Under the PMCSPY, ₹177 crore will be allocated to boost educational infrastructure and quality interventions for the families of tea workers. (File photo used for representational purpose only).
| Photo Credit: PTI
The story so far:West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on July 5, 2026 announced an allocation of ₹313.30 crore for the tea gardens of north Bengal under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana’ (PMCSPY).
Under the PMCSPY, ₹177 crore will be allocated to boost educational infrastructure and quality interventions for the families of tea workers and ₹72 crore will be invested to upgrade health facilities and ensure robust medical services in tea garden areas.
The Chief Minister also added that ₹63 crore will be allocated for building 321 resting sheds (88 in the hills and 233 in the plains). West Bengal government’s North Bengal Development Department will be the executing agency and will work closely with the Health Department, Paschim Banga Samagra Siksha Mission and District Administrations to roll this out these welfare measures.
State’s Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta in the first Budget tabled for June 22, 2026 said that the West Bengal government will implement PM Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana in collaboration with Government of India, and the focus will be on the improving the living standards of tea garden workers and their families.
What is Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana ?
Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2021-22 for better schools, better health care, better housing for the tea garden workers. The scheme was aimed for Assam and West Bengal, two major tea producing States of the country. A fund of ₹1,000 crore was allocated for the scheme.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on March 25, 2026, days before West Bengal Assembly elections, the Union Finance Minister said the (PMCSPY) scheme was implemented by the Assam government and ₹293 crore were allocated to the State for its implementation. Ms. Sitharaman added that while more than more than seven lakh tea garden workers from 800 tea gardens across 18 districts of Assam had benefited from the scheme, West Bengal did not implement the scheme.
The Union Finance Minister said that more than 3.79 lakh tea garden workers in West Bengal were denied benefits under the scheme because the Trinamool Congress government was unwilling to implement it.
Why was the PMCSPY not implemented in West Bengal?
During the Trinamool Congress regime several Central schemes were either withheld or not implemented in the State. These included Ayushman Bharat, PM Kisan and PM Awaas Yojana. As far as the implementation of PMCSPY is concerned, the scheme was not implemented for past few years as the State Level Committee (SLC), a prerequisite for implementing the scheme, had not been formed. According to officials of the Tea Board, the PMCSPY is fully funded by the Centre and the State government’s role was only to implement it.
What are the other issues concerning tea gardens of West Bengal?
There have been several issues concerning the tea gardens of north Bengal. Other than the poor health and education infrastructure, the tea gardens are battling closures and shut downs. About 20 to 25 tea gardens in north Bengal are closed. There have been reports of deaths due to malnutrition over the past few years. There are about 250 major tea gardens spread across districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar of north Bengal and more than 3.5 lakh tea garden workers are dependent on these gardens.
“The PM Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana also talks about social security, health care, housing, education, nutrition and livelihood diversification. But for all these things, it provides a woeful amount of ₹314 crore for 3.5 lakh workers, a mere ₹9,000 per head,” a press statement by Paschim Banga Cha Majoor Samity (PBCMS)
What else has West Bengal government promised for tea gardens in the Budget?
In the West Bengal Budget tabled in the State Assembly, Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta also announced setting up of Tea Workers Development Board which will oversee the implementation of various welfare schemes for the tea garden workers regarding health facilities, modern housing, and distribution of other social welfare benefits.
The State government also reduced the permissible diversion limit for tea garden land for tea tourism from the 30% proposed during the Trinamool Congress regime to 15%.
The region where the tea gardens are located has voted for the BJP not only in the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal but even in the previous elections.
Non-political unions, such as PBCMS, point that weakest part of the State Budget has been its treatment of closed tea gardens, where the Budget merely says that the State government will work with the tea industry to address the issues of closed gardens and the overall health of the sector.
“Workers believed that a new BJP regime would finally address their long-standing suffering. That faith has gone unrewarded,” the union said in a statement.
Published – July 06, 2026 12:44 pm IST
