The Tea Association of India (TAI) has urged the government in poll-bound Assam to address its concerns about an amended law granting plantation workers the right to land in the tea estates.
In February, the BJP-led State Government amended the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holding Act to grant legal land rights to 3.5 lakh families of plantation workers in the labour lines of more than 800 tea estates across the State.
Speaking at the 37th biennial general meeting of the association’s Assam branch, TAI president Shailja Mehta welcomed the government’s intent to provide land deeds to plantation workers. However, she underlined certain administrative and legal complexities.
She said that many tea gardens have mortgaged their land as collateral for loans, and transferring such lands may create financial and legal complications.
“Moreover, the Land Ceiling Act applies only to land and not to company-built assets such as labour quarters. Adequate compensation should, therefore, be ensured under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013,” Ms. Mehta said.
