Assam CM Chairs Draft Assam Tea Policy Review Meet

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma organised a review meeting regarding the draft on Assam Tea Policy, on Saturday, October 15.

CM Sharma additionally proposed that the tea policy should be more reflective in terms of the needs of the stakeholders. He suggested that the policy should be aligned with the industry's requirements.

Notably, this will mark the first time when the state government is preparing a comprehensive policy for the tea industry in Assam.

Prior to this meeting, Principal Secretary for Industries and Commerce, KK Diwedi stated in the 48th biennial annual General meeting that the new tea policy will allow the state government to grant incentives to the tea industry. This will be done in the form of Assam Tea Industry Special Incentive Scheme (ATISIS).

Furthermore, the Assam government is establishing a tea park in Chaigaon of Kamrup District. This park is featured with rail and port connections, cargo and storage facilities, and processing facilities such as blending and packaging.

The daily wages of tea garden workers in Assam has been a bone of contention among tea workers and workers' unions for quite some time now. The last time the wages were hiked by Rs 27 was on August 9, the second increase in such payments since the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government came to power in the State in May last year, an official said. The upward revision of wages was effective from August 1, he said.

The decision to revise the wages was taken in a meeting among Mr. Sarma, representatives of tea associations and workers' unions.

"Happy to share that in a meeting with tea associations, it was decided to hike the workers' wage by Rs 27, thus raising their daily wage to Rs 232 and Rs 210 in Brahmaputra Valley & Barak Valley respectively," the Chief Minister wrote on Twitter that day.

CM Sarma had said then that welfare of tea garden workers has always been his government's top priority. He said the cash hike in daily wages of tea garden workers is "over and above the ration and other benefits".

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