Swami Agnivesh at a news conference in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, March 2: Veteran social activist Swami Agnivesh today threatened to move the Supreme Court against the alleged sub-human conditions of tea garden workers in Assam.

Agnivesh alleged that the tea garden owners treat their workers like bonded labourers and the state government is turning a blind eye to this serious crime. He said tea workers in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys are deprived of minimum wages and are forced to lead a life without the basic amenities.

“I could not meet chief minister Tarun Gogoi today as he had gone outside the state for urgent official assignments. However, I met the media adviser of the chief minister Bharat Narah, labour minister Prithibi Majhi and the secretary of Tea Association of India, Dipanjal Deka, who is based in Guwahati, to discuss the tea workers’ woes. I have requested them to address their grievances immediately,” Agnivesh told reporters here.

He said if the state government and tea garden owners did not take any measures to do justice to tea workers within April 15, his organisation — Bandhu Mukti Morcha (Bonded Labour Liberation Front) — would file a petition in the apex court of the country.

Agnivesh is better known across India for his campaigns against bonded labour, and is the founder-head of the Bandhu Mukti Morcha. He spearheaded the movement for liberation of bonded and child labour throughout the country.

“I have visited tea gardens in Barak Valley and seen how the tea workers have been forced to live in sub-human conditions. Nothing has been done for sanitation, hygiene, education and health of tea workers. The minimum wage being given to those working in the gardens is Rs 72 per day, which is a gross violation of human rights. The same is the scene in the gardens in the Brahmaputra Valley,” he alleged. Agnivesh also accused the state government of not providing compensation to the families of 15 persons, including two tea workers, who died of starvation at Bhuvan Valley tea estate in 2011.

“The National Human Rights Commission had conducted an investigation and confirmed that 15 persons died of starvation at Bhuvan Valley tea estate in August in 2011. The commission had decided upon compensation of Rs 18 lakh. However, despite instruction and reminders of the NHRC the state government has not yet paid the compensation,” he added.

Agnivesh has requested Majhi to immediately release the compensation.