GUWAHATI, March 2: Hitting the campaign trail in North Assam, Congress General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi today tried to woo tea workers in Bishwanath district of Assam and lambasted the BJP government in Assam as well as in Centre for letting lakhs of tea workers languish without proper daily wage and other basic facilities.
She also plucked tea leaves with woman tea workers in a garden in Bishwanath and lapped up a tea worker’s infant whiling visiting the home of a tea garden worker.
Addressing a hugely attended public rally the Congress leader lambasted the BJP government both in Assam and in Centre for letting the tea workers in the state to languish without proper daily wage, education facility for tea workers’ children.
He said the BJP government in Assam took five years to revise the tea workers’ wage by only Rs 50 per day to Rs 267 in Brahmaputra Valley and RS 195 in Baraka Valley of the state and promised that the same would be revised to Rs 365 per day if Congress comes to power.
She accused BJP government of hoodwinking tea workers with direct to bank (DBT) and free cooking gas cylinder scheme stating that tea workers received only one LPG cylinder and money was paid on their bank account only once.