Unpaid wages threaten seven Vandiperiyar tea estates

Seven tea estates in Vandiperiyar are at risk of closing due to the management's failure to pay workers' wages and benefits for five months. This has left 1,400 workers, including 1,100 permanent employees, without income. The affected estates, including Pambanar and Granby, cover 1,440 hectares and have not paid salaries since December. Workers suspect a shutdown, and harvesting has ceased, impacting the company's finances and local vendors who rely on plantation workers. Workers are now collecting and selling tea leaves themselves after failed talks with the Labour Minister. The POABS group, which took over the estates in 2008, claims financial struggles, citing low tea production and annual losses.