GUWAHATI: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned “conspirators” against maligning the image of Assam’s tea industry overseas, state chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal asserted that vested interests would never be allowed to tarnish the image of Assam tea.
Sonowal said that several lakh people associated with the tea sector in Assam and the state government would remain “strictly vigilant and leave no stone unturned to foil the conspiracy hatched against Assam tea.”
The chief minister made this assertion while distributing land pattas to 471 small tea growers of Dibrugarh district and laying the foundation stone for a district science centre in a programme at Khanikar in Dibrugarh on Monday.
It may be mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his 30-minute speech at the public meeting held at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district on Sunday, made a statement that a conspiracy at international level was hatched to malign the image of Assam tea.
Chief minister Sonowal said that by providing land pattas to 471 small tea growers, the government has established their rights over land measuring 2778 bighas.
He further pointed out that the small tea growers realised the potential of the field very late and took up cultivation of tea after about 160 years of discovery of tea in Assam.
“No government earlier internalised the sufferings of the small tea growers,” Sonowal said, even as he raised the issue of providing land patta to small tea growers while he represented the Moran Assembly constituency as a legislator.
The chief minister further assured to positively look into the issues raised by the small tea growers, including survey of land of small tea growers, timely supply of fertilisers, promoting use of organic fertilizers and arranging exposure tours for small tea growers, etc.
