Assam govt gives land ownership to 471 small tea growers ahead of polls

Two days after the governmentdistributed Rs 3,000 to 7.47 lakh tea garden workers in Assam,Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday handed over landownership to 471 small tea growers, days ahead of the Assemblypolls.

Sonowal distributed land pattas to 471 small tea growersof Dibrugarh district and laid the foundation stone for adistrict science centre at Khanikar.

He said by providing land ownership, the governmentestablished their rights over the land of an area measuring2,778 bighas.

The chief minister further assured to positively lookinto the issues raised by the small tea growers such as surveyof land of the growers, timely supply of fertilizers,promoting use of organic fertilizers and exposure tour forsmall tea growers.

On February 6, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanhad distributed Rs 3,000 to 7.47 lakh tea garden workers, whohad earlier received Rs 5,000 in two phases.

The elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly arelikely in March-April of this year.

The ruling BJP currently doesn't have a majority and isrunning a coalition government.

Tea tribes form a sizeable chunk of the electorate inAssam and play an important role in deciding fate of acandidate in several constituencies in upper Assam region.

The tea garden community members earlier backed theCongress but since 2016 the BJP has increased its influenceamong them and in the upcoming polls the saffron party ismaking efforts to further enhance its outreach.

Sonowal also said that people of the state will neverallow any vested interest group to tarnish the image of Assamtea.

''Several lakh people associated with the tea sector inAssam and the state government will remain strictly vigilantand leave no stone unturned to foil the conspiracy hatchedagainst Assam tea,'' he added.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that aninternational conspiracy has been hatched to ''defame'' theIndian tea, on a visit to Assam, a major producer of the brew.

The Prime Minister was apparently refering to Swedishenvironmentalist Greta Thunberg's controversial 'toolkit',which she tweeted and then deleted, outlining ways in whichpeople can participate in the farmers protest.

One of the points reportedly mentioned there was to''disrupt yoga and chai (tea) image of India in general''.

NGO Greenpeace had also claimed in a report a few yearsago about alleged overuse of pesticides in Indian teaindustry.