A tense and volatile situation gripped the Ratanpur Tea Estate in Sonari, Charaideo district, on Wednesday as hundreds of workers and staff staged a massive protest against the estate’s management over the non-payment of salaries and wages. The protest was triggered by the sudden abandonment of the estate, which has not been functioning since November 28, following the flight of both the owner and the chief garden manager.
The crisis came to a head when Managing Director and owner of DK Tea Industries, Denish Kukurachowa, who owns the garden informed the Labour Officer of Charaideo district via a letter on November 28 that the company’s bank account had been declared a Non-Performing Asset (NPA). Kukurachowa cited huge financial losses for the inability to repay a bank loan leading to the situation. Since that disclosure, both Kukurachowa, and the chief garden manager have reportedly fled the estate, leaving the plantation utterly without supervision.
Protesters, chanting slogans against the management, detailed a staggering backlog of unpaid dues that has plunged hundreds of families into severe financial distress. The estate’s managers have allegedly not received salaries for the past nine months, while staff are owed seven months’ pay, and sub-staff three months’ pay. For the daily wage earners, the garden workers, the situation is dire, with six weeks of pay pending.
“The owner has vanished, and we are left with nothing. They have not paid our daily wages for the last six weeks. How are we to feed our families?” said Bhagirath Munda, a worker of the tea estate.
The situation marks a sharp decline for the estate since DK Tea Industries, owned by businessman Denish Kukurachowa, assumed control in 2020. Workers allege the financial health of the garden steadily deteriorated under the new ownership, culminating in the current collapse.
A long-time staff member, requesting anonymity spoke of the distress. “Nine months without pay for the managers, seven for us, and six weeks for the workers—how are we supposed to feed our families? We have medical bills, children’s school fees, and no cash. They took over the garden in 2020 and things only got worse.”
The employees are now facing not only poverty but also complete uncertainty regarding the estate’s future operations and their employment status.
