Puja grant for closed tea garden workers

The Bengal government today declared a festival grant of Rs 750 each to workers of closed industries in the state.

The grant is expected to bring relief to the labourers of 13 closed tea estates in the Dooars and two in the Darjeeling hills.

“The state finance ministry has given the approval today. We now have to ensure that workers in closed gardens and other closed industries receive the grant before Diwali,” Bengal urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya said at a news conference here this evening.

So far, the state government had been paying Rs 750 per month to the jobless workers of the closed tea gardens under the Financial Assistance to Workers of Locked Out Industries scheme.

“We demand that the Centre should pay Rs 750 per month out of its own funds to boost our grant,” Bhattacharya said. “This would take the monthly allowance to Rs 1,500, thus bringing some relief to the workers.”

Source: The Telegraph