A year after payment digitisation, Assam tea workers still rely on cash

Assam government initiated an ambitious plan to open bank accounts for all registered tea workers and asked the gardens to route the payment via banks

A year after the government of Assam began a massive digitisation drive to route the weekly wages for around 686,000 tea workers in the state via banks and ATMs, cash continues to be the preferred choice.

Owing to the remote location of at least 55 per cent of the 745-odd gardens in Assam, banks have found it too difficult to either set up ATM counters or service these gardens via customer service providers, a prerequisite of the digitisation drive.

The announcement of demonetisation last November had resulted in a severe cash crunch situation across the country. And, the Assam government initiated an