Provide ration to tea labourers till Food Security Act is implemented, Gogoi tells Modi

The Assam chief minister pointed out that the state government had to stop recommending subsidized ration to the tea estates following a letter sent by the ministry of food, civil supply and consumer affairs on September 23. The news of discontinuation of rations has already caused strong resentment in the state, Gogoi pointed out. The Assam government has been so long sanctioning 7600 metric tons of rice and 5000 metric tons of rice to the tea industry, with labourers having to pay only 50 paise per kg of foodgrains.

Currently, tea labourers across Assam are getting a daily wage of Rs 94, apart from 35 kg rice per family unit at just 50 paise per kg. Once the NFS Act is implemented in Assam, they will be entitled to 20 kgs of rice at Rs 3 per kg. There are suggestions in the tea industry for monetizing the ration subsidy by paying Rs 14.20 per labourer per day, taking the daily wage up to Rs 108.20, but labour unions are not amused.

Discontinuation of heavily subsidized foodgrains will also have a huge political implication, especially with the Congress-affiliated INTUC controlling over 90 per cent of Assam’s 20 lakh tea labourers. Incidentally, the tea belt districts, which had traditionally sent Congress MPs from Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Tezpur Lok Sabha seats, had this time elected BJP candidates, which has already caused enough worries for the Congress. But, while Assam is heading for state assembly elections in March 2016, and if the ration issue continues, both Congress and BJP will definitely suffer.