Union Minister Smriti Irani campaigns for BJP candidates in upper Assam

DIBRUGARH:

Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani on March 13 addressed two political rallies in Mariani and Sivasagar Constituencies for the upcoming Assam Assembly polls.

The first phase of polls will be held on March 27 in 47 Assembly seats in Assam.

Smriti Irani is campaigning in Mariani for Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Ramani Tanti.

“After our government came into power, we have given many schemes for the benefit of the tea community, which was exploited by the previous government. The daily wage of a tea garden worker had been only ₹ 97 during the Congress regime, this was increased to ₹ 217 by the BJP government in 2020,” the Union Minister said.

Irani also said, “Our government has increased the maternity benefit to ₹ 18,000 from ₹ 12,000 and provided ₹ 8000 scholarships to 2000 students of the tea tribe community.”

Mariani has been dominated by the tea tribe community.

Three candidates, Ramani Tanti, Rupjyoti Kurmi of the Congress and Gopal Ghatowar of the Asom Sangrami Gana Mancha in the fray, belong to the tea tribe community.

It may be noted that the Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA) has called for a complete shutdown of tea gardens in Assam on March 22 against failing to fix the minimum daily wage of tea garden workers.

(Edited by Christopher Gatphoh)

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