The Assam government on Wednesday announced that the tea garden workers of Assam Tea Corporation Limited (ATCL) will be getting ₹250 a day, a rise of ₹30 from what they are currently getting.
The announcement was made by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after a cabinet meeting held at Dergaon.
ATCL, established in 1972, is an ailing state government enterprise. There are 14 gardens under its fold.
Though the rise has been welcomed, the Assam Jatiya Parishad said in Guwahati that the ruling BJP had promised to hike the daily wage to ₹351 in 2014 for all tea garden workers in the state.
“Why are they not doing it? Why it is taking so long? It was part of their election manifesto,” AJP leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi asked.
The ATCL had hit the headlines last year in November with the Supreme Court directing the Assam Tea Corporation Limited chairman to submit the details of the company’s movable and immovable properties owned by it after the state government said it can’t pump in more funds to bail out the loss-making enterprise.
A former ATCL hand had said the corporation disbursed all funds received from the government but fresh dues continued to accrue for which it was not able to implement the notified daily wage of ₹250 in Brahmaputra Valley and ₹223 in Barak Valley.