Alipurduar, July 5 -- The tea industry and stakeholders have welcomed the Rs 313.30-crore welfare package announced for tea garden workers in North Bengal under the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana (PMCSPY).

West Bengal has received Rs 313.30 crore from the scheme's total Rs 1,000-crore allocation. The package aims to improve the socio-economic conditions of lakhs of tea garden workers by strengthening education, healthcare and workplace infrastructure across tea gardens.

The implementation plan was finalised at a meeting held at Nabanna on Saturday. The announcement was later shared on social media by the Chief Minister, who wrote, "We are committed to the comprehensive welfare and improvement of health and educational standards of our hardworking tea garden workers in North Bengal. The implementation plan for PMCSPY has been finalised, and with an allocation of Rs 313.30 crore, we are bringing transformative changes to the lives of tea workers."

Welcoming the initiative, Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, President of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (CISTA), said, "The Centre announced the Rs 1,000-crore PMCSPY in the 2021 Union Budget. Assam has already utilised a substantial portion of the allocation, and now Rs 313 crore has been earmarked for West Bengal. We welcome the implementation of the scheme. It has the potential to be a game changer for the Bengal tea industry, and tea workers will benefit significantly."

Bharatiya Tea Workers Union (BTWU) Chairman and Alipurduar MP Manoj Tigga said: "The implementation of this scheme will bring major improvements in the education, healthcare and housing of tea garden workers."

North Bengal Chairman of the Tea Association of India (TAI), Uttam Chakraborty, welcomed the move but urged both the Centre and the state government to revive the tea industry. "We appreciate this initiative for tea workers. However, urgent measures are also needed to revive the tea industry, which is passing through a very difficult phase," he said.

"It is laudable that the state government has released the special tea package for the tea workers. Its time that it did for the employers of the industry as well," stated Sandeep Mukherjee, Principal Advisor, Darjeeling Tea Association.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.