Himanta Biswa Sarma Seeks Assistance to Assam Tea Industry from Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi, October 1, 2019:

Assam's Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss issues pertaining to the tea industry in Assam.

"Met Hon Finance Minister Smt

 

" data-mentioned-user-id="58243368">@nsitharaman in

 

data-query-source="hashtag_click">#Delhi with a delegation of Indian Tea Association to discuss issues pertaining to assistance to the Tea Industry in Assam", Himanta Biswa captioned a pic where he can be seen interacting with the Union Minister.

Read More: Assam Journalist Majibur Rahman Performs Last Rites of 105-Year-Old Hindu Man, Phatik Chandra Das

It may be mentioned here that the tea industry in Assam has received a severe jolt as workers have been demanding an increased bonus ahead of the Durga Puja holidays. Moreover, the workers have been threatening to go on strike in case their demands are not fulfilled.

Moreover, the industry has been shrouded in controversy after tea plantation workers in Jorhat's Teok beat a 75-year-old doctor, Deben Dutta, to death.

Recently, the Assam Government launched a scheme to provide free medicines to workers at 651 tea garden hospitals in the state.

Read More: Assam Government Bans Single Use Plastics at State Secretariat

Announcing the scheme at the programme at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra here, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, “Earlier, we were far behind in terms of health care but after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, the situation has improved. The tea garden workers are not financially strong. If they have to pay for medicines, what will they have left? This scheme will let them get any medicine free of cost and will drastically cut their costs.”

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.