Education confined to only primary level in tea gardens during Cong rule: Himanta

Guwahati, Nov 20 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday alleged that during Congress rule, education in the tea gardens was confined only to the primary level.

The Congress could not even think of establishing high schools or higher secondary schools in the tea garden areas, he alleged.

''I am not saying that they did not begin the process of setting up educational institutions...they definitely started it, but even after 75 years of independence, the Congress governments only established lower primary schools in these areas'', the chief minister said while distributing appointment letters to 377 new recruits from the tea tribe and Adivasi communities.

''When we conducted a survey, we found that if high and higher secondary schools were not established, the number of educated youth would remain limited in the tea garden and we would have to provide special educational facilities in colleges and universities for at least 10-15 years for the children of tea garden workers'', he said.

Following this survey, it was decided to set up 100 model high schools for the time in the tea gardens, and 100 such institutions were set up in the state, he said.

Sarma said that another 100 model high schools will be set up in the tea gardens from January. ''Setting up 200 model high schools for 800 tea gardens will mean that every four gardens will have one such school and if required, we are open to set up another 100 such institutions, provided there are enough students'', the CM said.

After establishing the high schools, the education department will take up the task of setting up higher secondary schools simultaneously so that the students do not drop out of schools, he said.

The post of teachers in the model higher secondary schools will be reserved for candidates belonging to the tea tribes to ensure that students are taught in a language they can understand, he said.

Besides, a three per cent reservation has been introduced for adivasi and tea tribe communities in all Grade III and Grade IV jobs under the OBC category.

Reservations will also be extended to Grade I and Grade II government jobs, he said.

''This is a silent revolution which does not involve agitation or strikes but transforms people’s lives'', Sarma said.

The government has now reserved three MBBS seats for Tea Tribe students in medical colleges, and arrangements are being made to produce 50 doctors annually from the community, along with 250 seats in paramedical courses, the CM said.

Financial grants are being given to pregnant women working in tea gardens as wage compensation, and the establishment of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs to improve healthcare services in tea garden areas.

''All these measures have significantly improved the lives of the tea tribe community over the past five years'', he said.

The chief minister further said that with land ownership rights now granted to tea garden workers, many of their children will explore new opportunities beyond traditional tea garden work.

He urged the newly appointed teachers to serve in tea garden schools and help guide the next generation towards progress.

He also announced that strict measures will be taken to prevent individuals from other communities from securing benefits meant exclusively for the Tea Tribe through fraudulent documents.

Sarma said that with today's appointment, the tally of government recruitments in the state since 2021 have reached 1,35,376 through a fully transparent, merit-based process.

The chief minister also handed over funds to educational institutions for waiving fees for students belonging to BPL families who took admission in higher secondary first and second year, as well as in the four-year undergraduate courses for the academic year 2025–26. PTI DG DG RG