NEW DELHI, Nov 27 - Congress MP Ripun Bora on Wednesday called for Central intervention and demanded a special package to resolve the plight of tea garden labourers.
Making a Special Mention in the Rajya Sabha here today, Bora pleaded that if the Government of Assam is facing fund crisis, then the Central Government should give a special package to resolve the plight of the tea garden labourers. �In the current situation of high prices, it is impossible for them to make both ends meet on a daily wage of Rs 167. So, my submission is that the Government should accept the proposal of Rs. 351 as daily wages to the tea labourers of Assam,� he said.
�There are more than 1000 tea gardens in Assam, and nearly 14 lakh tea garden labourers are earning their livelihood from these tea gardens. While prices are going up, the tea garden labourers are paid only Rs 160 a day which is a very meagre amount,� he said.
�Even the States have their own minimum wages. But in Assam, in the year 2016, when the Congress Government was there, Rs 351 had been fixed as daily wages for tea garden labourers and later on, it was approved by the wage board also. But, subsequently, in 2016, the new Government of BJP came to power in Assam,� he recalled.
Now, three years of that Government have passed, but, Rs 351 as daily wages for the tea garden labourers has not been implemented simply on the ground that the management groups have filed an application to the Government saying that it is not economically feasible. The Government is taking the side of the management group and it has not implemented it yet, he alleged.
