Assam tea estates unable to pay workers’ wages

Guwahati: Payment of wages to its large work force of over 7.5 lakh tea workers spread over about 800 tea estates in Assam has become a Himalayan problem for the tea industry because of want of cash post demonetisation.
Though Assam government has asked the banks operating in the districts having tea estates to honour cheques which are endorsed by the respective district deputy commissioners, presented by the tea estate owners/companies for withdrawing cash to make weekly payment to tea workers, the banks have failed to provide sufficient cash to tea estate managements to facilitate payment of wages to tea workers.
The issue has acquired a critical proportion and is potent enough to create law and order problem in tea estates.
‘Tea workers are getting restive over delay or insufficient payment of wages because of the cash crunch precipitated by demonetisation,’ an industry source informed.
The state government has, meanwhile, asked the banks to facilitate opening of bank accounts of all the tea workers in the state by December-end so that the wages of the tea workers could be transferred to their bank accounts.
The banks have been asked to set up sufficient number of ATMs in tea belts of the state so that the tea workers can withdraw money through the ATMs.
But, even if the banks comply with the governmentdirective , the process will take time and till then the situation in tea estates may  turn grave if the workers are not paid adequately and sufficiently in cash as per the age-old practice.
Meanwhile, Asom Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) has launched an agitation protesting the state government’s directive to the tea estates to do away with the age-old practice of paying the tea workers in cash across the table.
The ACMS maintains that if the tea workers are not paid in cash, it would create  serious socio-economic problem in tea belts of Assam besides causing hardship to largely illiterate  tea workers.