What does allocation of ₹313 crore for West Bengal tea gardens mean? | Explained

Published 6 July 2026 · politics

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

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.