tree plantation workers of the Kakajan Tea Estate had demanded a 20 per cent bonus on the occasion of the upcoming puja. But the authorities had announced only a 14 per cent bonus, which is much lower compared to what they demanded.
This triggered anger among the workers who surrounded both the administrative office and the factory of the tea garden in support of their demand for the 20 per cent bonus. According to reports, both the director and the deputy director of the tea garden fled from the scene to escape the wrath of the workers. A large number of people gathered at the premises in support of their demand.
A team of officials and personnel from the Mariani Police Station led by the Circle Inspector arrived at the location to bring the situation under control.
Previously, a special meeting to review the issue of payment of bonus to tea garden workers for the year 2022-23 was held at the conference hall of DC, Nagaon on Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by Narendra Kumar Shah, District Commissioner. During the meeting, Additional District Commissioner Lakshyajyoti Das highlighted the primary agenda of the meeting which is to discuss the matters related to the timely payment of bonus to tea garden workers under Nagaon district in view of the upcoming Durga Puja.
Assistant Labour Commissioner Naresh Das apprised the members of the meeting regarding the technical issues related to bonus payment as per norms and asked the representatives of tea garden management to work things out with the respective workers as well as labour unions and reach an amicable settlement regarding bonus percentage and disbursement.
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