Hundreds join Adivasi workers’ rally in Silchar seeking ST status, land rights and wage parity

A CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: Taking cue from the agitation in the Brahmaputra valley, the demand for ST status for the Adivasi tea garden community hit the streets of Silchar. Hundreds agitated Adivadi demonstrators blocked the busy roads in Silchar demanding ST status for the tea garden labourers, issuance of land pattas to the indigenous people, fixing of daily wages at par with their Brahmaputra valley counterparts. The agitation, mainly orchestrated by the All Assam Adivasi Students Association and supported by Barak Cha Shramik Union, the Central Committee of the Adivasi Tea Community Karma Puja and Cultural Conference, the Barak Valley Tea Youth Welfare Association, and Barak Valley Adivasi Association, sent a clear message to the ruling party that their demands should be addressed properly before the ensuing Assembly election. Working President of the Barak Cha Shramik Union Ajit Singh, who was a minister in the erstwhile Congress government, participated in the protest and warned the government not to test the patience of the tea community who had long been demanding ST status as well as land patta and wages at par the Brahmaputra valley tea labourers. The demands included fixing the daily wages at Rs 551.

A student leader while addressing the gathering said that despite repeated assurances by the state government, the disparity in daily wages still persisted in both the valleys. He further added that in 2016 Himanta Biswa Sarma, then a powerful minister in the erstwhile Sarbananda Sonowal government, had assured that land pattas would be awarded to tea labourers, but the promise remained unfulfilled in the last 9 years.

"If our legitimate demand is not met before the 2026 election, Adivasis of the Barak Valley will show their strength in the ballots," the youth warned. Agitating tea labourers said that most of the tea garden workers did not have right over the land they had been living in for generations. They even targeted the Prime Minister as they alleged that Narendra Modi during his campaign in Barak Valley in 2014 had assured that wages of the tea garden labourers would be increased, but nothing happened in the last 11 years.

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