Assam Congress President and Deputy Leader of Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, has raised concern about the situation of women workers in the tea gardens of Assam. He said that although women are the main workforce in the tea estates, their problems are often ignored when decisions are taken about the tea industry.
Speaking during a discussion, Gogoi said that the highest participation in tea gardens comes from women. He pointed out that most of the difficult physical work in tea plantations is done by women every day, yet the benefits of their hard labour mostly go to the garden owners and big companies. He said that these women play a major role in keeping the tea industry running, but their voices are missing in important discussions.
Gogoi said that whenever meetings take place between garden owners, labour unions and the government, there is almost no participation of women in those talks. According to him, because women are left out, the important problems faced by them do not come into proper discussion or policymaking. He mentioned that issues like toilets, health problems, anaemia, drug abuse, liquor shops near gardens and even domestic violence need urgent attention, but these matters are not addressed seriously. 
He requested the government to ensure that women representatives are included whenever the government, unions and tea garden industry hold discussions. Gogoi said that without women’s participation, policies will continue to ignore the realities of their daily lives. He asked the government whether they would bring a proposal that will make sure women get proper representation in all future discussions related to the tea industry.
