Workers of the closed Madhu tea estate in Alipurduar district blocked the Kalchini–Hasimara state highway for nine and a half hours on Thursday, demanding the release of monthly assistance that many have not received under the state’s Financial Assistance to Workers of Locked Out Industries (FAWLOI) scheme.
The tea garden has been shut since May 18, 2025. Of its 952 workers, 736 remain, while the others have left for jobs in different states, according to the workers’ organisation that led the protest. The blockade was cleared in the evening after district administration officials and police spoke to the protesters and assured them that most of the pending payments would be released before Durga Puja.
Under the FAWLOI scheme administered by the state labour department, workers of closed tea gardens are entitled to monthly assistance of ₹1,500. Binay Kerketta, a central committee member of the Pashchimbanga Cha Mazdoor Samiti, said only 260 of the 736 remaining workers had received the assistance despite the garden being closed for more than 17 months.
Kerketta said the workers had submitted a memorandum to the labour department and were told that the file had been sent to Calcutta for approval. With Puja approaching, however, the workers decided to protest over the delay, he said.
Around 300 women workers initially left the garden to demonstrate at the Kalchini police station. They later changed their plan and moved to the highway, where they were joined by male workers and family members. The blockade affected the Kalchini–Hasimara route, a state highway connecting settlements and transport links in the Alipurduar region.
A worker quoted in the report said the remaining workers were seeking at least 15 months of assistance, amounting to approximately ₹22,500 for each eligible worker. The worker attributed the delay to what was described as negligence by the state labour department and contrasted the unpaid amount with the assistance already received by 260 colleagues.
A source in the labour department said 130 workers were likely to receive the money before Durga Puja, while payments to the remaining workers would take more time. The source did not provide a specific date for the full settlement of the pending assistance.
The dispute illustrates how the closure of a tea estate extends beyond the workplace. When wages stop, workers become dependent on welfare payments that require administrative processing, verification and approval. Delays in any of those stages can turn a departmental file into a livelihood crisis, particularly for families that continue to live around a closed garden after other workers have migrated for employment.
The immediate issue for Madhu workers is the gap between the assistance promised under the FAWLOI framework and the payments actually received. The administration’s assurance was that the majority of the remaining workers would receive the amount before Puja. Further payments are expected to be processed after the initial release, according to the labour department source.
