Assam tea garden workers' daily wage hiked by Rs 27, workers to get ration cards

The BJP-led government in Assam on Wednesday decided to hike the daily wage of tea garden workers by Rs 27, thus raising their daily wage to Rs 232 and Rs. 210 in the Brahmaputra and Barak Valley respectively.

This was decided in a meeting chaired by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma with representatives of Indian Tea Association, North East Tea Association, Bharatiya Cha Parishad, Assam Tea Planters' Association and Assam Cha Mazdoor Sangha.

This was the second such hike since Sarma became the CM in May last year. On May 21 last year, the daily wage was hiked by Rs 38, raising the same to Rs 205 and Rs 183 in the Brahmaputra and the Barak Valley respectively. The garden workers used to get Rs 167 and Rs 145 before the hike.

The daily wage of tea garden workers becomes a major political issue before every election with the workers' bodies demanding Rs 350 as the daily wage, for long. Before the 2021 Assembly elections, the Opposition Congress promised to hike the daily wage of the tea garden workers to Rs 365, if voted to power.

More than 60 lakh people (nearly 20 per cent of Assam's population) work in tea gardens and they are a major vote bank for political parties.

Assam is the world's largest tea growing region and the state contributes nearly 52 per cent of the country's total tea production. It has 800-odd big tea estates and more than a lakh small gardens.

But low wage and improper basic amenities in the tea estates have been a long complaint of the garden workers. Apart from the daily wage, the garden workers get ration and other facilities.

Chief Minister Sarma on Wednesday announced that all tea garden workers would be given ration cards for availing benefits under the National Food Safety Scheme. He asked the estate owners to apply for a licence of fair price shops to offer the ration under the scheme. Sarma also assured the garden owners to raise the government subsidy for orthodox tea from Rs 7 to Rs 10 per kg.