JORHAT, Dec 9 - The Assam Tea Employees� Provident Fund Organisation (ATEPFO), under the State Labour department, has attached a tea garden in Charaideo district in upper Assam for default in deposit of provident fund and other allied dues to the government for a period of 16 years.
After the government attaches property of a defaulting company, then the said company can�t sell, transfer or lease out any immovable or movable property owned by it to any other party or organisation.
Assistant PF Commissioner-cum-Recovery Officer (ATEPFO, Jorhat zonal office) Someswar Barhoi, who holds additional charge of Sivasagar district, told this correspondent today that as per the direction from the headquarters, the Tingalibum Tea Estate at Abhaypur, off Sonari, was attached on Wednesday for default of dues amounting to the tune of nearly Rs three crores (including interest).
The new Charaideo district is still under jurisdiction of Sivasagar ATEPFO, Jorhat zonal office.
Barhoi said that the garden, owned by Bhaskar Tea and Industries Limited, Kolkata, has failed to deposit PF (both workers� and management�s shares) along with Deposit-Linked Insurance and administrative cost fees to ATEPFO, which too are required to be deposited with the government.
Barhoi said that a team of officials led by him, accompanied by a police party, visited the garden and attached all immovable property of the estate by serving the notice of the government order to the garden authorities.
He said that notices of the order have been hung up at different areas of the garden. Barhoi said that during the attachment period, the day-to-day business activity of the garden could continue.
Labour inspector of Sivasagar district, Mousami Bora, the in-charge of Tingalibum police outpost Naren Rajkhowa were part of the team led by Barhoi.
The total area of the estate is 6287 bighas, three kathas and 18 lechas and has 841 employees including office staff and sub-staff.
The attachment of a property is carried out for violation of provisions of the Assam Tea Plantation Provident Fund Scheme Act, 1955, after a company fails to deposit dues despite serving of several reminders and a deadline by the government.
In the past one year, two tea gardens of Jorhat district have been attached and the process of attaching was under process for several defaulting estates.