With State elections round the corner, the Assam cabinet on Saturday approved a proposal to increase the daily wage of tea garden workers in the state to Rs 318, including Rs 101 for ration.
Tea estate labourers in the state will get a daily wage of Rs 217, a hike from Rs 167, and also receive Rs 101 for ration, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
The wage revision of tea garden workers has become a political issue in the state with the opposition Congress accusing the BJP-led government of failing to increase daily income of the plantation workers.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had promised to increase their daily wage to Rs 365 if voted to power.
Assam has over 10 lakh tea labourers in the organised sector, working in around 800 estates, and the northeastern state contributes about 52 per cent of the country's annual production.
