Darjeeling, March 10: The payscale of tea garden staff in north Bengal has been revised.
Following a meeting of around 10 hours ? held in Bengdubi near Siliguri last night ? planters agreed to rework on the salary structure of staff in different categories.
The new payscale will be in retrospective effect from April 1, 2005 and the owners will clear the arrears by June 30 this year, a source said. They have also agreed to give dearness allowance at the rate of 50 per cent of the basic salary.
The average increase in the basic salary of the staff has been fixed at around Rs 600, while the annual increment has been raised by Rs 8. They will also get an 8-per cent variable dearness allowance from April 1, 2006, a source said. The allowance will go up to 16 per cent next year.