AASAA criticises tea industry for unrealistic views

The All Adivasi Students' Association of Assam today criticised the Assam tea industry for its "unrealistic views" on matters of wages and other benefits to tea garden workers.
"Demands by tea garden workers and student organisations calling for increased wages are not only realistic, but legally required," All Adivasi Student Association of Assam (AASAA) Raphael Kujur said in a statement.
Recent statements by Industry officials aim to deceive the public, and reveal a deliberate and continued strategy to deprive workers of their constitutional and statutory rights, he alleged.
The tea industry is misleading the nation by stating that the workers were brought to work in gardens in Assam with assurance that they would be given all benefits other than the cash wages but the truth is that the workers were forcefully employed and their ancestors exploited, he alleged.

Moreover, the tea industry of Assam is not above the law and the Plantation Labour Act (PLA), a central legislation passed in 1951 to "provide for the welfare of labourers, and to regulate the conditions of workers", applies not only to the tea industry, but applies to plantations which also grow coffee and rubber, Kujur added.
Indian Tea Association Chairman Bobby Bhargava had recently stated that the industry needed to be appreciated for taking care of workers from "womb to tomb," and the Union Ministry of Commerce and Indsutry must understand the ground situation.
Union Minister of Industry and Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman had in a meeting of stakeholders had asked the state governments to ensure payment of minimum notified wages to the tea workers.