A Tea Garden in a College

Tyagbir Hem Baruah College is like any other Government college in Assam. But unlike other colleges, it has a tea garden inside the campus where students used to learn while they also earn!

The government college in the Sonitpur district has engaged its poor students to work in a tea garden on the campus during free time, helping them earn money and pay for their education. Mainly poor students from nearby areas work in the tea garden during off periods and earn around Rs 35-40 per hour by plucking the leaves. This is also part of a skill development initiative. The best part is that the college authorities haven’t taken any government aid, according to its Principal Mr. Ajit Hazarika.

Tea cultivation on the college premises was started in 2015 on about 4.63 acres and expanded to another 2.64 acres in 2019. The college now sells green leaves from the tea garden to nearby factories and earns around Rs 1.85 lakh a year. The college has produced green tea for the first time and launched the product in nearby local markets this month. It is being produced on 1.32 acres in the tea garden.

Spread over 33 acres of land at Karchantola the Tyagbir Hem Baruah College is endowed with a tea garden, a fishery, banana groves, and lemon plants. The campus has nice- looking surroundings endowed with different kinds of valuable plants, wetlands, and ponds beside the tea garden. A heritage college established in 1963, the college under Gauhati University has around 2,200 students in Arts and Science streams. The college was named after Hem Barua, a freedom fighter, social worker, and writer of Assam.

For his remarkable works to the people of Assam, he is called Tyagbir.

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle