Over 700 tea garden workers and activists of the All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) staged a strong protest on Friday against Oil India Limited (OIL) and the management of Satyanarayan tea estate in Naharkatia, Dibrugarh district, opposing the transfer of 20 bighas of plantation land to the oil PSU.The agitators alleged that the land was handed over to OIL without prior intimation to the tea workers, and accused the company of uprooting tea bushes that serve as the primary source of livelihood for the plantation community.
The protesters raised spirited slogans denouncing what they termed as arbitrary eviction from tea cultivation areas.”Oil India Limited, go back! Plantation authorities beware! Stop tea plantation evictions!” resonated across the estate as demonstrators expressed their anger over the unilateral decision. In a defiant move, the workers forced OIL vehicles to vacate the plantation premises.
“The tea workers were kept completely in the dark about this land transfer. Their livelihoods depend on these tea bushes, and OIL simply uprooted them without any consultation or compensation plan,” said Mikhel Purti, Publicity Secretary of AASAA’s Dibrugarh District Committee.
The protest witnessed participation from key figures including AASAA Organising Secretary Jiten Bagh, Naharkatia Regional Committee President Ajay Gowala, Secretary Prem Uday Dhan, and former All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA) leader Lalit Mahali.
Subsequently, AASAA representatives submitted a memorandum to District Commissioner Bikram Kairi, demanding immediate cessation of land acquisition by OIL, halting of eviction drives, and replantation of tea seedlings in affected areas.
“We have submitted our demands to the District Commissioner. The plantation workers have families to feed, and this land is their only source of income. We cannot allow corporations to snatch away their livelihoods without proper process,” Gowala said.
OIL has yet to respond to the allegations. The district administration is likely to review the matter and facilitate dialogue between the parties.
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