'BJP failed to keep election promises to tea labourers'
A CORRESPONDENT
DOOMDOOMA: The BJP has failed to keep the election promises made to the tea-workers. Keeping in view the allurement the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government gave to the tea-workers, they had fallen back on their words now. This was alleged by former MLA of Doomdooma constituency Durga Bhumij in a press meet convened by him at Doomdooma Press Club. He said that now the labourers' quarters in tea gardens were plunging into darkness as the workers were unable to pay huge amounts of electricity bills.
Former MLA Bhumij demonstrated before the scribes an APDCL bill of the tea-labourers of Sookerating TE amounting to Rs 9,62,580. Not only here such bills amounting to lakhs of rupees had been issued to tea-workers of Tea Estates like nearby Daisajan, Dhoedam, Daimukhia, Beesakopie, Baghjan, Digutturrang, Deamoolie, Tipuk, Mankhowa and Tongna, he said.
This anomalies crept in because of the introduction of commercial cluster meters instead of Individual meter boxes in labourers' quarters, he said. On the emotive bonus issue, former MLA Bhumij made a scathing attack on Asam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) by saying that it was because of the hobnobbing of them with the management of the tea companies that the tea-workers were deprived of their 20% bonus. At the same time instead of fighting for the rightful demands of the tea-workers, the said trade union deflected from their path of struggle and instead was busy in appeasing the Government.
This had resulted in the deprivation of tea workers and they were now more problem ridden than before. When Himanta Biswa Sarma was State Education Minister for a duration of ten years, he instead of establishing high schools in the tea gardens were more busy in laying foundation stones only. Now there are no hope of starting classes in these schools before next general election, he alleged. In a startling disclosure, he revealed that many families in the villages and tea gardens, were deprived of government ration cards. But there were many rich Hindi speaking families who were card holders of two states - one in Assam and another in Bihar. So he urged the Government to identify such families and take appropriate steps against them. Finally he appealed to the Government to waive the electricity bills of the tea-workers whose quarters were disconnected for their inability to pay the huge amount of electricity bills.
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