Assam Budget: Special Welfare Package for Tea Tribe Communities of Assam

Guwahati: Keeping in view of the Tea Tribes of Assam, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday announced special welfare schemes for the tea tribe communities of Assam today at the budget session.

Addressing the session, Finance Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the BJP Government from the very first day, has been taking a series of decisive and concentrated actions for the welfare of the tea tribes.

"We will be releasing the second tranche of Rs 2500 on February 15, 2019 under Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela to an expanded list of beneficiaries that include those who have been left-out, thereby fulfilling our promise made during my Budget Speech 2018-19," said Finance Minister Himanta today.

Earlier, in the year 2017, The Government had launched the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela to further incentivize and strengthen the efforts for financial inclusion of the tea tribe community. In January 2018, through this scheme, the Government had transferred the first tranche of Rs.2500 through Direct Benefit Transfer to over 7 Lakh bank accounts of Tea Garden workers across 752 Tea Gardens spread over 26 districts of Assam. [Also Read: Promises Tea Workers Wages Hike, BJP Introduces Schemes, Which Way Will Tea Garden Votes Go?]

Finance Minister also stated that digitalisation of the economy, which has been a singular objective of both the Central and the State Government, has been given a vital platform in tea garden areas through our dedicated efforts of opening over 7 lakh bank accounts for tea garden employees for the deposit of their wages and other benefits.

"This will not just encourage them to continue operating their bank accounts but also gradually draw them into a virtuous cycle of 'banklinked savings'. Further, the process of enrolling all these active bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (PMJJY) and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) has also been initiated," added the Finance Minister.

Following the grievances of the employees of the Assam Tea Corporation, the Government has released Rs 99 crores to clear all the outstanding PF dues, gratuity, arrear wages, salary, bonus, etc. of 16,133 retired employees of ATC including workers, sub-staff and staff.

As announced last year, the Government have initiated the work of laying paver blocks in 549 tea gardens at a total project cost of Rs 531 crores to facilitate easy commute for the tea workers and also create a safer, more hygienic environment in these areas. The Government also assured to expand the scheme further to construct pucca roads in more number of tea garden labour lines and in such plantations where the lines are already paved, we will take up the work in the labour divisions.

One of the critical helplines that the Government of Assam has extended to the female workers is the provision of wage compensation during pregnancy and motherhood. Therefore, the Government has deployed 88 mobile medical units in the tea garden areas.

Finance Minister Himanta also stated that in the coming financial year, the Government will provide rice, which is presently provided at the rate of Rs 3 per kg under NFSA, free of cost to 4 lakh families in the tea garden areas covering a total of 20 lakh beneficiaries and a pilot implementation of this will begin from March 2019.

"Salt was a metaphor for colonial oppression and exploitation and though the British left the nation a long time back, the metaphor & oppression still continues, especially in the tea gardens of Assam. The practice of consuming salt with tea, initiated during the British era to help combat dehydration, continues till this day. This has led to a number of medical complications among the community including numerous cases of hypertension, heart attacks, eclampsia etc. leading to higher mortality rates. The Health and Family Welfare Department of Assam has been continuously trying to create awareness on this aspect but we are constantly reminded of the fact that 'sugar' is still out of reach for many families of this community. It is a cruel irony that the members of our tea-garden community have not been able to taste the same 'sweetness' in a 'cup of tea' that millions world over rejoices from the tea leaves handpicked by the members of this community. Now, we would like to ensure that 'sugar' finally reaches the kitchens of these families and for this, we plan to provide 2 kgs of sugar per tea garden family per month free of cost," said the Finance Minister.

It may also be mentioned that the State Government also plans to launch a scheme for the youth in the tea garden areas. "We will provide skills training to 10000 youth belonging to the tea tribes so that they can set up small businesses and augment the family income. Subsequent to the skill training, we will provide a one-time grant of Rs. 25,000 to this group of 10,000 youth belonging to the Tea Tribes community during the Financial Year 2019-20 for setting up small businesses," adding, "I am allocating Rs 40 crores for this scheme under the Tea Tribes Welfare Department. We will also induct 500 girls from the tea tribes community during the year 2019-20 in Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) and General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) training programmes. We will also provide a monthly stipend to these young girls," stated the Minister further.

The Government also has decided to provide free medicines, as listed in the Essential Drugs List, to 300 tea garden hospitals.

In addition to the announcements made on the Health sector, The Government also plans to provide all the school students of the tea gardens breakfast, evening tea and free uniform in addition to hot cooked mid-day meals which will help improve the attendance and retention of the students in the schools.

The Tea Tribes Welfare Department will implement this scheme jointly with the Elementary Education Department, informed the Finance Minister.

As an incentive for continuing their education, the Government will be providing Rs 10,000 for every matric pass student per year for pursuing higher education.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government will provide housing benefits that are at par with PMAY benefits subject to the garden authorities willingness to provide long term lease in the name of the tea garden workers.

"To start with, we will implement this scheme in 10 tea gardens, covering approx. 5000 households and thereafter expand it after improving it based on the learnings. For all those workers who already have a pucca house, we will provide a grant of Rs.1 Lakh under this scheme for carrying out refurbishment and repair works and I have allocated an amount of Rs. 50 crores in the Tea Tribes Welfare Departments budget for this Scheme," claimed the Finance Minister.