A CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH: The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), the apex body of tea garden workers in Assam, has decided to launch a protest programme across the state from April first week demanding wage hike of tea garden workers. Addressing a press conference at ACMS Central Office here, ACMS President Paban Singh Ghatowar said, “From April first week, we will launch a protest programme across the state demanding daily minimum wage hike of Rs 351 for tea garden workers. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that there was no demand for minimum wage from tea garden workers, which is not true.”
“We have already given several memorandums to the owners of tea gardens and the state government to increase the minimum wages of tea garden workers up to Rs 351. The government should know that the interim increase of wage is not permanent,” Ghatowar stated. He said, “We also press for our 11 charters of demand. The state government has decided to allow five percent of the total land of tea estates to be used for the promotion of tourism, etc. If the land is utilized for making hospitals and schools, we have no issue. But the first preference for jobs should be given to the tea garden workers’ children.” “If hospitals will be built in the tea garden land then free treatment or concession for the tea garden workers should be given,” Ghatowar said. The Union firmly believes that this wage increase is crucial to uplift the living standards of workers and secure them a dignified livelihood.
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