Paban Singh Ghatowar at the tea convention at Judges Field on Monday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, April 9: A rare show of solidarity by hardliners and moderates representing the tea tribes today put the community’s campaign for ST (Plains) status on stronger ground.

Representatives of 13 organisations and elected representatives of the community converged on Judges Field for a rally and adopted six resolutions.

The timing of the rally was not a coincidence. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was laying the foundation stone of the gas cracker project at Lepetkata, only 400-odd km away, when the show of unity was staged in the state capital.

Several thousand people attended the rally, organised by 13 groups. The Birsa Commando Force and Adivasi Cobra Militants, Asom, both militant groups in ceasefire, joined the All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association, Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam, Tea and ex-Tea Tribes Youth, Chah Janajati Mahila Samiti, Adivasi Council of Assam, Adivasi Sewa Samiti, Sadou Asom Adivasi Mahila Samiti, Chah Janajati Samanay Jatiya Mahasabha, Adivasi Samajik Siksha Aaru Sanskritik Sanstha and Chah Mazdoor Adivasi Kristi Sanskritik Bikash Samiti in making the rally a success.

Former parliamentarian Paban Singh Ghatowar, who heads the ACMS, and P. Gowala, president of the tea tribes students’ association, were among the bevy of leaders present at the venue.

Pallab Lochan Das, general secretary of the tea tribes students’ association, said later that the six resolutions adopted by the leaders would be placed before chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

Apart from ST (Plains) status, the tea tribes want an amendment to the Plantation Labour Act, 1951, provincialisation of schools in the tea belt, an increase in the budgetary allocation for welfare of the tea tribes, land ownership and jobs.

“The plight of our community is no secret. Most of our members do not have land, most of us are illiterate, our youths cannot compete for jobs and are mostly unemployed. We contribute to the economy, but what do we get in return? Today’s conclave highlighted why ST status is necessary. We charted a roadmap containing the six resolutions,” Das said.

The organisers made it clear that the conclave was the beginning of a “joint movement” for ST (Plains) status, something that their Adivasi counterparts elsewhere in the country enjoy.

“The next course of action will depend on the response of the participants and invitees, as also the post-conclave impact on the government,” Das added.

The tea tribes have been classified as Most Other Backward Castes in Assam. The group comprises 97 tribes with a combined population of between 75 and 80 lakh.