Siliguri, Jan. 15: A Lok Adalat will be held on Gungaram Tea Estate near Bagdogra on January 17 for "disposal of prelitigation cases" related to provident fund dues of the garden workers.
Ajay Kumar Das, the additional districtof issued a letter to the garden workers and the management yesterday mentioning the details.
The session in the garden owned by the Duncans Goenka Group would be organised by the Sub-Divisional Legal Services Committee of Siliguri.
Sources said the move followed assertions by Justice Manjulla Chellur, the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, at a programme here on December 13 to render legal aid through alternative dispute resolution mechanism.
"It is indeed the initiation of the process as per the advice of the Chief Justice and Justice Joymalya Bagchi of Calcutta High Court to help tea workers get their statutory dues so that they need not move to court. We would be hearing from workers and others concerned and we look forward to see that some of the pre-litigation cases are disposed during the Lok Adalat," said a senior member of the district judiciary based in Siliguri.
This is the first time that the judiciary has taken such an initiative in a tea garden.
The estate, around 20km from here, has over 1,500 workers. Although the estate is open, wages and rations have been irregular for the past seven-eight months.
The management could not be contacted today.
Amit Sarkar, the general secretary of the Darjeeling District Legal Aid Forum, an organisation that has been invited to the Lok Adalat, said: "It is indeed a welcome step by the judiciary and we hope it would largely help the distressed workers and their families. So far, around 50 such disputes related to provident fund have been identified in the Gungaram Tea Estate. Also, members of the judiciary will hear other disputes related to wages, housing, electricity, drinking water and health issues."
Sources said Monojit Mondal, the additional district and session judge of Darjeeling, and Abhijit Som, the member-secretary of State Legal Services Authority, would also be present.
At the Lok Adalat, if the workers and the management agree on certain issues, then a decision can be formally taken on the spot. However, no decisions can be taken if both sides do not agree.
According to data compiled by the state labour department during a survey in 2013, there are 1,710 permanent workers in Gungaram. The survey also shows that in 2013, the management was yet to submit around Rs 84.05 lakh as its contribution towards employees' provident fund and gratuity of 73 workers was due.
Aloke Chakraborty, working president of the Trinamul Tea Plantation Workers' Union, said: "We appreciate the move. The initiative can help the workers get their dues."
In December, Justice Manjulla Chellur and Justice Joymalya Bagchi were here to launch a project of adopting a village to render legal aid through the alternative dispute resolution mechanism. The project has been taken up by a private law college in Dagapur in association with the SDO's office and the State Legal Services Authority.
The Chief Justice had said: "Immediately when a tea garden is closed, the first problem that arises is that statutory payments that the employers or planters will pay fall due. There is an option to move to the court and with that, tea workers can get justice but not immediately. We thus want the new system to work...The Lok Adalat can sit every week. If needed, our retired judges can come."
