Guwahati, Dec. 20: The Assam government has set a fresh deadline of January 2 to bring tea garden workers under the banking system to avert any cash-related trouble during the Christmas and New Year festivities in the tea belt.
Finance commissioner Ravi Kota told The Telegraph that the government has written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to extend the December 15 deadline for allowing the district administration to help the management arrange cash to pay tea garden workers.
Following the November 8 demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, the tea garden management had sought Dispur's help for smooth payment of weekly and fortnightly wages to workers because of RBI's cap on cash transaction.
The government had then written to the RBI seeking relaxation to remove the cap on withdrawal of cash for tea gardens.
The RBI then allowed the management to deposit cheques to deputy commissioners who would then withdraw the cash and hand it over to the management for payment of wages.
The Sarbananda Sonowal government had on November 21 set December 5 as the deadline for financial inclusion of all tea garden workers under the Jan Dhan Yojana. This deadline was then extended to December 15.
"We have asked for an extension still January 2 as we are hopeful of opening bank accounts of tea garden workers as well as dispensing cash through ATMs and customer service points to them. This will not only help in smooth celebrations of Christmas and New Year in the tea belt but also help sort out connectivity issues in remote areas," Kota said.
According to the senior bureaucrat, the state has been able to bring over 5.53 lakh of the 7.87 lakh permanent tea workers from 782 gardens under the banking system. "We are nearing our target but its not only opening bank accounts but also ensuring connectivity to dispense cash and transactions online," Kota said.
Christmas and New Year are celebrated just like any other festival in the tea belt, which has a sizeable Christian population.
By seeking the extension, the government has ensured there is no trouble during the festivities in the tea belt where a section is seeking more time before going cashless.
Even the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha delegation, which met the chief minister yesterday to discuss issues related to the tea community, said more time should be given to the workers before going cashless.
ACMS general secretary told The Telegraph that though they were supporting the government's drive, they wanted it implemented after three-four months of intensive awareness drive because "around 70 per cent garden workers" are not aware about banking transactions.
"It will also lead to loss of manhours if a worker has to travel to a bank and what happens if he has to depend on others to withdraw his hard-earned money? People might exploit them. The government has been supportive of our views and has called for another round of meeting soon," Tanti said.
