GUWAHATI, March 12 - The government today proposed an amount of Rs 99 crore for payment of outstanding Provident Fund dues, gratuity, arrear, wages and bonus for retired workers and staff of gardens under the Assam Tea Corporation Limited (ATCL).
Presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that to avail the benefits, ATCL will have to sign an MoU with the Assam Government for �outsourcing of operations� and bringing back fiscal discipline.
Around 20,000 tea garden sardars will be given smartphones, while the government will construct roads along the labour lines in all the tea gardens, for which a token provision of Rs 20 crore has been made in the Budget.
Bank accounts of tea garden workers would be brought under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana for a life insurance coverage plan and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, a government backed accident insurance scheme which has a maximum sum assured of Rs 2 lakh.
The government will also set up a patient care home at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital exclusively for tea tribes� people.
