Debt-ridden tea worker commits suicide in Assam

Guwahati: Being found himself reeling under mounting debts, a tea worker in eastern Assam committed suicide on Monday.
The worker was plunged into a debt trap because irregular payment by the employer because of cash crunch  precipitated by demonetisation.
The deceased is identified as Achyut Bhuyan , a worker of Pipratoli Tea Estate at Chabua in  Dibrugarh district of eastern Assam.
He consumed poison because of his mounting debts. He was rushed to Assam Medical College Hospital (ACMS) where he was declared dead.
Former MLA of Chabua constituency and a local office-bearer of Asam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) , Raju  Sahu informed that the deceased was frustrated at not being able to pay up his debt because of irregular payment of wages by the employer post demonetisation.
Vice-president of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha, S Gour said that the tea industry was facing a crisis situation in respect of payment of wages to its workers because of the cash crunch precipitated by demonetisation.
The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha is the most influential trade union of tea workers in Assam.
The ACMS leader said though the state government and the tea garden managements in coordination with the banks where they were trying to open bank accounts of all tea workers so as to make payment of wages digitally, the process was taking time and the tea workers in many parts of the state were getting restive.
Meanwhile, former chief minister and Congress veteran, Tarun Gogoi on Monday stated that reports of the grim situation in tea gardens of Assam in respect of payment of wages to workers had not much improved even after 50 days of demonetisation.
It surface a lot of hardships due to non availability of cash, internet facilities & basic banking infrastructure in tea estate areas even as the government was the insisting on shifting to digital economy.
“Tea Gardens in Barak Valley are particularly in a distress and it has been expressed through their resentment which has led them to holding protest, he added.”
“The government must take a note of it and should take all the steps to remove the hardships of tea workers and ensure that their wages paid regularly,” the former chief minister further added.