Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Laxmi Orang,a tribal woman who was stripped in the streets of Guwahati by a group of miscreants when she had come here to take part in a rally four years ago,began a three-day hunger strike on Tuesday demanding justice and also the redressal of various grievances of her community.
Orang began her hunger strike at Tezpur,headquarters of Sonitpur,the district to which she belongs. I am also raising the issue of rehabilitation of several thousand tribal families living in sub-human conditions in relief camps after they were rendered homeless in riots in Kokrajhar district in 1996, Orang said.
I am raising four issues. The demand for granting Scheduled Status to tea plantation labourers has not been fulfilled. They are still paid a wage of just Rs 70 a day,which is nothing, Orang told The Indian Express from Tezpur over the telephone.
But she was more worried about the fact that plantation labourers were not able to ensure that their children attended school as they have to leave early for work. The government and the tea industry should change the working hours of plantation labourers from 9am to 4pm instead of the existing 6am to 3pm, she said.
