July 24, 2014
Sudip Bandyopadhyay speaks on the rehabilitation package for closed tea garden workers | Transcript
The Central Government has announced a rehabilitation package for closed tea gardens which has been finalized a while ago. The package has emphasized on many positive measures including loan restructuring, moratorium of interest payment, waver of penal interest, interest subsidies, waver of Tea Board loans and the provision of subsidies under the SPTF scheme for rejuvenation and re-plantation.
This State Government already has supplied subsidized food-grains, provision of NREGS works, enhanced coverage of social security pensions, intensive health coverage and livelihood assistance in the form of backward poultries, fisheries and goat rearing units. I would like to urge… there are five closed tea gardens and 5000 workers are involved with this. They can be given proper assistance by the Central Government. The Central Government should take this issue up jointly with the State Government and ensure that these tea garden workers are getting their livelihood back. The government should raise to the occasion and promise it will give relief to them.
