Workers of nine tea gardens owned by Duncans Industries have filed their claims before the National Company Law Tribunal, where the debt-ridden company is facing insolvency proceedings.
In a statement, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS) said it has supported 54,250 workers from nine Duncans Industries' gardens in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri to file a claim of Rs 1,538.76 crore.
The claim includes arrear wages, overtime, extra leave payment, rations, fuelwood, gratuity and provident fund, it added.
The Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process was initiated by the Kolkata bench of NCLT against Duncans Industries on March 5, 2020.
All creditors of the company are to file their claims after which NCLT will approve a plan on the basis of which the amounts owed to them will be paid back, either by liquidating Duncans' assets or by finding a new owner.
In April 2021, a PBKMS member had filed claims before the Resolution Professional (RP) of the company on behalf of 124 workers.
The RP rejected the claims stating that the workers were late in filing claims and was challenged before NCLT.
The tribunal on June 15, 2021, had directed the workers to submit their claims with appropriate documents to the RP by June 30, 2021.
"Now claims have been submitted for 54,250 workers on the basis of list of workers provided to PBKMS by the Provident Fund Commissioner's office at Jalpaiguri," it said.
