Assam begins land rights rollout for tea garden workers amid legal challenge

Dibrugarh, Feb 9: Assam government has formally begun the process of granting land ownership rights to tea garden workers, calling it a “historic step” to end generations of land insecurity faced by the Cha Shramik community.

Speaking at Dinjoy Tea Estate in Dibrugarh during the distribution of settlement application forms under the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holdings (Amendment) Act, 2025, on Monday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the programme was witnessed by nearly 800 tea plantation workers.

“Today is a very important day for us. In the last session of the Assam Legislative Assembly, we passed a bill to grant ownership of house and land to tea garden workers living in labour lines. Until now, tea estate owners were the owners of these labour line lands,” Sarma said.

Under the process, application forms are being distributed to workers residing in labour lines or those who have houses on such land.

“The form will include details such as the name of the person in whose favour the land will be settled, the extent of land occupied and basic demographic information,” Sarma said, urging workers to cooperate to avoid delays.

He said a large-scale land survey has been launched simultaneously. “We have already completed surveys in 103 tea gardens. From today, surveys will begin in another 250 gardens. Eventually, surveys will cover around 800 tea estates across Assam,” he said.

Highlighting the vulnerability of tea workers, Sarma said, “Even after 200 years, tea garden workers could not own the land they lived on in Assam. Their children were forced to drop out of schools because if they didn’t work, families risked losing their houses. From now on, no tea worker needs to live in fear. The government has given them their land.”

Sarma said his government aims to issue land pattas to at least a section of tea garden workers before the 2026 Assembly elections, even though only 20–25 days remain before the announcement of election dates.

“There are nearly 10 lakh tea workers in Assam. We need to provide land pattas to around 5 lakh families. This is a long and complex process and will take at least six to seven months,” he said.

To facilitate the process, the government has constituted four-member committees in each tea estate to assist workers in filling up forms. “If workers do not cooperate, the process will get delayed,” he cautioned.

The Chief Minister said some tea garden owners had voluntarily relinquished labour line land even before the law came into effect, citing Dinjoy Tea Estate as one such example.

He announced that tea workers would no longer require a no-objection certificate from garden owners to build houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

“My next goal is to geo-tag every house. If possible, we will provide houses, each worth Rs 1.6 lakh under PMAY. Those with damaged houses will receive assistance for repairs, and those without houses will get new ones,” he said.

Sarma also announced financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh per family for house repair and maintenance, along with Aadhaar cards, ration cards, subsidised food grains and other welfare benefits for all tea garden workers.

“Land rights and housing will be ensured 100%,” he said.

Sarma said tea garden workers had been demanding land rights for decades, but no previous government had taken a decision to address the issue.

“We amended the land ceiling law and transferred labour line land from tea garden owners to the government’s jurisdiction. Today, we are beginning the actual process of conferring land rights to workers,” the Chief Minister said.

The move, however, comes amid legal opposition from tea planters.

Earlier, tea estate owners had approached the Gauhati High Court challenging the Assam Labour Line Land Allotment Act, arguing that the legislation infringes upon their property rights and was enacted without adequate consultation.

The matter is currently pending before the court.