Assam’s Dibrugarh constituency has the highest concentration of tea gardens in the region, and estate workers account for 30% of the 16.50 lakh voters. The constituency, comprising the districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, has 301 big estates and 51,063 small tea gardens.
Wages, health, education, and land documents (pattas) are the major issues tea garden workers face in the constituency.
Union Minister and BJP candidate Sarbananda Sonowal has met with tea workers in his poll campaign, but instead of assuring them what his party would do for their upliftment, he is resorting to targeting Congress.
"During the tenures of Himanta Biswa Sarma and mine as chief ministers, we have made all-out efforts to solve the long-standing problems of garden workers who the Congress neglected during their 60 years of misrule," Sonowal told PTI.
Tea garden workers speak “favourably of the BJP because the party has significantly contributed to their economic betterment, advocated social justice, and facilitated a path to a more dignified life”, he claimed.
Opposition candidate Lurinjyoti Gogoi told PTI that Assam is globally known for its tea industry, but the condition of its workers is pathetic.
"BJP had made many promises for tea garden workers, including Rs 350 as wage, land pattas of their houses, health and education facilities, but all remain unfulfilled," said the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president.
The third candidate in the fray, Manoj Dhanowar of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), belongs to the tea tribe community. He claimed that the condition of garden workers here is the “worst in the country, and so-called facilities provided by the BJP government have not reached all sections.”
"In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the workers are paid Rs 450 per day, but in Assam, BJP is not even paying the promised Rs 350 and workers are getting a mere Rs 250," he claimed.
Health issues, medical facilities and school dropout rates are among the major concerns of the tea community. The dropout rate among the children of workers is also very high, with almost 95% of them not sitting for the matriculation exams.
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