Deadline for cash wage payments to Assam's tea garden workers ends Saturday

Cash wage payments to switch to e-payment; infrastructure issues as big as ever, with talks on for alternatives to ATMs

The coming Saturday is to be the last time tea garden workers in Assam get their fortnightly wage in cash; the deadline to switch to accounted e-payment ends on the day.

For the next payment, scheduled on December 31, they are to get their wages by bank transfer.

Following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the Assam government decided to try for this shift. It asked State Bank of India, UCO Bank and United Bank of India to open bank accounts for all the 1.1 million employed in tea gardens and set a deadline of December 14. Also, it asked the banks to install ATMs in the gardens.

The workers get 43-45 per cent of their total wage as cash (Rs 130-150 daily). The plantations are required to arrange for free foodstuff, health care and some other benefits.

"This in itself was a humongous task for the banks, as most of the gardens are located in remote areas. Further, the current banking infrastructure in the garden areas was a huge challenge," said Gautam Beria, director at Megha Tea Company.

Previously, during the rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, five to six per cent of the workforce had opted to open such accounts.

Nevertheless, officials in the sector say bank accounts for around 70 per cent of the workers have been opened and the process is likely to get completed in another fortnight, by when this month's last round of wages needs to be disbursed.

"However, of all the accounts opened so far and those opened during the Jan-Dhan scheme, many are not operational, as the workers hardly use banking services, especially in remote gardens. It will take time for them to adapt to the banking system," said Beria, also an executive committee member of Assam Tea Planters Association.

There is also the major challenge of road, mobile and internet connectivity. "These problems need to be addressed as well, so that the workers can use the banking system properly," said P K Bezboruah, managing director at Bokahola Tea Company.

If these issues are not addressed, say sector executives, normal functioning would be affected.

Also, with the money from the gardens' coffers to flow to each worker's account directly, transaction and book-keeping costs are likely to increase. Big estates employ 5,000-6,000 workers each; the smaller gardens have 200-800 workers on their payroll.

Sector executives are talking with banks to arrange for an alternative to ATMs, as installation would take time and servicing these is another issue. They want mobile cash vans for each garden on pay day, "to disburse cash directly to the workers for the equivalent sum in wages", said Arun Theckedath, chairman, Assam Tea Planters Association.

However, for estates employing upward of 1,000 workers, a single cash van might not serve. "Further, for gardens with a serviced ATM, imagine the queue on pay day," he added.