Ilam, August 23 :

Four tea factories here have resumed their operation from yesterday after a 10-day long strike by the tea workers.

The factories have started the operations after the tea farmers pressurised the management. The green tea leaves worth Rs 15 million is reported to have been wasted following the strike. The meeting organised by Eastern Small Tea Farmers (ESTF) at Fikkal, Ilam asked the management to start the operations of the factories arguing that this is the peak season for plucking green tea leaves.

The meeting held between the factory workers, farmers and the factory-owners decided to reopen the four factories.

Those factories reopened were Small Tea Pvt Ltd, Ilam Tea Production, Himalayan Renchaty and Shree Antu Tea Pvt Ltd. However, the remaining tea factories are still closed due to delay in agreement between the factory owners and the workers. All the tea factories were closed down after the workers put forth demands for better wage and working conditions.