Assam body called for closure of tea estates across the state on 22 March

On March 22, the Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA) has called for a complete shutdown of poll-bound tea estates across the state on the issue of daily wages of plantation workers.

The body has also pledged to launch a state-wide awareness campaign against the BJP-led government to “deliberately exploit” the workers by using “workers as a tool” to cast their votes.

In an emergency executive meeting of the association in Dibrugarh, eastern Assam on Thursday, decisions were taken against the BJP’s pay hike “deceit” and “indifferent attitude”.

The March 22 bandh is of importance ahead of the first phase of polling on March 22, including 47 seats, mostly in the tea-growing areas of eastern Assam.

“The BJP-led government has completely failed to fix the minimum wages of tea plantation workers since 2018. He had announced an interim salary increase of ike 30 before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and another interim amount of Rs 50 before the 2021 election, with ATSA President Dheeraj Gowala stating that the Gauhati High Court had stayed because the planters Was not consulted.

“It is clear that the interim increase is only for the party to vote. We condemn this disgusting behavior of the BJP-led government. We will now start a campaign about tree plantation in which BJP and AGP will be told [Asom Gana Parishad] Are using the wage issue to fool the workers, ”he said.

Roughly referred to as “tea tribes” and “former tea tribes” are broadly tribal, constituting about 20% of Assam’s total 3.3 crore population. Although the state government is transferring cash benefits to 7.5 lakh workers, but an estimated 10 lakh of them.

Aborigines brought by British colonists from central India some 200 years ago for tree planting work and logging may affect the results in 40–45 out of 126 assembly seats in Assam.