After fighting her case for a decade, Bimli Devi, 60, has been recently awarded INR 19,000 as part of the gratuity earned by her deceased husband who was used to work in Gandalpara Jute Mill in Chandannagar, Hooghly. He had died in 2006.
This is too little and too late – less than one-fifth of the total dues — but given her circumstances, Bimli Devi considers this a “victory”.
At least 15 other women, whose deceased husbands used to work for jute mills in the area, received their dues recently in part after the Bengal labour department issued an order to the factory authorities to award the money to the women. With Gandalpara Jute Mill, Hooghly Jute Mill has made a payment of gratuity to a deceased worker’s wife.
Payments to several others are reportedly in the pipeline. Chandannagar-based Legal Aid Centre, with its partner organisation Workers’ Welfare Association, provided the women with the support to start, and then persist in this long, difficult legal battle.
“The development is a silver lining for the unfortunate families. Numerous jute mills are located in North and South 24 Parganas on both the eastern and western banks of Ganga, and in Howrah, Hooghly and other districts. Getting PF and gratuity money is often difficult for workers in these factories,” says Biswajit Mukherjee, who heads Legal Aid Centre. “Often workers die before receiving their dues and it becomes almost impossible for their wives to get the dues,” says Mukherjee.
Decade long legal battles
Bimli’s husband, Laddu Mahato, had been a worker at the Gandalpara Jute Mill in Chandannagar, located in Hooghly district in West Bengal. On his death in 2006, she started working at the same jute mill. “This is a relief, though the total amount due was INR 1,13,000, and I received only INR 19,000,” says Bimli Devi, who had herself joined the factory as she had four small children to look after following her husband’s death.
She filed a case in 2016 with the labour department demanding the money.
Parulbala Mandal, more fortunate than Bimli Devi, has been awarded INR 1,00,000 as gratuity that was due to her deceased husband, who worked at Hooghly Jute Mill. Her case started 10 years ago, as well.
The story is largely similar for Maya Trivedi, Leela Harijan, Bimli Devi, Shanti Kundu, Dipika Chakraborty, Maya Devi Sharma, Sirija Chowdhury and Shobha Devi; all locals.
Politicians, administration criticised
“After the workers die, their wives, some of them elderly, are often unable to continue the struggle for the dues because they have neither government support nor any genuinely worker-friendly political party or trade union standing beside them,” Mukherjee points out.
The award of the gratuity, even if partial, is being seen as a positive sign by not only the workers’ families. The legal team from Legal Aid Centre which supported the women include advocates Sheikh Raju, Baishakhi Haldar and Shubhrakanti Samanta, who welcome the award of the money.
Mukherjee was critical of the role that politicians, cutting across parties, have played — or not played — in the matter. “There is a significant number of jute mills in the state covering several districts and around 130 constituencies. The refusal to pay dues to workers or their family members is widespread, but hardly any MLA or political party launched any protest against the practice, either inside the Assembly or outside,” said the retired government official.
“The administration is also answerable to the women. Forget about the large number who are refused their dues; even those in favour of whom the labour department passes orders, often do not get the money as the government department does not play any effective role in recovering the amount from the factory owners,” says Mukherjee.
Fighting women face backlash
The legal aid organisation claims that the families who fight for their dues often face backlash. “Because the women are fighting for their rights, their children, who work in the same factories, are being dismissed from work,” said a representative of the legal aid nonprofit. “Even so, they have not given up. They continue their struggle, and as a result, they are recovering at least a portion of the money that their husbands could have earned through their hard work,” he adds.
“We believe that the struggle of these women will inspire women workers in various other factories and organisations in the days to come,” Mukherjee hopes.
“In contrast (to Gondalpara Jute Mill), other jute mills, such as Howrah Jute Mill, Delta Jute Mill, Nadia Jute Mill, Waverly Jute Mill, Alliance Jute Mill and Gourishankar Jute Mill, have deprived workers of various retirement-related benefits, which is extremely disappointing,” says a statement from Legal Aid Centre.
“Unfortunately, it is also true that neither the labour department nor district administrations have taken any punitive action against a single employer,” the statement alleges.