Tea plantation workers staged protest in Dibrugarh district

A CORRESPONDENT

DIBRUGARH: The tea workers of the Lepetakata Tea Estate (Bolai Division) staged protest on Monday under the banner of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) in protest against the garden's management to uproot 37 hectares of tea bushes for construction of an industrial unit.

The workers holding placards and banner raised slogans against the garden management. ACMS Dibrugarh district general secretary Nabin Keot said that the garden management has already begun uprooting tea garden bushes for construction of an industrial unit inside the tea garden.

Keot further alleged that the tea garden management kept the workers in the dark by misleading them that the tea bushes were being uprooted for replantation of new tea bushes whereas the real intention was to set up an industrial unit in the area.

"We have come to know that the management of Lepetakata Tea Estate (Bolai Division) is going to clear up 37 hectares of tea bushes in order to set up an industrial unit. Already the process has started. We strongly oppose the decision as the livelihood of hundreds of garden workers will be at stake. Earlier, 25 hectares of land of Lepetakata Tea Estate were evicted for the construction of the Brahmaputa Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) plant. At that time also the garden workers who lost their jobs were promised some kind of employment in the BCPL plant but that never happened," Keot said.

He added, "The tea industry is being systematically destroyed by such senseless acts by the tea garden management. We have seen numerous cases of tea garden lands being sold for industrial and commercial purposes. This has to stop. We can't allow them to destroy the tea gardens as thousands of workers are dependent on them for their livelihood."

"The tea garden workers are dependent on the tea garden and if the management will uproot the tea bushes then what will they do. They will become jobless. Before taking such a step, the garden management should think twice. We will intensify our movement if our demand is not met," said a protester.

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