Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma begins process to grant land ownership to tea garden workers

Guwahati: Taking another step towards land rights for tea garden workers, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma distributed settlement application forms to ensure their land rights at a function held at Dinjoy Tea Estate, in Dibrugarh.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarma termed the day very important day for the tea community of the state. He said that in the last Assembly session, the State government passed a special law under which the ownership rights over houses and land in tea garden labour lines will now vest with the tea workers.

Earlier, ownership of the labour line land and houses remained with the garden management, while the workers merely lived there.


He said that although tea workers had been demanding land rights for a long time, no previous government had sincerely considered granting them land ownership. The present government amended the Ceiling Act in the Assam Legislative Assembly and transferred ownership of labour line land and houses from the garden authorities to the government and has now begun the formal process of distributing this land among the cha Shramiks.

The Chief Minister said that from today, distribution of application forms for land pattas to workers has begun.

In these forms, workers will have to specify in whose name the land should be allotted and provide their correct names and addresses.He informed that land survey work is being carried out simultaneously at a fast pace, with surveys already completed in 103 tea gardens, and surveys in another 250 gardens to commence from today.

Stating that the government aims to hand over land pattas to at least a section of workers before the election notification is issued, the chief Minister said that completing this massive and long-drawn process of granting land pattas to around five lakh tea worker families across over eight hundred tea gardens would require at least 6 to 12 months.

The Chief Minister specially thanked the management of Dinjoy Tea Estate for its generosity in willingly releasing land in advance in the interest of workers without raising any objection.Regarding tea garden owners who have approached the High Court against the government’s decision, he clarified that the court has not imposed any stay on the government’s work.

Therefore, before the election announcement, the government will distribute pattas to as many families as possible and make this arrangement permanent, so that no future government can obstruct it. He also informed that a four-member committee has been formed in each tea garden to assist workers in filling up the application forms.

Highlighting the long-standing problems of tea workers, the Chief Minister said that nearly 200 years have passed since tea workers first came to Assam tea gardens. While people living in villages became landowners and could sell land or mortgage it to banks for loans, tea workers were deprived of land ownership even today. He noted that many talented students have been forced to abandon higher education and join work due to fear of losing their homes if they stopped working in the gardens.

He announced that workers no longer need to fear this, as the land and houses provided by the government will now belong to them.

Workers will not need any permission or no-objection certificate from garden owners to build or repair their houses. He also stated that workers can now construct houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana on their own land.

The Chief Minister further announced that in the coming days, every eligible tea worker family will be provided a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Families with existing houses will receive Rs. 1 lakh for house repairs, while homeless families will be provided Rs. 3.60 lakh for construction of new pucca houses.Referring to other welfare schemes for tea workers, he said that the government is collecting names of those still not included under the “Eti Koli Duti Paat” scheme.

He assured that 100 percent coverage of Aadhaar cards and ration cards in tea gardens will be ensured. He further announced that pulses, sugar and salt currently supplied at Rs.100 will be made completely free in the future, and every family will receive two litres of edible oil free of cost every month. Tea workers will continue to receive Rs. 1,250 regularly under the Orunodoi scheme.