ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)
(a) & (b): As per the Baseline Survey conducted by the Tea Board during 2018, the details of tea garden workers State, District and Gender wise in North Eastern Region is at Annexure.
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(c) to (e): Tea Board collects the tea statistics (through online portal) from all the tea processing units and the data were compiled for the release of various Tea Statistics. Further, the presence of the Tea Board official at the grassroots levels acts as liasioning officer between the tea stakeholders, the State Government and the Central Government. No separate studies have been made in this regard but the data collected were analyzed for preparation of various reports and preparation of action plan. Efforts were made for the normal functioning of the tea gardens, tea processing units, auction centres, logistics etc., in almost all the major tea growing regions following Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines and the Standard Operating Procedure prepared in this regard.
(f): Tea Board has extended some financial assistance to the workers of tea gardens through its Human Resource Development (HRD) component under the “Tea Development & Promotion Scheme” implemented during the Mid Term Framework (MTF) Period (2017-2020) which was extended till 31.03.2021 for the tea plantation workers of the tea growing states in the country. This scheme aims at achieving improvements in the life and living conditions of the Tea Plantation workers and their wards/dependents under three broad categories viz:
Improving the health and hygiene of workers: Capital grants for hospitals (not tea garden hospital) / Medical clinics adjacent to tea garden areas towards extension of treatment facilities and also for purchase of medical equipment, accessories and ambulance and reservation of Beds, financial assistance for disabled persons/cancer / heart patients/kidney transplantation in specialty hospitals.
Education of wards of workers: Educational stipend for wards of tea plantation workers, Special scheme of Nehru Award for the wards of tea plantation workers, Scheme for book and school uniform grant to needy and deserving wards of tea garden workers especially in the closed tea gardens or those affected by severe natural calamities, Financial assistance to Bharat Scouts & Guides in tea growing States.
Imparting training to improve skills for workers and their dependents: Vocational training for wards of tea plantation workers and dependents.
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(g): Employers in relation to Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) covered establishments, including tea plantations are required to file Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) in respect of all their eligible employees and remit the dues within 15 days of close of wage month.
In the event of non-filing of ECR, the employers are alerted through SMS/e-mail to remit the dues and if compliance is not made, action is taken to through e-Inspections. On failure of the establishment to respond to e-Inspection, action is taken to inspect the records of establishments and to assess the amount-in-default by quasi-judicial process under section 7A of EPF & MP Act, 1952 and to recover the assessed dues. Penal damages is imposed under Section 14B of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 for willful default in payment of dues.
The aforesaid action against defaulter is a continuous process as per the various provisions of the Act till compliance is secured.
The details (District-wise) of defaulting tea garden units are as under:
Name of District No of defaulting Tea Establishments
Darjeeling 59
Alipurduar 14
Jalpaiguri 11
The employees get SMS alert every month as to receipt or non-receipt of monthly contributions. In case of any default by employers, the employee concerned or their Unions have facility to lodge grievance on the EPFO''s Online Grievance Portal EPFiGMS, which is also accessible through UMANG Mobile App.
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