Representatives of trade unions and activists under the Right to Food Campaign, who visited five abandoned and closed tea gardens in north Bengal last month, have urged the State government to ensure minimum living wages to the tea garden workers...The State government needs to ensure payment of a minimum living wages in the tea sector to avoid starvation deaths and deaths due to poverty in the long run. This is possible if instead of the present wages of Rs. 95/90, the State government plays a positive role in the present wage negotiations or if it declares a living wages as the minimum wages in the tea sector,” a report submitted to the State’s Chief Secretary said.