A vicious cycle

BJP promised to increase the wages of tea garden workers but over the past 4 years and 8 months the State government notified a hike of only Rs 30 in 2018
A vicious cycle

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself in a catch-22 situation on the issue of increasing the wages of tea garden workers in Assam. The demand for hike in wages of tea garden workers in Assam is gathering steam when BJP-led ruling coalition is looking at a consecutive term at Dispur. The opposition parties have made it a major poll plank in a bid to cause a dent in the stronghold of the ruling party. The tea industry, on the other hand, has been cautioning the government that any hike in wages of workers now would render tea cultivation in the state unviable. The BJP promised in 2016 Assembly polls to increase the wages of garden workers but over the past four years and eight months the State government notified a hike of only Rs 30 in 2018. Currently, the tea garden workers get daily wage of Rs 167 in the Brahmaputra valley and Rs 145 in the Barak valley. Besides, the daily wage, a permanent worker of a tea garden is entitled to ration of 3 kg of wheat and 3 kg of rice for 12 days of work, 2 kg of wheat and 2 kg of rice per head of each of his or her children in the age group of 3 – 12 years and 300 grams of made tea. A temporary worker is also paid daily wage of Rs 167, but ration is given only to the worker not for family members. Plight of workers in most small tea gardens is worse with less wage and no other benefits. Landlessness of lakhs of tea garden workers limit their dreams of exploring alternative livelihoods other than daily wage earners and unskilled workers at construction industry. Various tea garden workers' unions including the Congress-backed Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha have called for agitation programmes to mount pressure on the government on their demand for fixing the daily wage at Rs 351. The influential All Assam Tea Tribes Students' Association and the All Adivasi Students' Association, Assam have been relentlessly demanding for the minimum wage of Rs 351. The BJP-led coalition government initiated a host of welfare measures for tea garden workers and hoped that these would dilute the issue of wage hike and prevent it from returning to the centre stage. These measures include cash assistance as Direct Benefit Transfer to bank accounts of garden workers, wage compensation scheme for pregnant women in tea garden districts to reduce maternal mortality rate, setting up of 119 new high schools in garden areas for better access of children of garden workers to education. The State government has decided to reserve 10 per cent of seats in these government colleges for tea garden areas. These measures, no doubt, were much needed to alleviate the socio-economic condition of the garden workers. However, the garden workers should not be deprived from their entitlement for a fair and just amount of minimum wage in lieu of these welfare measures. It is pathetic that socio-economic condition of garden workers is the worst among all communities in the state despite the fact Assam accounts for more than 50 per cent of the country's total tea production. Unfortunately, the wage and other demands of tea garden workers have remained trapped in election manifestos and promises during electioneering. This is despite the fact that they play the deciding role in more than two dozen seats in the 126-member Assam Assembly. The BJP's inroads in the traditional strongholds among tea garden workers helped it wear the crown. The political blame game will never solve the problems of tea garden workers. The tea industry also cannot continue to look the other way every time the issue of wage hike is raised. There has been outmigration of scores of youths as well as temporary workers from tea garden areas to outside the state for greener pastures in southern states where the minimum daily wage is much higher. Denial of the just amount of minimum wage will push more garden workers and their family members to migrate outside the state. If unchecked, this may only lead to severe shortage of garden workers to meet the demand of more than 800 large tea estates and over one lakh small tea gardens. It will have a cascading effect on the industry and the state economy. It is time the issues of tea garden workers are discussed in right earnest by all stakeholders before the situation becomes unmanageable. The rise in daily wage earners in tea garden areas is only an indication of increasing vulnerability of their livelihoods and crisis looming large over the tea industry. Unless the political parties start looking at the long-pending demands of the tea garden workers beyond poll arithmetic, the tea tribe communities will perpetually remain deprived from living a dignified life.

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