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The Orissa government has decided to hike the wages of various categories of tendu leaf workers by 30 per cent from April 2003, a top state government official said.
The hike would benefit head checkers, circle checkers, binding checkers and accountants, he said.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat on Thursday.
Chief Secretary Prateep Kumar Mohanty, Finance Minister Panchanan Kanungo and senior officials of the tendu leaf department attended the meeting.
The decision follows protests by thousands of tendu leaf workers for several months.
Tendu leaves are used for rolling tobacco to make beedis, and grows in abundance in tropical deciduous forests.
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