North Bengal tea workers and their families are set to receive a central welfare allocation of ₹313.30 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana, according to Suvendu Adhikari, who said the funds would be used across tea-estate areas in the Darjeeling hills, Terai and the Dooars.
Adhikari told reporters in Calcutta that the Centre had approved the amount after acting on a proposal submitted by the Bengal government. He described the sanction as positive news for residents of the state’s tea estates and said the entire sum would be spent on the welfare of workers and their families.
The announcement covers three distinct tea-growing regions in north Bengal: the Darjeeling hills, the Terai and the Dooars. Together, these areas include large tea-estate communities whose access to public services often depends on the interaction between estate management, state departments and central welfare programmes.
Adhikari did not provide details of the allocation, including the amount earmarked for education, healthcare, housing or infrastructure. He also did not specify which agencies would implement the projects, the timeline for releasing the funds or the mechanism through which workers and their families would access the benefits.
He said a range of tasks would be taken up in the tea belt. The source report said the money was likely to support improvements in education, healthcare and infrastructure in the estates, but no formal project-wise breakdown was provided in the announcement.
Adhikari also referred to a ₹1,000-crore allocation for the tea population of Bengal and Assam made by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the 2020-2021 budget in the Assembly. According to Adhikari, the Assam government had obtained and utilised that fund, while the earlier Bengal government had not submitted a proposal.
Adhikari said the Bengal government prepared and submitted a proposal after coming to power and that the Centre subsequently sanctioned the ₹313.30 crore. The next operational steps, including the release schedule, project list and implementing departments, were not specified in the announcement.
