Darjeeling, Oct. 30: Workers of Sephoydhura and Jogmaya tea gardens in Kurseong today demonstrated outside the office of the subdivisional officer and sat on a hunger strike, demanding reopening of the gardens.

The hunger strike was, however, called off at 2 pm after Kurseong SDO B. Dasgupta said he would call a meeting to resolve the dispute sometime in November.

The Sephoydhura is not officially locked up but over the past two years, the garden has shut down a number of times, battering the economy of the garden. Jogmaya has remained closed since September 12.

Around 150 workers from both these gardens, led by local area councillor I.N. Pradhan, were protesting outside the SDO’s office.

Pradhan said: “We have decided to withdraw the hunger strike since the SDO has agreed to hold a meeting with the workers and management on November 11 to find ways to reopen the gardens.”

The problem is getting the management to the talk table. They have stayed out of negotiations even in the past when such meetings were held to solve the sticky issues.

“The Sepoydhura tea garden is owned by someone named Vyasa who is from Calcutta. But he is untraceable. Apart from huge debts the company owes its workers, it has also defaulted on payment of Provident Fund. The dues have run up to Rs 2 crore,” said Dasgupta. Sepoydhura is also not affiliated to Darjeeling Planters’ Association.

Authorities have also not been able to contact P.K. Sinha, the managing director of Jogmaya tea garden owned by Jogmaya Tea Estate Pvt Ltd. That the garden is a member of the DPA has not helped matters.

There are about 341-odd workers at Sepoydhura tea garden while Jogmaya employs approximately 201 workers, said Pradhan.

Jogmaya is reportedly facing an acute financial crisis that has pushed its workers to the brink of starvation.

“The BDO visited the area and identified 12 families who cannot even venture outside to earn. We will distribute 12 kg of foodgrain for each family from tomorrow,” said Dasgupta.