Workers missing from tea gardens of north Bengal and Assam

Rural employment guarantee scheme is keeping them engaged

Lured by the relatively high wage rate of Rs 130 per day under the central government's flagship rural job guarantee scheme, workers of the north Bengal and Assam tea gardens are giving regular work a miss. The tea industry is in the red, given that mid-June to October is the peak plucking season. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), rural workers are guaranteed 100 days of employment a year at Rs 130 per day.

Existing wage rate for the permanent tea garden workers of north Bengal and Assam is Rs 67 per day. Under MNREGS, rural workers are guaranteed 100 days of employment a year at Rs 130 per day
The tea industry is in the red, given that mid-June to October is the peak plucking season
Overall tea production could touch 1,000 million kg in 2011, riding on a good monsoon. Absenteeism could bring this figure down
The tea gardens of Assam and north Bengal employ around one million workers and the absenteeism can make a 10 per cent dent in the production from the region