The management of Madhu tea estate in Alipurduar district suspended work on Sunday following a demonstration by labourers demanding the payment of wages that had been due for three months.

The estate has around 400 workers who have demanded administrative intervention for the garden’s reopening.

The garden is in Kalchini block and around 38km from here. It had reopened on April 13, 2022, after remaining closed for seven years.

“Earlier, the plantation had 952 labourers. After the garden had closed down, most moved elsewhere to earn a living. Now, the estate has 400 workers, who have again become jobless,” said a senior trade union leader.

Sources said the workers had not received their wages for three months. They demonstrated in the garden on Sunday, demanding the immediate payment of their dues.

The management issued a notice suspending the work after the demonstration.

“In Madhu tea garden, the management hasn’t been paying wages to the workers for over three months. We have appealed to the administration and the state labour department to find a new owner for the garden so that it runs properly and the workers’ wage dues are cleared,” said Birendra Bara, the president of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union

The notice said the estate was a sick and uneconomic unit “plagued by various entrenched wrongful practices and an unproductive work culture”.

“Multiple rounds of bipartite and tripartite meetings have been conducted to address these issues and restore a peaceful and productive working environment. Even then, the garden’s green leaf production has been severely affected because of a lack of discipline among the workers,” said a source in the management.

The notice also said pest attacks were acute in the Madhu garden and trade unions were organising meetings regularly, which led to the loss of working hours.

Amit Das, the assistant labour commissioner of Birpara, said necessary steps would be taken to facilitate the reopening of the garden.