Guwahati: A tea labourer in Dibrugarh district in upper Assam committed suicide on Monday, with local Congress leader and former legislator Raju Sahu saying the man took his own life after failing to pay debts because of demonetisation.
“Achyut Bhuyan, a worker of Piparatoli tea estate under Chabua police station committed suicide because he had landed in a lot of debt following demonetisation. Labourers of the private tea estate had not received their wages because of the so-called cashless transaction forced on the people by the BJP government. It was very unfortunate,” Sahu, who was Chabua MLA for three consecutive terms till 2016, and a senior INTUC leader, said.
Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police Gautam Bora however said there was no specific complaint that the said tea labourer had killed himself because of demonetisation. “We have no specific complaint about the person committing suicide because of the fall-out of demonetisation,” SP Bora told The Indian Express over the telephone from Dibrugarh.
Meanwhile, former Assam chief minister and veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi on Monday said the situation in the tea estates continued to be grim since the Narendra Modi government launched demonetisation on November 8.
“Payment of monthly wages to the workers has not much improved even after 50 days of demonetization. The workers are facing a lot of hardship due to non-availability of cash, internet facilities and basic banking infrastructure,” Gogoi in a statement here said.
(source: Indian Express)