Tripura: Golakpur Tea Estate Workers Stage Massive Protest Demanding Fair Pay and Permanent Jobs in Unakoti

Hundreds of workers marched to the tea garden office, raising slogans against the management and outlining a 17-point charter of demands.

Alleging years of neglect, exploitation, and denial of basic rights, tea garden workers of the Golakpur Tea Estate in Tripura’s Unakoti district today staged a massive protest demanding fair wages, permanent employment, and essential facilities.

The agitation, organised by the Golakpur unit of the Tripura Cha Mazdoor Sangh (TCMS), brought operations at the tea estate to a grinding halt and led to a blockade of the Srirampur–Ishan Chowdhury Para road.

Hundreds of workers marched to the tea garden office, raising slogans against the management and outlining a 17-point charter of demands.

The authorities deployed heavy police forces to prevent any untoward incident as workers, deeply frustrated by the management’s inaction on long-pending issues, intensified their protest.

Leader Santosh Chasha said that the workers have not been made permanent in the last 7 years and are still not enrolled under the Provident Fund scheme.

He emphasised severe lapses in basic facilities, including the lack of access to clean drinking water, inadequate housing, and the absence of proper healthcare and transportation support for ill workers.

Other key demands raised by the protesting workers included an immediate hike in daily wages, employment opportunities for workers’ family members in vacant posts, and equal pay for local youth compared to outsiders. They also called for a strict ban on child labour within the estate, the construction of toilets and weighing sheds, and the timely distribution of essential supplies.

Later, Subir Pal, a representative of the management, arrived at the protest site and assured the gathering that the management would relay their concerns to the estate owners and work towards implementing a solution within a month.

Based on this assurance, the workers called off the protest temporarily. However, the union warned that they would intensify their protest if their demands were not met within the stipulated time.

The Golakpur tea garden, operated by West Bengal-based Laxmi Tea Group for over 20 years, has faced long-standing allegations of worker exploitation and denial of basic entitlements by political leaders and local organisations.

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