‘Centre can run schemes, wages fixed by state’: BJP MP rebuts Abhishek Banerjee on tea workers’ pay

The Centre on Sunday reiterated its commitment to tea workers’ welfare, highlighting the benefits of the four new labour codes even as a political row erupted over wage fixation in West Bengal. Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the reforms aim to strengthen social security, ensure minimum wages and bring greater transparency in employment for tea garden workers.

Addressing a session organised by the Indian Tea Workers’ Union in Darjeeling–Siliguri region, Mandaviya stressed that the Centre remains fully committed to protecting workers’ rights and improving their living and working conditions through systemic reforms under the new labour framework.

Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, who was present at the programme, launched a sharp counterattack on Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over claims related to tea workers’ wages. Banerjee had recently said that a tripartite meeting could be convened within a month to raise daily wages to ₹300 if his party pursued the issue forcefully.

Responding to the claim, Bista said wage determination falls entirely under the state government’s jurisdiction. While the Centre can implement welfare schemes, he said, fixing actual wages remains the responsibility of the state. The exchange has intensified the Centre–state war of words over tea workers’ rights and remuneration.