Tripartite meet: Daily wage of tea garden workers hiked by Rs 18

Sanchita Aich Bag |  MP  | 12 Apr 2023 : The daily wage of the tea garden workers has been hiked by Rs 18. Now, workers will receive Rs 250 daily. The decision was taken at the tripartite meeting which was held at the State Guest House in Siliguri on Wednesday. 

Moloy Ghatak, the Minister in-charge of the Labour department was present at the meeting along with trade unions and owners of the tea gardens. 

“The state government had formed a Minimum Wage Committee. The committee has held about 17 meetings but all stakeholders are yet to mutually agree upon a minimum wage amount. Owing to this we have decided to bring about an interim hike of Rs 18 in the daily wages. This will definitely bring some amount of relief for the workers. We are always with the workers,” said Moloy Ghatak, the minister. 

High Court orders CAG probe It is noted that there are about 300 tea gardens in Bengal. About 3 lakh 50 thousand workers are engaged in these tea gardens. During the Left Front Government, the tea garden workers used to get Rs 67 as daily wage. In 2011, with the Trinamool Congress coming to power in West Bengal, they increased the wages. The daily wage was Rs 232 which has now been increased to Rs 250 with this interim hike of Rs 18. 

The minister said: “We would not take 24 hours also to implement the minimum wages once the committee decides on it. The committee has representations from the trade unions affiliated to the opposition camps also. They have not been able to come up with a mutually agreeable minimum wage.” 

Sumit Ghosh, the Secretary of the Tea Association of India said: “We accept the government’s decision. But we also have to face some financial crisis. Although, we are also with the tea garden workers.” Nirjal Dey, president, INTTUC stated: “We hail the decision of the West Bengal Government for an interim hike. The West Bengal Government has always worked for the benefit of the workers. The wage hikes along with projects like Chai Sundari are pointers to this.” 

Meanwhile, the opposition trade unions claimed that this hike is a political stunt before the elections. Ziaul Alam, Convener of the Joint Forum said: “The government is not helping us with the minimum wage issue. This announcement is just a political action before the elections.” 

The wage hike will be applicable after the gadget notification. It is noted that the owners want to start giving wages from the month of June but all the trade unions unanimously demanded to implement the hike from January this year. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/misappropriation-of-flood-relief-fund-in-malda-high-court-orders-cag-probe-515052?infinitescroll=1