Gaurav Gogoi doubts Assam Ceiling Amendment Bill, questions timing & feasibility

Guwahati, Nov 29: Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi on Saturday sharply criticised the Assam government over the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holding (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to grant land pattas to tea garden workers.

Speaking at a review meeting at Rajiv Bhawan attended by district presidents, secretaries and coordinators of 22 districts, Gogoi raised serious doubts about the “timing, intent and practicality” of the Bill, asserting that the move “may remain only on paper.”

Gogoi questioned why the government waited a full decade to introduce legislation on a long-pending demand of the tea community.

“Tea workers have worked hard and demanded land rights for generations. If the government was genuinely concerned, they would have passed this Bill when the BJP first came to power under Sarbananda Sonowal or when Himanta Biswa Sarma became Chief Minister,” he said.

He alleged that instead of empowering tea workers, the government “allowed the decline of Assam’s tea sector.”

Gogoi claimed tea gardens under the previous regime saw “forced sales, withdrawal of major companies, and the handing over of gardens to managers with no expertise.”

“Workers stopped getting PF, bonuses and basic facilities. Today, before giving pattas, we don’t even have an official record of how many garden owners exist,” he added.

Gogoi questioned the Chief Minister’s role, alleging opacity in land ownership.

“If the CM is truly committed to giving land rights, he must first publish the list of tea gardens owned by him and his family. They have taken up gardens to set up resorts and luxury facilities. Let pattas be granted there first,” he remarked.

He further stated that the Congress may take tea workers to the affected gardens to independently document ownership records and “place the truth before the people of Assam.”

Gogoi highlighted what he described as a “collapse of basic services” inside tea estates.

“There is no progress in Jal Jeevan Mission inside tea gardens. A minister close to the Chief Minister handles JJM, yet drinking water facilities are in shambles,” he said.

“No doctors are available. Tuberculosis and anaemia are rising at alarming rates. So from November 30, we will conduct health camps in tea gardens across Assam,” he announced.

Citing “widespread corruption” in welfare schemes for the tea community, Gogoi said Congress workers will begin district-wise protest programmes from December 10 to highlight what he called the government’s “systemic neglect.”

Gogoi said facilities once available under Tarun Gogoi’s government like subsidised essential commodities, free laptops to meritorious students, and sewing machines and power tillers for workers “have vanished under the current regime.”

He also claimed the tea estates are now “gripped by alcohol and drugs,” pointing to what he called a social crisis deepened by government indifference.

Gogoi also raised concerns about the state of governance.

“As long as there are cattle syndicates, coal mafias and criminal networks embedded in leadership, the dignity of the Assembly will remain compromised. The people of Assam want new politics, not syndicates,” he said. 

Concluding the meeting, Gogoi expressed optimism about rebuilding trust with tea garden workers and voters.

“The people of Assam want a new politics and a new Assam. Congress will bring a new Assam, new dreams and a new Congress,” he said.