Silchar, July 26: Cachar deputy commissioner H.K. Deb Mahanta has called an emergency meeting tomorrow to solve the impasse at Craigpark tea garden in Cachar.

The workers of the 626-hectare tea estate launched a two-phased agitation in the first week of July over a slew of demands, including the immediate payment of all the dues of its 52 retired workers since 2001.

Yesterday’s protest was part of their agitation. As tension mounted in the estate, owned by Calcutta-based Shree Kamakhya Tea Company Private Limited, following the protest, additional deputy commissioner Debashish Chakravarty rushed to the garden.

He said many of the grievances of the workers were true and blamed the company.

An official source in the district administration today said Deb Mahanta had asked the assistant labour commissioner in the Barak valley districts, K. Singson, the Barak valley branch of the Tea Association of India (TAI) secretary, Kalyan Mitra, the garden management, its MD Shiva Kanoi and the labour unions to attend the meeting.

Sources in the administration said the “mismanagement” of this prosperous plantation by its owners had resulted in its present state.

Mitra said the tea garden till now had defaulted on the compulsory payment of nearly Rs 60 lakh retirement benefits to its workers.

Sources in the Barak Cha Sramik Union, a workers’ forum, alleged that the ASEB had cut off power supply to the tea garden in 2007.

The garden, which produced 1,75,000kg CTC tea, could not continue such operation after its power supply was disconnected.