Over 8,800 Assam tea garden dancers perform Jhumoir before PM Modi, delegates of 60 nations

The Opposition parties called it a vote bank politics and asked why BJP failed to accord ST status to the community and enhance wage of garden workers to Rs 351.

Guwahati: The sounds of madol (traditional drums) and music of jhumoir (folk songs) rent the air at the Sarusajai Sports Complex in Guwahati on Monday evening as over 8,800 Adivasi women and men from Assam's tea gardens danced together in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, delegates representing more than 60 nations and thousands of spectators.

Attired in red-white sarees and dhoti kurtas, the tea garden workers danced to the tunes of madol and Jhumoir (folk songs) that talked about life and cultural journey of the Adivasi communities, most of whom were brought mainly from present Jharkhand during the British rule to work in Assam's tea gardens. "It's a display of how the Adivasi communities made Assam their home and enriched Assamese cultural heritage. Some of the songs are about their struggles and journey of life," Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, just before the enthralling performance.

"I can feel the flavour and beauty of tea gardens in your display," said PM Narendra Modi, addressing the dancers and the crowd at the stadium.

Assam has over 80,000 Adivasis, most of whom work in over 800 big tea estates and produce the highest quantity of tea. CM Sarma said the event was organised as part of celebrations of 200 years of tea industry in Assam and to present the rich culture of the garden workers before the delegates attending the Global Investors' Summit, beginning here on Tuesday.

PM Modi said his government encouraged the culture of the communities in the Northeast, which "remained neglected" in the past.

Elections in mind

The Opposition parties, however, termed the event as part of ruling BJP's strategy to woo the large voters in the tea gardens as the state gears up for the Assembly elections slated next year.

"Only a musical extravaganza does not address the problems confronting the Adivasis working in the tea gardens. Why has PM Modi not yet fulfilled the promise of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the six other ethnic communities, including the tea garden workers, he had made before the Assembly polls in 2016? Modi has also not yet fulfilled the promise of enhancing the daily wage of the garden workers to Rs 351," Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi told reporters in New Delhi.

Tea garden workers are deciding factors in at least 35 out of the 126 Assembly seats. They used to be a strong vote bank of Congress till 2014 when the Modi government came to power at the Centre and BJP in Assam in 2016.

CM Sarma, in an apparent bid to counter the Congress' charges, said his government decided to reserve three per cent jobs (grade III and IV) for the Adivasi community, constructed schools and roads inside the gardens, besides other welfare activities. He assured to allot land patta to the workers in each tea garden. "Our government enhanced the wage of the garden workers to Rs 251," said Dilip Saikia, president of BJP's Assam unit.