PM Modi visits Assam tea gardens, plucks leaves with workers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited a tea garden in Dibrugarh district in poll-bound Assam on Wednesday and plucked leaves along with women workers.

Modi asserted that tea is the “soul of Assam”, and described his visit to the estate, where he plucked the leaves and put them into a traditional basket, as a “memorable experience”.

The PM also interacted with the women workers who helped him learn how to pluck tea leaves.

He also called one of the women workers, attired in traditional white and red bordered sarees, his “guru “.

‘’Tea is the soul of Assam! The tea from here has made its way across the world. This morning in Dibrugarh, I went to a tea garden and interacted with women working here. It was a very memorable experience,” Modi posted on X.

He shared photographs and a video of his visit to the Manohari estate.

The PM was seen walking along with 19 women workers and plucking tea leaves as taught by the labourers.

‘’Today, in a tea garden in the morning in Dibrugarh, one gets a glimpse of the culture of the tea garden families. Their contribution to Assam’s progress is unparalleled,’’ he said.

Modi, in another post on the social media platform, said, ‘’We are very proud of the efforts of each and every tea garden family. Their hard work and perseverance have enhanced Assam’s pride.”

He also asked the women if their children were studying, and they replied in the affirmative.

Responding to a query from the Prime Minister about whether their children are engaged in sports, the women labourers said several of their wards were interested in playing football.

‘’The women at the tea garden in Dibrugarh sang a song, which pays homage to ‘Jagat Janani Maa ‘. It is amazing how they remain so connected with their culture and roots,” the PM said.

To a question by Modi on what the women workers usually cook during the Bihu festival, they replied that they usually make ‘Til and ghila pithas’ (rice cakes with sesame seeds) along with ‘hando guri’ (roasted rice powder).

Modi also told them that he was a ‘chaiwala’ and had sold tea.

‘’It is due to your efforts that tea made in Assam reaches my village in Gujarat,” he added.

Spending nearly half an hour with them, Modi also listened to the concerns of the tea workers and discussed key issues such as education, healthcare and wages.

‘’The plucking of tea leaves was followed by the women talking about their culture and of course, a selfie!’’ he said in another post.

A woman worker was heard telling the Prime Minister that she was initially very nervous while interacting with him.

Modi laughed and said her nervousness would remain for only five minutes, but after that, the interaction would become easy.

On a question of the PM about the number of workers in the estate, one of them said around 700 to 800 labourers have been working in the garden. 

Responding to another query on how many days they worked in a month, one woman replied that they were engaged 24 days with six days of leave.

The Prime Minister also witnessed a traditional Jhumur dance performance by the workers.

The tea garden workers in Assam form a major chunk of the electorate in several constituencies, particularly in Upper Assam districts.

During the day, the PM also addressed two poll rallies at Gogamukh in Dhemaji district and Behali in Biswanath.