Dibrugarh, Jan. 30: The Assam unit of the BJP today said it would move the National Human Rights Commission over rampant violation of labour laws and human rights in tea gardens.

Rajya Sabha MP Ram Nath Kovind, who heads the party?s Scheduled Caste Morcha, told reporters at the party?s district office here that he had come to the conclusion after reviewing the situation in several tea gardens of Barak Valley, Tezpur, Jorhat and Dibrugarh district over the past three days.

?During our visit to certain gardens we found that there was absolutely no access to drinking water and healthcare. Sanitation facilities were extremely poor. These are priorities for any company. We will send reports not only to the party high command, but to the National Human Rights Commission as well,? he added.

Advocating amendment of the Plantation Labour Act, 1951, Kovind said he and his party colleagues would rake up the issue in the Rajya Sabha so that justice was meted out to the tea tribes.

?I have learnt that nearly 25 per cent of the state?s population belongs to the community. It is pathetic to note that even after more than five decades of Independence, these people are being made to live like slaves. These are clear-cut cases of violation of human rights,? he said.

The BJP had constituted a three-member committee ? comprising Kovind, Lok Sabha MP Nanda Kumar Sai and former minister in the NDA government Juel Oram ? to identify issues that could be highlighted during the party?s campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

The BJP?s state tea cell president Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, who was present during the press meet, said the party has also decided to rake up the controversial wage agreement during the elections.

?We suspect that Asom Chah Mazdoor Sangha president Paban Singh Ghatowar had arrived at a secret understanding with the Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations,? Tasa said.