Dibrugarh: The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) has announced that it will hold a one-hour protest on August 11 in every tea estate across the state.
The protest is being held to demand increased wages for tea garden workers, ST status for Adivasis, and improvements to tea garden hospitals.
ACMS president and former Union minister Paban Singh Ghatowar said that the protest would be held to press for the long-pending demands of tea garden workers.
“On August 11, we will launch one our protest programme in every tea estates across the state to press for our demand and submitted memorandum to chief minister regarding our long pending demands,” he said.
The former union minister further said that the minimum wages for tea garden workers should be increased to Rs 351, and that the wages for small tea garden workers should be Rs 232.
He also said that there is a need to repair tea garden hospitals and recruit more doctors and medical staff.
“In 60 % of the tea gardens hospitals, there is no doctors. Their is a huge scarcity of doctors and medical staffs in the garden hospitals. The tea garden hospitals are also in a pathetic condition. We demand to repair the hospitals and recruit nurses, medical staffs and doctors in the garden hospitals,” he said.
Ghatowar further said that a total of 112 Adivasi communities are residing in Assam but still they have not been granted ST status.
He urged the government to bring them under the purview of ST, as they enjoy this status in other states. He also demanded that the state government provide land pattas to the landless Adivasis.
The ACMS protest is expected to be joined by thousands of tea garden workers across the state. The protest is likely to disrupt tea production in Assam, which is the world’s largest producer of tea.
The ACMS is a trade union that represents tea garden workers in Assam. The union has been fighting for the rights of tea garden workers for many years.