Tea Association of India hails Budget move to strengthen education, health for garden workers

Tea Association of India TAI on Sunday welcomed the Union Budgets proposal to extend a scheme aimed at strengthening education and health services for tea workers in poll-bound Assam and West Bengal. The tea industry is also delighted as the Budget takes care for the provision for providing social security for plantation workers in Assam, Bhattacharjee said.

Tea Association of India (TAI) on Sunday welcomed the Union Budget's proposal to extend a scheme aimed at strengthening education and health services for tea workers in poll-bound Assam and West Bengal. ''The Tea industry is thankful for extending the Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana for one more year, which was introduced for 2024-25 and 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore to provide for the welfare of tea workers, especially women and their children, in Assam and West Bengal,'' TAI secretary general PK Bhattacharjee said. The scheme is aimed at making need-based interventions in tea garden areas for, inter-alia, strengthening provisions of education and health services to tea workers. ''The tea industry is also delighted as the Budget takes care for the provision for providing social security for plantation workers in Assam,'' Bhattacharjee said. The provision covers family pension-cum-life insurance benefits for plantation workers in Assam through the Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme for tea plantation workers. These schemes are implemented by the Assam government for workers governed under the Assam Tea Plantation Provident Fund and Family Pension and Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Act. The provision includes the central government's contribution to the scheme as well as reimbursement of administrative charges, ensuring social security and financial protection for plantation workers and their families. The TAI secretary general further said the Budget focuses on long-term structural growth of the country and empowers the 'Yuva Shakti' (youth power). ''It is a progressive Budget, which has a clear roadmap for Viksit Bharat,'' he added. Bhattacharjee said it has adopted a ''comprehensive approach to strengthening agriculture and enhancing farmers' incomes by integrating technology, resource management, and crop diversification''. He said a key initiative in the Budget is 'Bharat-VISTAAR', a multilingual AI-powered agricultural advisory platform that integrates AgriStack and ICAR agricultural practices. The planters' body further maintained that the Budget has strengthened MSMEs and start-ups as engines of employment and growth. ''The Budget also provides support to the tourism, infrastructure development and ensure long term energy security and stability,'' Bhattacharjee added.

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