An organisation representing Assam’s tea garden workers met Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren this week and highlighted the long-standing social, economic and identity-related struggles faced by Adivasi communities working in Assam’s tea plantations. The delegation from Adivasi Samanvaya Samiti Bharat (Assam) told the chief minister that decades of neglect by successive governments in Assam have left the tea tribe population marginalised in almost every sector of life. According to a statement issued by the Jharkhand Chief Minister’s Office, the group explained how Adivasi workers continue to face barriers in wages, land rights, education, healthcare, and recognition of their identity.
The CMO said that Soren listened to the delegation at length and expressed strong solidarity with the tribal workers. He reaffirmed that Jharkhand has a responsibility to stand by Adivasi communities everywhere, irrespective of where they now live, because their culture and heritage remain deeply connected to Jharkhand’s history. He assured the visiting members that his government would actively take up the concerns raised about Assam’s tea tribe population. Soren later announced that a special team from Jharkhand will be sent to Assam to study the living and working conditions of tribal families across tea estates.
Most of these families are descendants of Adivasi labourers taken from areas that now form modern-day Jharkhand during the British period to work in Assam’s plantations. Many of them still struggle for fair wages, proper land ownership, and social security. Soren said Jharkhand would initiate efforts to help ensure fair wage improvements for these workers and push for resolution of the land-related issues that continue to affect their socio-economic stability.