Thousands of Tea Garden Workers in Assam March for Scheduled Tribe Status and Better Rights

In eastern Assam's Tinsukia district, thousands of tea garden community members demonstrated today, voicing their longstanding demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Guwahati:

The streets of Tinsukia district in eastern Assam witnessed a massive protest today as thousands from the tea garden community marched to demand Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, a request that has remained unfulfilled for years.

These protesters are descendants of laborers brought by British colonizers from various Indian states including Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal over two centuries ago to work in Assam's tea plantations. Today, they constitute approximately one-third of Assam's population of more than one crore people.

During today's demonstration, community members traveled considerable distances to gather in Tinsukia town where they collectively raised their voices for recognition.

The Assam Tea Tribe Students' Association and the All-Adivasi Students' Association of Assam jointly organized the protest rally at Thana Chariali in Tinsukia.

Beyond ST status, the protesters demanded land ownership rights and higher daily wages to improve their economic conditions.

The rally coincided with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's visit to Tinsukia for an official function. Thousands of demonstrators blocked roadways and chanted slogans criticizing the government's failure to address their long-pending demands.

Protesters accused authorities of breaking promises to grant ST status to tea tribes and five other indigenous communities in the region.

They also called for an increase in minimum daily wages, stating that current compensation levels are inadequate for meeting basic living expenses.