Doomdooma: On a misty Sunday morning , Mangri, 41, cradled her little granddaughter while walking with her daughter-in-law Dukhiya, 24, toward Samdung Bypass Pathar at Doomdooma in Tinsukia district of upper Assam.
“Mama is coming,” Mangri said excitedly to this reporter.
“We are very hopeful. Mama will announce something concrete for our betterment and for our children,” she added.
Popularly known as “Mama,” the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, arrived this morning to eastern Assam to mark 200 years of Assam’s tea industry. Large banners in Assamese proclaimed the gesture, with Sarma’s image prominently displayed amid orange BJP flags and bamboo groves. The Chief Minister promised a Rs 5,000 cheque for permanent and temporary tea workers under the government’s Eti Koli, Duti Pat scheme.
Yet, for thousands gathered, the moment quickly soured. Sarma’s speech focused on existing provisions: limited job and medical college seat reservations, kindergartens, mobile toilets, and restrooms. No major new announcements addressed the core demands of higher wages, Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, better education and healthcare facilities.
The current daily wage for tea garden workers in Assam’s Brahmaputra Valley stands at around Rs 250, effective from October 2025 for state-run gardens under Assam Tea Corporation Ltd, up from Rs 220-232 previously. However, workers and unions have long demanded Rs 351 or more to cope with inflation.
“Rs 5,000, the fruit of struggling for 200 years. Ridiculous!” said Rajveer Tanti, a worker. “If they assure Rs 551 wages, the tea workers will develop. These are games before assembly elections.”
Tea garden workers, numbering over a million and concentrated in key constituencies, hold decisive electoral power in Assam. In the 2016 assembly elections, the BJP swept to power, ending 15 years of Congress rule, partly by gaining strong support in tea belts through welfare promises.
In 2021, the BJP retained power with 60 seats (NDA total 75), once again consolidating tea worker loyalty via schemes like free rice, financial aid for pregnant women, and wage adjustments despite union protests over inadequate hikes.
But disillusionment lingers. Budhram, 27, from Dangari, skipped the event to run his makeshift refreshment shop outside a garden hospital.
“My father is ill, and neither the garden nor the government hospital has proper facilities. I want to take him to Chennai for treatment,” he said. “While leaders hold election rallies, I struggle to meet my family’s daily needs.”
Two daily wage earners from the community echoed similar sentiments. “Price hikes, daily wages, ST status, education, and medical facilities are the real issues. Leaders should solve problems permanently instead of strategic management to win elections.”
With assembly polls expected before or after Rongali Bihu, the BJP is intensifying outreach to tea communities. Yet, for workers like Mangri, the Rs 5,000 cheque feels like a token amid enduring hardships.