Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha expresses concern over recurring mishaps in tea gardens

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TINSUKIA: Due to negligence of tea garden management, labour department and factory inspectors, mishaps in tea factories have been recurring in tea gardens despite the Tinsukia district being represented by a labour minister who also belongs to the tea community, alleged Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) vice-president and former Chabua MLA, Raju Sahu.

He said that close on the heels of the Lepetkata TE incident in which Maina Nayak was fatally injured, a similar incident took place in Apeejay Tea's Talap TE where a tea worker named Binod Minch (30) was injured in CTC (crush-tear-curl) roller machine on July 23.

Sahu alleged that periodical inspection of tea factories by the labour department was lacking. Besides, the management hardly provided any safety gadgets to the workers, which is mandatory under the Plantation Labour Act. He regretted that though Binod Minch sustained injuries in the hand, neck and head, he was being treated at the company's central hospital at Longsowal by the management and demanded that Minch should be immediately shifted to Dibrugarh or Guwahati for better treatment.

Meanwhile, it has been alleged by the Assam Tea Tribe Students' Association (ATTSA), Adivasi Students' Association and other organizations that the garden management allegedly attempted to hush up the incident and accused the management for its negligence. The Tinsukia-based assistant labour commissioner, following a visit to the garden on Tuesday, has initiated an inquiry even as the student organizations sought adequate compensation. The ATTSA, while slamming the labour minister, demanded that he must take responsibility for such gross violation of the Plantation Act in his home district.

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