INDIA, Dec. 9 -- APCC President and MP Gaurav Gogoi, speaking during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament in New Delhi on Sunday, warned that women, the backbone of Assam's tea gardens, are still excluded from crucial policy discussions affecting their lives.

Raising the issue forcefully in the House, Gogoi said the tea industry survives on the daily hard labour of women, yet their concerns are rarely considered when decisions are made.

He emphasised that women perform the toughest physical work, from plucking leaves to carrying heavy loads, while the financial gains mostly benefit garden owners and big companies.

He highlighted that despite being the largest participating workforce in the estates, women have almost no representati...