Uncertain future?

Guwahati, July 11: The Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA) has expressed deep concern over the oil companies’ inroads into tea gardens for exploration and drilling, thus closing down estates and pushing the future of labourers to the brink.

The association’s muscle-flexing comes at a time when oil companies in the state, dictated by rise in prices of crude, have increased their activities manifold. The companies are bringing newer areas under exploration, including tea gardens. To drive home the point, the tea community students’ body will stage a dharna in front of ONGC’s Assam Asset headquarters at Nazira in Sivasagar district on Tuesday.

The company, the association alleged, has “captured” land belonging to more than 10 tea estates in Sivasagar district alone. Some of the gardens are Lakwa, Geleky, Shivbari, Borchila, Lakhmijan, Deopani, Bihubor and Naharhabi. Similar demonstrations will be launched against Oil India Limited and other private companies engaged in oil explorations that have affected tea gardens.

The students will demand alternative jobs for the tea labour community, which will ensure them security. This will be the first time the tea students will stage demonstrations against oil companies.

The president of ATTSA, Prahlad Gowala, said though these oil companies are paying adequate compensation to the tea garden authorities for taking up the land to carry out exploration and drilling, the interest of the labour community has not been taken into consideration. “If these companies continue to take over tea gardens, the labourers would soon be left with no jobs,” Gowala said. He said the student community has nothing to do with these companies carrying out operations in any part of the state but “we will stop them from entering tea garden areas”.

He said companies that promise jobs to tea garden labourers would only be allowed to operate on tea garden land from now on.

Dilip Das, spokesperson for ONGC (Nazira), said the company had done nothing illegal by carrying out activities in different areas, including a few tea gardens. “We have fulfilled each and every norm and pay full compensation to any party wherever we carry out our activities,” he said.

On ATTSA’s demand on jobs for tea garden community, Das said the ONGC has nearly 7,000 employees in its operational areas under Assam and Assam-Arakan basin and most of them are local people. “ONGC is committed to its social responsibility and has been doing its best for the development of the areas under the company’s operations,” he said.

ONGC produces nearly 1.19 million metric tonnes of oil and gas per year under the Assam and Assam-Arakan basin.