Guwahati (Assam) [India], November 29 : The Assam State BJP has emphasised that the passage of the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holdings (Amendment) Bill, 2025, during the Winter Session of the Legislative Assembly marks a historic turning point for the state's tea garden communities.
Claiming the legislation ends nearly two centuries of land deprivation faced by tea workers, the party hailed the move as a transformative step toward empowerment, dignity, and long-awaited land rights for over 3.33 lakh families across 825 tea estates.
"As part of this commitment, in the Winter Session of the Assam Legislative Assembly, Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma placed and passed the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holdings (Amendment) Bill, 2025, for the comprehensive upliftment of the tea-garden communities of the state. With the passing of this land bill, the painful, dark era of nearly 200 years, during which our tea garden workers, who have strengthened Assam's economy and projected the state's distinct identity on the world map through the tea sector, were deprived of land rights from British rule to the Congress regime, shall finally come to an end," the State BJP said in a press statement on Friday.
The party highlighted that, despite generations living in the tea estates, the farmers had no ownership of the land they inhabited.
"As a result, they required permission from the garden authorities even to repair or reconstruct their own homes. Moreover, if any member of their family did not work in the tea garden, they were forced to vacate the land, leaving them unable to pursue better or higher-paying jobs elsewhere, and compelling them to remain tied to the garden labour system. This land rights bill has opened the door to a new possibility for our tea workers and has liberated them from nearly two centuries of exploitation and deprivation, an oppression that persisted through both British rule and the Congress-governed era of Independent India," the statement read.
The Assam BJP also stressed that from now onwards, based on their education and capability, tea workers will be free to seek employment in sectors beyond the tea gardens.
"They will be able to build their houses according to their own choice and capacity, and the garden authorities will no longer have the power to obstruct or interfere. Although this law may appear ordinary to some, it shall remain etched in history as a historic legislation that has freed the tea workers from generations of exploitation and injustice. We firmly believe that for bringing forth this path-breaking reform, the BJP Government of Assam and Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma shall forever shine in the golden annals of Assam's history," the party said.