GUWAHATI (Assam, India): The Assam government has initiated a historic program to grant ownership of tea garden lands to the tea tribe and tribal communities who have lived and worked on these estates for generations.
Nearly 3.5 lakh families across 825 tea estates are set to benefit from the initiative, which aims to correct a long-standing historical injustice. The community accounts for nearly 20% of Assam’s population.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the initiative at Dinjoy Tea Estate in Dibrugarh on Monday, emphasizing that until now, land ownership rested with tea estate owners despite repeated demands from workers. He described the program as a historic step for the welfare and dignity of the tea garden workers, adding that land documents will be issued very soon. Under the process, application forms are being distributed to workers residing in labor lines or occupying houses built on such land. The forms seek details such as the name of the beneficiary, the extent of land under occupation and basic demographic information.
The land rights drive follows amendments made to the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Landholdings (Amendment) Act, 2025, which transfers ownership of labor line lands from tea estate owners to the government, enabling the redistribution of land to the workers. Surveys have already been completed in 103 tea gardens, with work under way in 250 more. The program comes after decades of advocacy by the tea tribe community, whose ancestors were brought to Assam from regions such as Chhota Nagpur, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Bengal by British colonial rulers in the mid-19th century to work on the plantations. The primarily consisted of members of tribal communities like Munda, Santhal, Kurukh, Gond, Kachari, Oraon, Kharia and Bhumij.
Assam’s tea industry began with the discovery of wild tea plants in 1823 by Robert Bruce, leading to commercial plantations in the 1830s. Tea estates were established by the East India Company. By 1841, the first groups of laborers were recruited from outside Assam. While these workers cultivated and harvested tea for generations, they traditionally lacked ownership rights to the land they inhabited, living instead in housing lines controlled by estate owners.
Advocates for the tea tribe community argue that securing land titles will allow families to build assets, access credit, and invest in education and health, significantly improving their living conditions.
Community leaders have welcomed the program, calling it a milestone in recognizing the contributions and rights of the tea tribe population. The government’s challenge will be to implement the scheme efficiently and transparently across hundreds of estates while ensuring that the benefits reach the intended beneficiaries.
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