Sitharaman extends cash benefit to Assam tea workers

But when I instructed thebankers in February last year to correct the anomalies theyworked tirelessly, even during the COVID-19 crisis, andeverything is on track now, she said.Speaking on the occasion, Assam Finance MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma said that Rs 224 crore will be spent ontransferring the third tranche of the scheme to thebeneficiaries.We spent Rs 158 crore in the first year and itincreased to Rs 202 crore during the second year.

Ahead of the assembly polls inAssam, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturdaydistributed Rs 3,000 each to 7.47 lakh tea garden workers inthe state, totalling Rs 224 crore.

The Union finance minister was in the city toparticipate in the programme to offer financial assitance totea workers under the third tranche of the Assam Chah BagichaDhan Puraskar Mela Scheme.

Before 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Narendra Modi ji hadwished to work for the upliftment of tea garden workers andaccordingly several schemes were launched after the NDA cameto power, the Union minister said.

As part of the third tranche of the flagship scheme,an additional amount of Rs 3,000 each will be credited to thebank accounts of 7,46,667 workers.

Each tea worker had earlier received Rs 5,000 in twophases.

The incentive was made through direct benefit transfer(DBT) mode to 6,33,411 bank accounts of tea gardens in 2017-18and 7,15,979 accounts in 2018-19 across 752 tea gardens.

Sitharaman said, all middlemen have been eliminatedwith introduction of the DBT mode in various schemes and theCentre will continue to support tea gardens in Assam infuture.

''PM Modi favoured using technology for the benefit ofpeople while implementing the schemes and so the concept ofDBT was introduced. Due to this, middlemen were totallyeliminated and the benefits reached directly to thebeneficiaries,'' she said.

Sitharaman said that the Union budget for 2021-22 hasallocated Rs 1,000 crore for the welfare of women and childrenof tea gardens in Assam and West Bengal as per the request ofthe BJP-led government in the northeastern state.

''After bank accounts were opened for tea gardenlabourers, some issues cropped up. But when I instructed thebankers in February last year to correct the anomalies theyworked tirelessly, even during the COVID-19 crisis, andeverything is on track now,'' she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Assam Finance MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma said that Rs 224 crore will be spent ontransferring the third tranche of the scheme to thebeneficiaries.

''We spent Rs 158 crore in the first year and itincreased to Rs 202 crore during the second year. The schemewon't stop here at Rs 3,000 each as we have already begun theprocess to send such an amount every month,'' he added.

Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly are due inMarch-April this year.