The Himal World Desk
Siliguri, Sept. 30: Normal life was affected in different parts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong as the hills observed a 12-hour bandh on Monday in response to the call by different trade union organizations espousing the cause of tea garden workers in support of their demand for enhanced bonus.
Incidents of altercations between the bandh enforcers and some members of the public were reported from different parts of the hills during the day. However, nothing major happened.
Post 2017 when a protracted strike over the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland had crippled normal life in the hills, today’s bandh was the first instance where the protest tool was enforced bar a solitary occasion where the hills spontaneously observed a bandh over a rape incident.
While the bonus talks have remained in a stalemate with the workers demanding 20 per cent and the owners not willing to budge beyond 13 percent, expectedly political voices resonated. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she would not interfere in the bonus negotiations even as Darjeeling MP Raju Bista of the the Bharatiya Janata Party accused her of shying away from giving the tea garden workers a fair deal.
The chief minister said: “The labour department is holding tripartite meetings on the bonus issue. I will not interfere in the matter.” Bista retorted: “The chief minister says she will not interfere, which means she doesn’t want a solution. She is running away from the issue.”
