A bipartite meeting held at the state labour department office in Siliguri on Wednesday brought relief to thousands of tea garden workers in Alipurduar district as it was resolved that dues would be paid with interest.

Trade union leaders present at the meeting said this is the first time that interest would be paid to tea workers on outstanding wages.

The meeting focused on wage settlements for workers of Merico Agro Industries, which operates five tea gardens, namely, Birpara, Dhumchipara, Garganda, Huntapara, and Tulsipara, in the district’s Madarihat block.

The company employs nearly 6,000 workers across these gardens, many of whom had been awaiting wage payments since November last year. The Puja bonus was also pending, leading workers to halt attendance at all five gardens from January.

In early January, a section of the workforce staged a protest in front of the Dooarskanya, the district collectorate in Alipurduar, braving severe cold, to demand immediate payment of overdue wages.

At Wednesday’s meeting, it was decided that wages of two fortnights out of five would be disbursed on March 25 with interest.

The remaining three installments and bonus would be cleared by April 30 with interest.

The sum of interest would be paid according to the prevailing bank rate, calculated from the date the wages were due to the date of the actual payment.

In the course of the meeting, the management and union leaders jointly prepared a payment schedule, said sources.

Wages would be paid regularly once the workers resume duty, it was resolved at the meeting.

Merico director Surojit Bakshi, who was present at the meeting, said: “The meeting was successful. Due to a temporary fund crunch, some wages were pending, but these will be cleared by April 30, and two installments of wages will be paid on March 25 with interest. From March onwards, regular payments will continue.”

Nakul Sonar, chairman of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union, said: “The management’s decision to pay interest on overdue wages is unprecedented. Workers will be happy.”