The district administration on Monday asked the management of tea gardens to send proposals for projects that could be taken up under the 100-day rural employment scheme to ensure earnings for casual workers in the plantations during the winter.

Most tea estates engage a large number of casual workers, particularly during the peak seasons of summer and monsoon months.

“As tea production stops from the middle of December to March because of non-availability of fresh tealeaves, casual workers become jobless. That is why a plan has been charted to provide them with alternative jobs through projects under the MGNREGS,” said a source in the Alipurduar district administration.

In the lean months, permanent labourers are engaged for pruning of tea bushes, cleaning of drains and other maintenance works in the gardens.

At a meeting held in the district magistrate’s office here on Monday, the management officials of the tea gardens were told to make a list of projects like road and drain constructions, river protection and digging of ponds and submit the same to the block development offices concerned.

The Alipurduar district has 62 tea estates.

“If a casual worker is enrolled under the job scheme and provided with 30 days of work, he will earn around Rs 5,460,”an official said.

He said the MGNREGS would prevent the casual workers from moving out of the gardens in search of other jobs.

Surendra Kumar Meena, the district magistrate, said: “We hope that the 100-day job scheme can be implemented in tea gardens soon. We also had a discussion on the implementation of the state government’s welfare schemes in the tea belt.”