NEW DELHI, Nov 24 - Fearing trouble over payment of wages to tea workers in Assam, president of the Asam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), Paban Singh Ghatowar today advocated payment of their wages in cash.
Ghatowar told this newspaper that he has urged Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in a meeting that the tea workers should not suffer on account of the demonetisation of high-value currency.
He said that workers receive their wages every weekend and normally visit the weekly Sunday market to purchase essential commodities. Withholding of payment would lead to a crisis in the industry, he said.
He also added that while opening of bank accounts for tea garden workers is a laudable initiative, it will take time to open the accounts and make them operational, and tea workers cannot be made to suffer because of this.
He further pointed out that the bigger gardens owned by top companies would be able to manage the payment crisis, but the problem is with the small tea growers who also engage a large workforce.
He said he has urged Sonowal to ensure that the banks release the necessary funds and the workers be paid in cash every week to avert a crisis.
As reported by this newspaper, the Chief Minister has directed bank authorities to ensure opening of bank accounts of each of the tea garden workers in the State, facilitating disbursal of weekly wages through bank accounts within a fixed time-frame, stated an official press release.
