DIBRUGARH, June 23 - House rent allowance for a non-resident regularised tea garden worker residing in his/her own accommodation outside the estate has been raised from Rs 200 to Rs 300 per month under the entitlement to housing accommodation within the plantation under Section 15 (B) of the Plantation Labour Act.
Further, eligible regularised workers residing within the estate, if not provided any housing accommodation, will be entitled to house rent allowance at the same rate per month till such time he/she is provided with housing accommodation. Earlier, the resident regularised workers who were not provided housing accommodation were not benefiting from the house rent allowance.
The planters� body agreed to the demand for hike in house rent allowance and also approved inclusion of resident regularised workers without housing accommodation under the provision in a recent bipartite meeting held with representatives of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha led by its president and former Union Minister Paban Singh Ghatowar.
As per the agreement between the representatives of the planters� associations and the trade union, in the event of any such worker refusing allotment of housing accommodation offered by the management, the worker will not be entitled to receive house rent allowance. The agreement has come into effect from the current month.
