It is unthinkable how a worker can survive with a wage as low as Tk 85 a day these days. As ridiculous as this might seem, this is the wage the average tea workers of the country are getting after a whole day's work (from 8am till 5pm). It is less than one-third of the wage of an average farm worker, which is Tk 300. With a meagre income of Tk 2,550 a month, our tea workers can barely have two meals a day, let alone meet their family needs or send their children to school. Thus the tea workers' demand for a daily wage of Tk 300 is totally rational.

Around 1.3 lakh registered tea workers, employed in 156 gardens across the country, are probably the most disadvantaged section of workers working in the informal sector. These workers are deprived of even basic social and legal protections and employment benefits. There are no specific working hours for them and no standards for determining their wage.

While our tea companies have been making huge profits every year, lakhs of tea workers are struggling to survive with their extremely low income. In order to improve their living standards, their wage should be increased to a reasonable amount. For that a new wage agreement should be signed. And the government must remember that they have a role to play here, as this is not merely an issue of the workers and the owners. The government bodies concerned must not only oversee that these marginal workers are not deprived of proper wage but also make sure that they get employment contracts and overtime benefits.