Wages unpaid for three weeks at four tea gardens

Around 15,000 workers at four tea gardens under Deundi Tea Company in Habiganj have gone without wages for three weeks, leaving their families, including children and elderly members, struggling to meet their basic needs.

On Sunday afternoon, workers from Deundi, Lalchand, Noapara and Mrittika tea gardens formed a human chain in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, demanding payment of their outstanding wages and other benefits. They later submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner.

According to the memorandum, each worker is owed Tk 4,000, with the total outstanding wages of workers at the four gardens amounting to around Tk 6 crore.

The memorandum also stated that contributions to the workers’ provident fund from both the workers and the owners had not been deposited for 47 months, depriving workers of their long-standing entitled benefits.