BJP highlights plight of tea backyard employees in North Bengal, calls for implementation of recent labour codes

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief and Union Minister for State Sukanta Majumdar on Thursday (November 20, 2025) raised the plight of employees of tea gardens in North Bengal and mentioned that regardless of the Union authorities pre-publishing draft guidelines of4 Labour Codes, the West Bengal authorities has not printed it.

Mr. Majumdar claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shouldn’t be permitting the labour codes to be applied and if that will get applied then the day by day wage of tea backyard employees might be elevated.

“There aren’t any colleges in about 42 tea gardens, about 17% homes lack electrification, about 19.3% homes have a really pathetic state of affairs, solely 60% tea gardens have healthcare services,” Mr. Majumdar mentioned.

He additionally identified to the poor well being care services in tea backyard areas and mentioned that the State Labour Department has requisitioned docs for being deployed in tea backyard areas. He mentioned that even in a pathetic state of affairs in tea gardens, the West Bengal authorities has requested the tea backyard homeowners to offer 30% of the backyard’s land for miscellaneous actions corresponding to tourism.

“But when the Rajbanshis, Gorkhas and Adivasis are asking for everlasting land deeds for claiming ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana’ however they don’t seem to be given,” Mr. Majumdar mentioned.

Labour legislation consultants, nonetheless, say that the brand new labour codes is not going to enhance wages of employees of tea backyard areas and considerably diluted labour protections, and for tea plantation employees. There are 276 massive tea gardens and about 5,000 small tea gardens that employs lakhs of employees within the backyard.

“Tea plantation employees are already lined below the present Minimum Wages Act, but the State Government has persistently didn’t notify minimal wages, and this statutory responsibility stays unchanged even below the labour codes,” Advocate of Calcutta High Purbayan Chakraborty, who can be an professional in labour legislation mentioned.

Mr. Chakraborty mentioned that enforcement of the labour codes, due to this fact, can’t treatment a failure that lies squarely with the State.

“Further, the labour codes have considerably diluted labour protections, and for tea plantation employees, the rights earlier secured below the Plantations Labour Act have been deeply weakened. Hence, the declare that implementing the labour codes will enhance dwelling situations of plantation employees of North Bengal is fully misplaced and opposite to the authorized actuality,’ Mr. Chakarborty mentioned.

On the problem of Darjeeling hills, Mr. Majumdar mentioned that there are some long-standing calls for of Gorkhas, which require a everlasting political answer.

“In order to have a wholesome political state of affairs, the Union Government has formulated a tripartite dialogue. He mentioned that the Chief Minister shouldn’t be keen to have an answer, relatively she is giving cash to GTA in order that corruption can happen,” he added.

He claimed that the State authorities was delaying the method of releasing funds for flood victims even when the Central Government had allotted the funds and the paperwork being given to the District Magistrate of Darjeeling by the victims.