Kolkata, Feb 24 (IANS) The monthly pay of tea estate workers in West Bengal will be in accordance with the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and the state has formed a committee to oversee and implement the same, a tea workers' union leader said Tuesday.
"After holding a series of talks, it was decided by the tea estate stakeholders including workers and the state government that the monthly remuneration of workers will be based on the Minimum Wages Act," Ziaul Alam, a leader of the state's Joint Forum of Trade Unions of Tea Industry, told media persons here.
The joint forum is a conglomerate of 24 tea industry trade unions in the state.
The Minimum Wages Act lays down the bare monthly remuneration for skilled and unskilled workers which varies across states. However, adherence to the Act is not compulsory.
In West Bengal, the law is applicable to most of the industrial sectors excluding agriculture and agro industries.
Alam also said the trade union forum was demanding reopening of the seven closed tea gardens in Cooch Behar and Darjeeling in north Bengal, which traditionally has been the centre of tea cultivation.
"When the tea industry is booming and the government is earning huge revenue from it, seven tea gardens of the total 270 in the state are closed. This is affecting many workers. For the past three years, neither the state government nor the centre has made any stride to reopen them," he said.
Alam said at least Rs.5,000 crore goes to the state and central governments from tea export-related taxes.
The state provides a grant of Rs.1,500 each month to workers of closed tea gardens. The figure has remained stagnant since 2010-11.
During 2012-13, the financial aid -- christened Financial Assistance to the Workers in Locked Out Industrial Units -- was extended to 19,393 labourers across 208 shut units. The total sum paid was Rs.34.98 crore.
The trade union leader said it becomes impossible for workers to sustain their family and livelihood with just Rs.1,500 in hand and it needs to be increased.
"We have asked the (state) government to look into it during the upcoming budget", he said.
Millions of cases of corona infection are coming to light in China. Meanwhile, the Chinfing gover
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is presiding over the second National Conference of Chief Secretarie
Indore's excise constable found to be a millionaire
Indore, Feb 24 (IANS) A raid at the house of an excise department constable in Madhya Pradesh's
The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the death of three students preparing for UPSC
In India, it is necessary to take motor insurance under the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. The incre
All India Congress Committee has released an eight-point manifesto for Uttar Pradesh in New Delhi
Uttar Pradesh tops in AADHAAR generation
Lucknow, March 10 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh has become the leading state in terms of AADHAAR generat
There has been a major reshuffle at the management level in Mukesh Ambani's company Reliance Jio
Former US President Donald Trump may return to Twitter. Twitter's new boss Elon Musk posted a Twi
The ongoing political ruckus in Pakistan is not taking its name to end. There, on Monday, PML-N P
