‘Over 500 Valparai estate workers await wage hike since July 2021’

Valparai tea estate workers and TANTEA members at the Coimbatore Collectorate on Monday. | Photo Credit: S. Siva Saravanan

Tea plantation workers of Valparai in the district have demanded the State government to implement the wage hike of ₹425.40.

In a petition to the Collector during the weekly grievances redress meeting on Monday, the workers, representatives, and members of the Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation Limited (TANTEA) claimed that over 500 estate workers in the Cinchona Lawson Tea Division still await the wage revision from ₹345 to ₹425.40 per shift (8 hours) that was announced by the State in July 2021.

As workers are reeling in debt, the government must pay the increased salary along with the nearly 18-month due, the petitioners stated.

BJP petition

Bharatiya Janata Party - Kisan Morcha (farmers’ wing) petitioned Collector G.S Sameeran during the grievance redress meeting requesting the State to include sugarcane, jaggery and coconut in the Pongal gift. The government can avail of these items from farmers and improve the latter’s livelihood through this, they claimed in the petition.