Tea workers face uncertain future over airport ‘land’

Guwahati: A greenfield airport promising to turn Cachar into a travel hub for south Assam as well as neighbouring Manipur and Mizoram, may take a toll on the lives and livelihoods of garden workers.
Around 2,000 workers engaged in tea plantations across 2,500 bighas of this highest yielding tea garden area in the Barak Valley, were apparently rendered jobless soon after the plucking season of the prized first flush. The Doloo tea estate saw flag marches in the last four to five days, before bulldozers rolled out on Thursday. Amid protests by the workers, Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy turned to the social media and assured on Saturday that none would be evicted from their homes in Doloo, Moynargarh and the Lalbagh divisions of the Doloo tea estate, a member of the Tea Association of India.
“The interests of the workers are paramount to us. There will be no job cuts. The disbursement of payments in the form of gratuity and provident fund has already started. This is not an eviction drive. It is only a land acquisition process, which is going on for an important infrastructure project in the Barak Valley,” said Roy.
Rubbishing all charges against Cachar DC, Keerthi Jalli and SP, Ramandeep Kaur, Roy said, “They have carried out their responsibilities in an impartial manner.” The police and administration came under flak for flag marches near the garden to pave the way for ‘eviction’.