The Bengal government has decided to extend financial assistance to around 2,400 workers on two tea estates in the Dooars, which were affected by the flash flood last month.

In recent years, this is the first time that the state labour department will provide monthly assistance to the workers of tea estates which are open and not closed. The monthly pay of ₹1,500 will be provided to a labourer under the Financial Assistance to Workers of Locked Out Industries (FAWLOI), a scheme which is usually extended to the jobless hands of closed gardens.

“On November 4, the state labour department issued an order, mentioning that the workers of Subhasini and Bamandanga-Tondu tea estates would get the assistance, apart from their daily wages, which are being paid by the management. The decision has been made because of the damage to tea plantations, workers’ quarters and loss of human lives during the October 5 flood,” said a source in the department.

Subhasini, which employs 1,257 workers, is in the Kalchini block of Alipurduar district. Bamandanga-Tondu is in the Nagrakata block of Jalpaguri and has 1,164 workers.

During the flash flood, the Torsha river changed its course and flooded Subhasini. It is still eroding its plantations.

In Bamandanga-Tondu, people lost their lives and workers’ quarters were washed away,

“We have been instructed to prepare necessary papers to start FAWLOI in Subhasini tea estate, and the work is in progress,” said Gopal Biswas, the deputy labour commissioner of Alipurduar.

After the natural disaster, as the chief minister visited the region, the state labour department was directed to bring Subhasini under FAWLOI as there was an apprehension that the management, having suffered severe losses, might withdraw operations at any time, pushing workers into crisis.

At the garden, the workers who were residing in the Nadi Line area with their families had to be shifted to the garden school as their quarters were flooded. Also, the Torsha inundated around 92 hectares of the tea plantation.

Shirsendu Biswas, the manager of Subhasini tea estate, welcomed the decision.

“Even now, we are worried about the continuous erosion caused by the Torsha. Every day, a portion of the plantation area is being gulped by the river as it has shifted by at least 70 metres from its earlier course. Immediate protection work is urgently required to save the garden,” he said.

Sources said that after the inundation and erosion, the management is offering jobs to 600-odd workers, which is half of its workforce, every day.

“In such a situation, the assistance will definitely help the workers and the management to tide over the crisis,” said a senior planter.