Forty-two workers of the closed Singtom Tea Garden in Darjeeling have reportedly been excluded from West Bengal’s financial assistance for workers of locked-out industrial units because of pending cases linked to the special intensive revision (SIR) 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 the management over payment of a 20 per cent bonus. The closure cut off the workers’ regular income and brought them within the scope of the state’s Financial Assistance to the Workers in Locked-out Industrial Units, or FAWLOI, scheme.
A tea workers’ union leader told Telegraph India that the Bengal government had identified 550 workers for monthly assistance of ₹1,500. However, 42 workers did not receive the payment because of complications related to the SIR process. The assistance is intended to support workers facing financial hardship after losing their regular earnings.
The remaining 508 workers received accumulated assistance for 23 months a few days ago. The payment amounted to ₹34,500 per worker, with the total disbursement estimated at around ₹1.75 crore. The payments were made ahead of the festive season, when the absence of regular wages places additional pressure on households dependent on tea-garden employment.
The exclusion of the 42 workers has raised concerns among union representatives about whether unresolved electoral-roll cases should prevent access to a welfare programme meant for workers affected by an industrial closure. The union leader said the workers had provident fund account numbers and that the organisation could confirm that they were residents of the tea garden.
The issue illustrates how access to livelihood support in a closed industrial settlement can depend on the interaction of labour records, welfare eligibility and electoral-roll administration. In the Singtom case, the workers’ claim to assistance is being pressed through their employment and residence records while their SIR-related cases remain pending.
Union leaders have urged the state government to release the monthly assistance to the 42 workers and pay their accumulated dues. The report did not specify when the pending SIR cases would be resolved or when the government would take a decision on the workers’ request.
