Guwahati, Jan 2: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday warned that the state government may stop providing financial incentives to tea gardens that do not cooperate in implementing the decision to grant land rights to tea garden workers’ families.
The proposed land rights are expected to benefit over 3 lakh families living in labour lines and colonies across the state’s tea estates.
Addressing the issue, Sarma said the Assam Assembly had passed a landmark amendment during the winter session last year to enable ownership rights for tea garden workers, and the legislation has already received the Governor’s assent. The state has also initiated the land acquisition process.
“This is a transformative law. We have started the process to allot land in tea garden labour colonies, which will benefit around 3.33 lakh families. However, we are unhappy with the lack of cooperation from some tea garden owners,” the chief minister said.
Sarma pointed out that the state provides incentives worth nearly ₹150 crore annually to the tea sector. “If tea garden owners approach courts or create hurdles in the land acquisition process, we will be compelled to reconsider these incentives,” he cautioned.
Emphasising the historical significance of the move, Sarma said that after nearly 200 years of Assam’s tea industry, labourers deserve legal ownership of the land on which they have lived for generations.
The amendment bill, passed in November, seeks to end decades of legal uncertainty for tea garden workers’ families who have resided in labour colonies without formal land ownership rights.
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