Action committee threatens indefinite hunger strike

Over the past 72 hours, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Binay Tamang has been on hunger strike demanding 20% bonus for the tea garden workers of the Darjeeling hills.

Since the start of the festive season, politics in the Darjeeling hills has been centred around bonus for the tea garden workers who earn ₹176 a day. On October 4, several trade unions working with tea workers organised a 12-hour strike after the talks between tea garden workers and the managements failed.

The demands of about 50,000 workers working in 87 tea gardens in the hills were taken up by Mr. Tamang, who on October 6 sat on an indefinite hunger strike in their support.