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Workers at Kilkot Tea Garden in Matiali block staged an overnight protest over unpaid wages. The workers were scheduled to receive their fortnightly wages on December 23 but were informed by the management that payments would be delayed until December 24. When workers arrived at the factory to collect their wages, they were told by the garden manager, Atul Rana, that not all of the wages had arrived, and therefore, not all workers could be paid.
In response to the delay, workers initially gathered in front of the factory office. As night fell and no resolution was reached, the workers moved to the manager’s bungalow and surrounded it, demanding immediate payment of their outstanding wages. The protest intensified, with workers voicing their frustration over the continued delays in wage payments.
To control the situation, a large police force was deployed, including Metelli police station IC Mingma Lepcha, Mal Sub-Divisional Police Officer Roshan Pradeep Deshmukh, and Matiali block BDO Abhinandan Ghosh. The police worked to prevent workers from entering the bungalow, but some protesters managed to breach the premises. The manager was escorted to the second floor of the bungalow for safety by the police.
The workers questioned why other tea gardens under the same ownership, such as Nageshwari Tea Garden in Matiali block, had been able to distribute wages on time, while Kilkot Tea Garden had not. This protest follows a similar incident earlier in December when workers had staged a demonstration on December 12 demanding their wages. After that protest, the wages were paid on December 14. The workers at Kilkot Tea Garden are entitled to receive their wages on the 9th and 23rd of every month, but the repeated delays have led to growing unrest among the workforce.