Guwahati, Aug. 30: The vibrant culture of the Assam tea tribes is set to get a political push with the ruling Congress identifying promotion of the annual tea festival as an effective tool to woo the community.

To begin with, Dispur will adopt the biggest annual festival of the community ? Karam Parav ? as a state festival similar to the other annual festivals the government organises to woo tourists.

The tea tribe welfare department has decided to organise this festival every year on September 14 and 15.

This year, the festival will be held at Sankardev Kalakshetra with an array of cultural activities, including a concert by Krishnamoni Chutia of Chal Gori fame.

Bhagirat Karan, vice-chairman of the advisory committee to the department, said the Congress government has decided to promote, preserve and extend the tea tribe custom and culture in a ?big way.?

The government will also set up three cultural centres at Guwahati, Tezpur and Dibrugarh to promote the community?s culture.

The centre to be built here will be housed in a building which is being constructed at Roopnagar for the community at a cost of Rs 3 crore. For the other two centres, the department has earmarked Rs 10 lakh.

The government?s decision to promote tea culture, Congress sources said, aimed at preventing erosion of the party?s support base in the tea community.

?Apart from expediting development activities in the tea belt, the party think tank feels it is imperative to take effective steps to promote and preserve the much-neglected culture of the community to win back its support,? said a Congress leader.

To make the two-day festival a grand success, the department has constituted a 300-member reception committee, headed by labour minister Rameswar Dhan-owar.

Karam Parav is an agricultural festival the community celebrates to mark the end of the sowing season.

The first day of the event will be exclusively reserved for rituals attached to the festival. There will be a cultural festival on the second day.

Karan said the department was also contemplating making documentaries on the culture of the tea community.

The culture department has already begun discussions with the Dimapur-based North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC) for promotion of the tea culture outside the state, he added.