Forty-two workers of the closed Singtom Tea Garden near Darjeeling have allegedly been left out of West Bengal’s financial assistance for workers in locked-out industrial units because of pending cases linked to the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, according to a report by Telegraph India.
The tea garden, located about 6km from Darjeeling town, has remained closed since September 2024 following a dispute between workers and management over the payment of a 20 per cent bonus. The closure ended the workers’ regular earnings and brought them within the scope of the state’s Financial Assistance to the Workers in Locked-out Industrial Units (FAWLOI) scheme.
A tea workers’ union leader said the Bengal government had identified 550 workers from Singtom for monthly assistance of ₹1,500. However, 42 workers did not receive the payment because of complications connected with the electoral-roll revision process, the report said.
The remaining 508 workers recently received accumulated assistance for 23 months. At ₹34,500 per worker, the disbursement amounts to around ₹1.75 crore, according to the report. The payments were made shortly before the festive season, when the excluded workers were still awaiting clarity on their eligibility.
The exclusion has raised concerns about how unresolved electoral-roll cases are affecting access to welfare support for workers who have lost their livelihoods. The union leader said the 42 workers had provident fund account numbers and that the union could confirm they were residents of the tea garden.
The FAWLOI scheme is intended to support workers facing financial hardship after the loss of regular income from locked-out industrial units. In Singtom’s case, the dispute over assistance is unfolding alongside the continuing closure of the garden and the unresolved status of the affected workers’ electoral-roll cases.
Union leaders have urged the state government to release the monthly aid to the 42 workers, including the dues that have accumulated since the assistance began. The report did not mention a response from the state government on when the pending cases would be resolved or whether the excluded workers would receive the payments.
