The largest tea garden union of the BJP-ruled Assam has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ignoring the plights of the tea growers in this Northeast state, while calling himself a ‘chaiwala’.
The union has also urged the prime minister to implement his promise of a minimum wage of Rs 350 for the tea garden workers before the New Year, reported news agency IANS.
Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) General Secretary Rupesh Gowala said while PM Modi often refers to himself as a ‘chaiwala’, he is yet to make good on his promises towards a million tea garden labourers in the state in the last four years.
“Before the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, PM Modi addressed several rallies in Assam and assured that the tea garden labourers would be paid a minimum wage of Rs 350 per day,” Gowala said.
According to IANS, the tea garden workers in Brahmaputra Valley in Assam are presently drawing Rs 167 per day while the tea garden workers in Barak Valley are getting Rs 145 per day.
“The existing wage agreement between the Assam government and the ACMS and other tea workers bodies expired on December 31, 2017.
“The government had announced an interim hike of Rs 30 per day. The tea garden labourers are supposed to get this interim hike from January 1, 2018, but the government is saying the hike will apply from March 1, 2018.
“This would make them lose Rs 30 per day for two months,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Assam is yet to fix that minimum wage, Gowala said, urging PM Modi to announce the promised Rs 350 per day minimum wage before 2019.
Gowala said the condition of all those tea gardens run by the Assam government was far worse.
“While the labourers in company-owned garden are receiving a wage of Rs. 167 per day now, the 26,000 workers under the 14 gardens of state-owned Assam Tea Company Limited (ATCL) are receiving a wage of Rs 115 only per day,” he said.
Assam has over 800 medium and large size tea gardens that produce over 50 per cent of the country’s total tea produce.
The tea labourers of Assam live in the most deplorable conditions without some of the basic amenities, Gowala said.
[“source=indiatoday]
