'Cheated again'! ATTSA calls tea gardens shutdown on March 22

DIBRUGARH: The Assam Tea Tribes’ Association (ATTSA) today called a complete shutdown of all tea gardens in Brahmaputra and Barak valleys of Assam on March 22 against the indifferent attitude of the state government towards the tea workers.

“The government has failed to address the long standing problems and demands of the tea workers. Before the Assam Assembly elections, the BJP has given a lollipop to the tea workers by hiking the wage to Rs 217, an increase of only rs 50. We were demanding Rs 351 as daily wage,” ATTSA president Dhiraj Gowala said here today.

“The wage hike demand of the tea garden workers is being politicised. The BJP government may have announced a wage hike of Rs 50 obviously to woo voters, but the workers are not getting Rs 217 as on date. The tea garden owners continue to exploit the workers like the past many years,” Gowala added.

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The ATTSA has also decided to move the Gauhati High Court filing a writ petition regarding the wage hike demand.

The students’ organisation also resolved to hold awareness meetings against the BJP-AGP alliance in the tea gardens. “The government has cheated us by depriving us everywhere like the Congress government did in the past. Now, the same things are repeating,” Gowala added.