‘Decision on minimum wage for tea garden workers soon’
DARJEELING: By January 1, a positive decision would be taken on the issue of minimum wages for tea garden workers, stated Becharam Manna, Labour minister on Wednesday.
The minister was addressing media persons following a meeting of the minimum wages advisory committee at Madarihat in Alipurduar.
“The minimum wages will be fixed taking into confidence both the unions representing the workers and the tea garden management. By January 1, 2022, we hope to take a positive decision,” stated Manna.
This was the 16th meeting of the advisory committee. The minister added that there will be another round of meeting before January 1, 2022, in which both the union representatives and the management would come to an agreement of the minimum wage.
11 members of the advisory committee represented 4.5 lakh workers of the tea industry.
“The meeting was very fruitful. 11 members of the committee presented a minimum wage structure incorporating all the legal components. However the amount cannot be divulged as of now. The management will be presenting a structure proposal within a fortnight,” stated Zia Ur Alam, member of the committee.
Adding to this Nakul Sunar, also a member representing the workers stated :“The government will definitely implement the minimum wages by January 1. The outcome is very positive.”
Incidentally, with the tea trade unions demanding the implementation of minimum wages in the tea gardens, a minimum wage advisory committee was constituted by the West Bengal Government in 2015 to look into the issue.
The committee is constituted of 33 members representing the workers, management and the Government.
“The minimum wages will be fixed taking into confidence both the unions representing the workers and the tea garden management. By January 1, 2022, we hope to take a positive decision...”