407 tea gardens to have better road network; CM hands over Rs 1 crore worth approval letters

GUWAHATI, Oct 5: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday handed out administrative approval letters amounting Rs 1 crore to 407 tea gardens at a programme held at the central hall of Assam Legislative Assembly, heralding a new era in road communication in the tea garden areas of the state.

Saying that construction of roads in the labour lines of the tea gardens will revolutionise the surface communication in the state, the chief minister stated that the state government is putting a lot of emphasis in socio-economic development of the people residing in tea garden areas who have been deprived from getting their rights fulfilled.

Informing about the various developmental schemes initiated by the state government for the welfare of the tea community, Sonowal said that schemes like Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) service provided by 80 MMU vehicles in the tea garden areas have greatly boosted the health care system there. He also urged both ruling and opposition public representatives to ensure top quality road construction and asked the engineers to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the quality.

Speaking in the meeting, PWD Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that this scheme will cover 815 tea gardens in the state and road construction will be complete within March 31. He also informed that 8 lakh families in tea garden areas will be given amounts ranging from Rs 2500 to Rs 5000 in their bank accounts in December by organising ‘Chah Bagichar Dhan Puraskar Mela’. Saying that plans are underway to bring tea garden hospitals under the government sector, Sarma informed that the out of 500 girls to be trained in nursing from tea garden areas, 200 girls would be imparted training this year.

Minister of State for PWD Tapan Gogoi gave the welcome address in the programme where Housefed Chairman Ranjit Dass also spoke. PHED Minister Rihan Daimary, Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya, Water Resource Minister Keshab Mahanta, Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, Cultural Affairs Minister Naba Kumar Doley were also present among others.