The State Government has announced several benefits amounting to Rs 87.50 crore for about 8.35 lakh kendu leaf workers who are facing a tough time due to the lockdown.
The beneficiaries include about eight lakh kendu leaf pluckers, who are the poorest of the poor and mostly women, about 17,500 binders and over 17,500 seasonal staffs.
A bonus of 25% would be paid to the registered pluckers. The total amount would be Rs 27.25 crore. The Gsovernment also enhanced the price of each kendu leaf bundle (comprising 20 leaves) by 20% from Re 1 to Rs 1.20 during the 2020 kendu leaf crop year.
“This will result in additional benefit of about Rs 32 crore to around eight lakh pluckers,” an official statement said. Besides, an incentive of 5% of wages would be given to 17,345 registered kendu leaf binders involving a total amount of Rs 1.26 crore.
The government also announced incentive for 17,444 unorganised seasonal staffs who would get additional 5% of their wages entailing a total amount of Rs 2.82 crore. This apart, the Government has decided to provide Rs 200 to each plucker for purchasing water bottles. Over Rs 15.77 crore would be spent for the purpose.
The assistance provided by the Government would be credited to the bank account of the pluckers through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme.