The Dibrugarh unit of the Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (ATTSA) on Saturday staged a protest against anomalies in distribution of vehicles in the tea gardens of the Upper Assam district.

The activists displayed banners and placards and burnt the effigy of tea tribes welfare minister Pallab Lochan Das and Dibrugarh district tea welfare board chairman Sushil Tasa on National Highway 37 bypass in Bogpara tea estate in Lahowal.

The BJP government has decided to distribute vehicles among unemployed youths of tea gardens so that they can earn a living.

ATTSA’s Dibrugarh unit publicity secretary Lakhindra Kurmi said the government distributed 22 Tata ACE Gold mini trucks to unemployed youths of tea gardens in Dibrugarh on March 5, of which only one was distributed in Lahowal. He alleged that the vehicles were distributed to people mostly associated with the BJP and relatives of BJP leaders while many educated unemployed youths of tea gardens were left out. In Lahowal, the beneficiary is a BJP worker and belongs to the Scheduled Caste category, he added.

Kurmi alleged that Tasa did not consult the selection committee set up for the purpose and distributed the vehicles to persons of his choice.

Sushil Patar, the secretary of ATTSA’s Dibrugarh unit, accused Tasa of corrupt practices during the erstwhile Congress government and the present BJP regime and urged chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to take action on him.

“We demand Tasa’s resignation from the post of chairman of the district tea welfare board. How could he distribute the vehicles without consulting the selection committee? The real beneficiaries of tea gardens should get the vehicles but the BJP government has distributed them to close aides of the party. We have submitted a memorandum to the chief minister through Dibrugarh deputy commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha,” Patar said.

Tasa could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.