Gowala slams labour dept for inspecting 56 of 176 tea gardens
Minister Rupesh Gowala urged better cooperation from tea garden management and calls for action to reduce school dropout rates.
State labour minister Rupesh Gowala during a review meeting in Dibrugarh
Dibrugarh, Feb 8: Minister of Labour Welfare, Tea Tribes and Adivasi Welfare Rupesh Gowala today expressed utter frustration over the performance of the office of the Assistant Labour Commissioner in the district here that takes pride in having the highest number of plantations.
Taking the governance closer to the people, Gowala held a review of the implementation of various provisions of Plantation Labour Act (PLA) as well as various development schemes of the state and the Central government in Greenwood tea estate's community hall here.
The review meeting, presided over by the minister, was attended by heads of various government departments and stakeholders, including the departments of Labour, Assam Tea Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, Education, Public Health Engineering, Health, Panchayat and Rural Development (P&RD), Tea planters' associations and Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha among others.
Following a presentation from the office of the Assistant Labour Commissioner, Minister Gowala was astonished that the department officials have so far inspected only 56 tea estates out of some 176 in the district. He said that none of tea estate in the district is entirely fulfilling PLA.
"Your job is not confined to the office. You must inspect the tea gardens by moving out in the fields. Each of you must visit at least three tea gardens in a week. With adequate personnel, if your performance is found dismal in the district which has the highest number of tea gardens, what image are you portraying of the department? The Labour Office is the last hope of the workers to cling on. If the department's performance is bleak, how can we serve the people?" he questioned and demanded regular inspection and prosecution of violators.
During the review meeting, Gowala urged all the stakeholders, including the civil societies and student organisations to collectively play some proactive role to arrest the rate of school dropout, particularly in the districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. He said that the rate of dropout in the twin district is alarming compared to other districts.
The minister further urged the tea garden managements to cooperate with the government departments in executing the plans and programmes of the state government like providing housing, toilets, drinking water and medical assistance. He particularly asked the management to ensure that all the working population within their tea enclaves had Aadhaar cards and active Bank Accounts.
Additional Chief Secretary Dr B Kalyan Chakravarthy, District Commissioner Bikram Kairi, Superintendent Police VV Rakesh Reddy, Labour Commissioner Anamika Tewari, Deputy Labour Commissioner cum Chief Inspector of Plantation Kanpai Das, Chabua MLA Ponakan Baruah and Moran MLA Chakradhar Gogoi were also present at the review meeting.