ULFA asks tea company to shift offices to Assam, recruit people from the state

The United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) gave the notice to Amalgamated Plantations Pvt Ltd through an emailed statement sent to PTI and other media houses.

The notice signed by ULFA(I) Publicity Department member self-styled 'Capt' Rumel Asom said, ''The United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) has taken note of ...

management of the tea estates in Assam under your ownership.

''We appreciate that you are in the business of making profit and to that end you must devise your corporate planning. However, you have heavy responsibilities to the land and her people .....'' ''... You have your head office outside Assam where no indigenous personnel from Assam is in employment. The liaison office is also not in Assam.'' Amalgamated Plantations Pvt. Ltd (APPL) was carved out of the erstwhile Tata Tea Ltd (now Tata Global Beverages Ltd, or TGBL) 10 years ago to run tea estates in West Bengal and Assam.

The APPL head office is in Kolkata and its corporate office is in Guwahati.

Vikram Singh Gulia, APPL managing director, could not be reached for his comments.

ULFA(I) thorugh its email said ''We are aware you are recruiting your workers from outside Assam'' instead of employing local youth and warned that this was ''contrary to the spirit of Win, Win' relationship'' between corporates and the state.

ULFA(I) went on to warn that company officials will not be allowed to travel in Assam, and APPL may face ''ruin'' by ''forcing closure of tea gardens'', if their demands were not met.

According to the company website, it is the second largest tea producer in the country with multiple stakeholders, including Tata Global Beverages Ltd, Tata Investment Corporation Ltd, International Finance Corporation Partner Investors, employees and estate workers.