All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam slams government’s preparations for selling tea gardens

LAKHIMPUR: The All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) has strongly condemned the government’s decision to sell off tea gardens, citing the incompetence of Andrew Yule & Company Ltd, a central PSU, and the Central and Assam State Governments in managing just 10 tea gardens in the state.

AASAA disputes the claims of “financial instability” due to crop losses, rising wage costs, and a depressed tea market, as reported in some media. Despite these claims, tea prices in local markets and hotels remain unchanged, leading the organization to question the validity of these claims and hold the government accountable for any financial mismanagement.

“We demand a judicial probe into corruption and fund mismanagement within the government and Andrew Yule & Company Ltd. It’s unfortunate that a ruling party MLA supports the government’s approach of abandoning the problem rather than solving it,” AASAA president Godwin Hemrom and general secretary Amarjyoti Surin said in a statement.  “The tea sector generates significant revenue through exports and taxes, as stated in the “Economic Survey, Assam 2023-24”. We question the lack of investment in R&D for the tea garden sector, which provides employment opportunities, is environmentally friendly, and contributes substantially to Assam’s economy,” the president and the general secretary of the organization added.

It should be noted here that nearly 50 per cent of the written-off loans belonged to large industrial houses. Some of the written-off loans include:- Loans to large industries and services: over Rs 7.40 lakh crore. Corporate loans: Rs 2,04,668 crore recovered in written-off loans since April 2014.

“As such, merely providing subsidies is insufficient. If major corporate and industrial houses can receive loan write-offs from the central government, then why can’t Andrew Yule & Company Limited’s 10 tea gardens under the PSU sector be revived?

Furthermore, the government’s decision to lease off the Jagiroad Paper Mill has left workers in a precarious situation, while benefiting a particular few. Therefore the need for responsible decision-making that prioritizes the welfare of workers and the local economy is the need of the hour,” Godwin Hemrom and Amarjyoti Surin further said.

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