Tea workers are relatively behind the mainstream population. That is why tea workers are not in front of the eyes. Even though they have worked hard for a century, their fair wages and basic rights are uncertain. Despite repeated movements to achieve their rights, they have not received fair rights. It seems that tea garden workers are not having a good time. The salaries of the workers of the 12 tea gardens under the state-owned National Tea Company in Sylhet have not been paid for a long time. No one knows when they will be paid. The workers of the gardens have been living an inhuman life for the past two and a half months.
Many are counting the days when the garden activities will return to normal. Some are spending their days without eating. However, Syed Mahmud Hasan, Managing Director of the National Tea Company, said that this crisis has been created due to lack of funds. He claims that the workers have already suffered a loss of Tk 30 crore as they have not gone to work for more than a month. Saraswati Lohar, a tea worker from Lakkatura Majline in Sylhet, said, "I have lived a very difficult life. Still, I can eat one day and then another day I sleep without eating. Skipping our part, how will we keep the children and infants without food for many days?"
Raju Goala, president of the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union Sylhet Valley Executive Council, said, "It is possible to solve this if the government takes action. But I don't know why it is not doing so. I will once again request the company and the government to make arrangements to reopen the gardens quickly." Incidentally, there are 12 tea gardens of the National Tea Company in Sylhet division. More than 10,000 workers work there.
ZH
