Pro-poor schemes may sway vote in 5 Assam LS seats

Guwahati, April 10 (IANS) The pro-poor welfare schemes of providing rice at Re 1 per kg and free 2 kg sugar, announced by the Assam government, are likely to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in at least five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam going to polls on Thursday.

The five constituencies -- Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Kaliabar and Tezpur -- that will go to polls on April 11 have substantial number of voters belonging to the tea-tribe community.

The community, known as one of the strong vote banks of the Congress, switched sides during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, helping the BJP to win seven of the 14 Lok Sabha seats. The community stood by the BJP during the 2016 assembly polls, which helped it form its first government in Assam. The BJP won 61 seats in the 126-member Assembly.

In 2019-20 budget, the Assam government announced a scheme to provide rice at Re 1 per kg to the poor under the Affordable Nutrition & Nourishment Assistance (ANNA) scheme. According to the government estimate, the scheme will benefit about 53 lakh people, including the tea-tribe.

The BJP-led government in Assam set another milestone by assuring 2 kg free sugar every month to each household of tea garden labourers, recognising the community's contribution towards the state's economy.

However, the tea garden workers in Assam are unhappy as the BJP government is yet to implement the minimum wage of Rs 350 a day for the tea garden community. The government has also not fulfilled its assurance of granting Schedule Tribe (ST) status to the community.

"The tea garden workers have mixed feelings over the BJP government's role in uplifting the living standard of the community. While there are schemes, like providing free sugar and rice at Re 1, the long-standing demand for implementation of the minimum wage is yet to be implemented," said Rupesh Gowala, General Secretary of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangh (ACMS).

"The issue of granting ST status to the tea-tribe community has also been hanging for a long time. These issues might influence voters tomorrow," Gowala said adding, the revision of the daily wage to Rs 350 was the BJP's pre-poll promise in 2014.

Tea garden workers in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam get Rs 167 per day, and in the Barak Valley Rs 145 a day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at Moran and Gohpur in Assam on March 30, said only a 'chaiwala' (referring to himself) could understand the problem of 'chaiwalas' (the tea garden workers).

"In last 70 years, tea growers in Assam and West Bengal were denied basic amenities. Our government has for the first time given bank accounts to tea workers and Rs 5,000 was deposited in those accounts, besides free rice and 2 kg sugar," Modi said. The central government, he said was seriously considering ST status for six communities, including the tea-tribe.

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