"Tea garden workers in Assam still living in ‘medieval conditions", says Chah Mazdoor leader

Seventy-nine years after India’s Independence, tea garden workers in Assam continue to live in conditions described as “no better than slavery,” alleged A. Rama Rao, President of the Bharatiya Chah Mazdoor Sangha (BCMS), Assam State Committee.

Speaking about the plight of workers at the Bogapani Tea Estate in Digboi, Rao said that despite working for over two decades, many labourers remain on temporary rolls without job security, health benefits, or basic facilities. “Pregnant women workers are deprived of maternity benefits, families live in cramped rooms without proper sanitation, and several workers have not even received their Provident Fund dues,” he stated.

Rao stressed that tea is Assam’s “largest and most vital economy,” yet the workers, who form its backbone, continue to be neglected. “Even after 79 years of Independence, their lifestyle resembles that of the Middle Ages. Successive governments have failed to bring meaningful change,” he remarked.

Highlighting widespread discontent, Rao announced that the BCMS Assam State Committee will organize protest programmes across the state on August 28. The demonstrations will demand immediate redressal of long-standing issues affecting tea garden labourers, who have toiled for centuries in Assam’s plantations but continue to remain marginalized.