About six lakh of the 7.8 lakh permanent tea plantation labourers working for over 700 gardens across Assam have opened bank accounts in the past seven weeks since prime minister Narendra Modi announced his demonetisation programme on November 8, state finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday. “People thought it will be a difficult task, but then we have already achieved quite a success. We hope to get all of them open bank accounts in the next few weeks,” Sarma said. While over 99 per cent of the 7.8 lakh permanent tea labourers – majority of them did not have bank account till November – are semi-literate and a major chunk still use thumb impression for a signature, getting them open bank accounts was a daunting task “gradually achieved”, Sarma said. “With bank accounts becoming a reality and tea labourers also going digital, they will now draw money wages from their own accounts. This way they will also start saving money. We have also announced a major incentive of Rs 100 to every tea labourer who draws his or her wage through the bank in the next three months,” Sarma said. Watch What Else is Making News Sarma also said that while banks were still struggling to place ATMs in the vicinity of tea estates, the state government has announced 100 per cent waiver of entry tax to all machinery required for setting up ATMs, PoS machines, V-Sat dish and other equipments required for installing more digitally-enabled machines. “This will speed up the setting up of ATMs, while even the smallest of vendors can then afford to buy a PoS machine,” the minister said. When asked whether banks would accept thumb impressions on bank accounts, Sarma said it was for the banks to find out a solution. “The union finance ministry has already relaxed norms so that ATM cards could be issued to illiterate persons who use left thumb impressions instead of a signature,” he said. Sources in the tea industry however said though majority of tea labourers had already applied for opening bank accounts, it would take some time for those accounts to become operational. “One cannot start operating a bank account the very next day. It takes time because of certain procedures. But, while we hope to get 100 per cent of our workforce to open bank accounts in the next few weeks, banks too have to expedite opening ATMs and branches near the tea estates,” an official in the Assam Branch Indian Tea Association (ABITA) said.
