Dibrugarh, Sept. 18: The tea industry today responded positively towards the diktat issued by the state government and the Asom Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) on payment of bonus.

Two major players in the industry, McLeod Russell Industries Limited and Warren Tea Company, have agreed to pay bonus at a rate of 20 per cent for Durga Puja. The companies signed agreements to this effect after a discussion at the ACMS central office here in the presence of senior officials of the companies and office-bearers of the trade union.

The ACMS, headed by Congress MP Paban Singh Ghatowar, is the sole recognised trade union by the planters’ associations across the Brahmaputra Valley to hold negotiations on the bonus issue. The union’s general secretary and former labour minister, Dileswar Tanti, told The Telegraph that both the companies agreed to pay bonus to its workers at the highest rate of 20 per cent after considerable pressure was mounted on the tea companies.

McLeod Russell, the largest tea company in the world, has 48 tea estates across the Brahmaputra Valley while Warren has 14 gardens.“From the balance sheets submitted by the tea companies it was evident that they had made good profits in the last fiscal. Therefore, we stressed that the rate of bonus should be 20 per cent this time,” Tanti said.

He hoped that the other companies, too, would follow suit. “Two other companies, Assam Frontier Tea Company and Assam Company Ltd, will hold negotiations on Monday,” he added. “The industry had done extremely well during the past two years. Therefore, there should not be any point in paying less.”

The president of the trade union, MP Paban Singh Ghatowar, who was also present during the discussions today, along with the branch secretaries, said he was happy that the companies had responded positively to their appeal.

“We have expressed solidarity with the companies in the past when the industry was facing a tough time. But now things had improved and the companies had made good profit during the past two years. Therefore, we appealed to the companies to pay 20 per cent bonus,” Ghatowar said.