Assam Passes Bill to Give Land Rights to Tea Workers

GUWAHATI-  The Assam Legislative Assembly on Friday passed an amendment to the Assam Fixation of Ceiling of Land Holdings Act, 2025, paving the way for distributing land in tea estates’ labour lines to workers for housing ownership. The passage came amid uproar by the opposition AIUDF, which demanded similar land rights for residents of Assam’s char (riverine) areas, inhabited largely by Bengali-speaking Muslims.

As Speaker Biswajit Daimary moved the Bill for passage, AIUDF legislators stormed into the well of the House with posters demanding pattas for char dwellers. The protest was countered by ruling BJP MLAs chanting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Himanta Biswa Sarma zindabad.”

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Participating in the discussion, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the amendment corrects a “historic mistake” and extends long-overdue rights to tea garden workers, many of whom were displaced by the British and have lived for generations without legal land titles. “The contribution of tea garden workers to Assamese society over the last 200 years is immense and we are acknowledging it through this,” he said.

Sarma said the government has already begun surveying char areas and assured that land rights for eligible residents there would also be examined. However, he reiterated that eviction drives against illegal encroachments would continue, urging AIUDF legislators to “convince illegal settlers” to vacate government land voluntarily.

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Under the amended law:

• Labour lines in tea estates will no longer fall under ‘ancillary purpose’ land.
• The state can identify surplus land and redistribute it for housing for tea workers.
• The extent of land allotted per family will be notified by the government at intervals.
• Tea garden workers—permanent, temporary, and their descendants—belonging to Tea Tribe and Adivasi communities are eligible.

Assam has 825 tea estates, and labour colonies cover 2,18,553 bighas. Compensation to affected parties—tentatively estimated at ₹3,000 per bigha—will amount to around ₹65.57 crore.

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Sarma noted the government will also launch a scheme to financially support workers in constructing houses on their allotted land. He also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tea-seller background, saying Modi had urged the state to prioritise tea tribes’ development.

Members across party lines supported the Bill, although the discussion turned heated during an exchange between the Chief Minister and Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, who traded allegations over their pasts.

AIUDF, despite supporting land rights for tea workers, continued its protest demanding pattas for char dwellers. As the Bill passed by voice vote, AIUDF MLAs walked out in protest.