NFITU alleges distribution of 'inferior quality' ration to tea workers in Dibrugarh

A CORRESPONDENT

DIBRUGARH: The National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU) on Friday alleged the ABC Tea Workers' Welfare Service of distributing inferior and poor quality ration to tea garden workers.

Addressing the media at the Greater Dibrugarh Press Club on Friday, NFITU central vice president Israil Nanda alleged that ABC Tea Workers' Welfare Service had been supplying inferior, inconsumable, foul smelling and inedible rice and flour to the tea garden workers for years together.

"We submitted a memorandum to Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner on June 24 (Friday) and demanded strict action against ABC Tea Workers Welfare Service. ABC has been running a commission raj and without tendering they have been given the ration to their handlers. The government should immediately ban this supplier. They are doing Rs 100-crore business but they are distributing inferior quality ration," Israil Nanda alleged.

He further alleged, "The irresponsible attitude of the ABC Tea Workers' Welfare Services is nothing new and not confined to one place. Several tea estates have lodged complaints in this regard. For instance Kharjan tea estate in Dibrugarh was also supplied inferior quality ration provisions last month which were replaced immediately after the workers' protest. But the supplier fell back on his old ways. On June 13 and June 14, ABC Tea Workers' Welfare Services supplied inferior and inedible ration to Daisajan tea estate in Dibrugarh. After intense protests by workers, the manager emptied the contents into a pit they had dug for this purpose and destroyed the contents."

In a memorandum to Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu on Friday, the National Front of Indian Trade Unions urged him to issue order for proper enquiry into the matter and blacklist the supplier, i.e., ABC Tea Workers' Welfare Services, with immediate effect. "If our demand is not meet within a stipulated time then we will intensify our protest in the tea gardens," Nanda said.

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