‘Continuous plucking of tea leaves with both hands altered fingerprints of women workers’

Alipurduar: The fingerprints of women tea workers have undergone changes due to the continuous plucking of tea leaves with both hands.

Consequently, they are facing difficulties with the biometric PF Aadhaar link. Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Chik Baraik highlighted these issues in tea plantations while participating in the Winter session of the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Prakash Chik Baraik stated: “We have already protested at the PF office in Jalpaiguri due to the absence of PF Aadhaar link. Tea workers have also organised two marches from Teesta and Sankosh. The PF issue is solely under the control of the Central government. Many issues can be resolved if the PF office conducts continuous camps in every tea garden to address the problem. There are various approaches to resolving the PF Aadhaar link problem, and the PF office should promptly explore alternative solutions. We have been complaining about the Aadhaar link for three years.”

The Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union (TCBSU) conducted a 15-day special camp from November 23 to December 7 in tea gardens of Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri to gather detailed information about the extent of the PF Aadhaar problems. From these camps, issues of several workers surfaced.

According to some tea workers, in North Bengal, approximately 25,000 tea labourers are still encountering problems related to PF Aadhaar link, gratuity, name and surname changes, and government documents.

Tea plantation workers lack awareness and even after a few years since the introduction of the Aadhaar card, not all tea plantation workers have been linked with PF Aadhaar. To address this problem, PF authorities should promptly organise camps in every garden by March in the new year, providing relief to many workers.