Protesters march through Jorhat town. A Telegraph picture

Jorhat, July 11: Over a hundred labourers of Kamalpur and Hulalbari tea estates here took to the streets today, exhorting the government to take steps to ensure that they get at least two square meals a day.

The privately owned estates have been closed for the past six years because of ?huge losses?. The contractors, who have been running the gardens since then, pay the labourers irregularly.

?More than a hundred labourers have died in the last six years because of the lack of proper treatment,? alleged Jiten Tanti, secretary of the Assam Sangramik Shah Smarik Sangtha?s Jorhat unit.

Tanti led the delegation through the streets of Jorhat town today, before submitting a memorandum to deputy commissioner J.S. Rao.

He told The Telegraph that the provident funds of over 200 permanent labourers of the two estates had not been deposited for several years. ?We have already informed the assistant labour commissioner about this but nothing has been done till now,? he said.

Most of the labourers of the gardens, located on the outskirts of the district, have been surviving by working as daily wage earners in the town.

?Only permanent workers are allowed to work on a daily wage system by the contractors but the temporary labourers have become jobless,? Tanti said. For the permanent workers, too, the pay is not regular. ?If they work for six days, they are paid for four days; forget about other facilities,? he said.The labour leader said the authorities had been reminded about the condition of the labourers several times, but it had yielded no result. ?We have almost given up hope, but what else can we do?? he asked.

An official of the district administration said the garden owner had already been contacted. ?Dispur has also been apprised of the problems faced by the labour community of the two gardens,? he said.