After 200 Years, Assam Tea Workers Get Land Rights, Fulfilling a Generational Dream

Jagdu Dusadh stated that it was Narendra Modi who fulfilled his dream, a dream that has finally materialised after four generations.

Purusuttam Ghatwar, a union leader of the Assam Tea Workers' Association, said that 1,200 tea workers are affiliated with his union; approximately 900 of them have already received land ownership rights, while the rest are yet to receive theirs.

Some workers mention that while they have not yet received their land deeds/rights, they have faith in Modi that they, too, will eventually secure a home of their own.

P K Bezbaruah, former Chairman of the Tea Board of India, noted that more than 75 years have passed since the end of British rule and the country's independence, and only now have the workers finally received justice.

After 200 years, workers have been granted land ownership rights to build their homes; the government plans to extend these land rights to a total of 400,000 to 500,000 tea workers.

PK Bezbaruah added that the daily wages paid to these workers are currently quite low and are in urgent need of an increase.

Several female workers have stated that they receive a daily wage of only ₹250, which they consider to be woefully inadequate.

The majority of the workforce in tea gardens consists of women labourers, who state that while promises are made to provide various daily necessities, including rice, flour, firewood, sugar, soap, and cooking oil, these items are, in reality, never received.

On March 13, taking a historic step for tea garden workers in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributed over 28,000 land leases (Land Pattas).

- ANI