GUWAHATI, June 14 ? The presence of five women in the present Tarun Gogoi Ministry makes it a different Council of Ministers from all the previous ones in the State. The latest reshuffle-expansion exercise made Tarun Gogoi the Chief Minister with the largest contingent of lady ministers so far. Obviously a new trend has been set much to the glee of all women political activists in the State. This trend setting lady brigade of Tarun Gogoi is a mixture of experience and new blood. It has the veteran Dr Hemoprova Saikia, the widow of former Chief Minister and iron man of Assam Congress Late Hiteswar Saikia, who has been in the forefront of State politics at least for a decade now. Another experienced but lowprofile member of the brigade is the Labour and Employment Minister, Rupam Kurmi whose is a classic story of an eventful journey from a humble ?labour line? of a tea garden to the seat of power in Dispur.
However, the three new women in the Ministry ? Pranati Phukon, Ajanta Neog and Sharifa Begum ? were born to politicians and fed with politics since their early days. The journey of the ?tea girl? from Kharikatiya Tea Estate, Rupam Kurmi to Janata Bhawan may be unbelievable even to herself. The ?boro mini? (eldest daughter) of Bishu Orang from Kharikatiya Tea Estate in Jorhat district has really made it big in her life by becoming the first woman Cabinet Minister from the tea tribe community in the State. It is sad that Bishu Orang who was picked up by a British agent in the 1920s from his nondescript village in Ranchi to work in a newly set up tea garden in Assam, no longer lives to see his daughter tasting success in life.
Notwithstanding his poverty, Bishu Orang sent his eldest daughter Rupam to study in St Mary?s Convent here in those days, and also ensured that she was not converted. His ?boro mini? later graduated from DCB College in Jorhat in 1970. In her college days, Rupam also excelled as an athlete and represented Dibrugarh University in inter-varsity sports meets. Aspiring to become an officer, Rupam joined Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha office in Jorhat after coming out of college. It was the turning point of the life of this ?tea girl? from Kharikatiya Tea Estate. While working in the ACMS office, she was spotted by veteran trade union leader Sarbeswar Bordoloi who inspired her to take a plunge in active politics. She joined Congress which in her found a potent leader from the tea tribe in its ranks. Although she lost her first two Assembly polls in 1978 and 1985 as a Congress-I candidate, Rupam Kurmi finally emerged winner in 1991 when she was elected from Mariani LAC becoming the first tea tribe woman MLA. After that there was no looking back for her. She won again in 1996 and 2001, when she became the first lady Minister of State from her community in Tarun Gogoi?s Ministry to be later promoted to the Cabinet rank in the latest reshuffle of the Ministry.
Unlike Rupam Kurmi, Ajanta Neog, the Minister of State for Tourism and Food and Civil Supplies, was catapulted to the forefront of politics after the tragic death of her husband Nagen Neog, former Minister in the State, in the hands of marauding ULFA militants just after the 1996 Assembly polls. A masters degree holder in law, Neog was, however, not new to politics as her mother Rebati Das was an MLA from Jalukbari Constituency here. As far as Naharkatiya LAC is concerned, Pranati Phukon, the Minister of State for Culture and Revenue, has created history by becoming the first Minister from that constituency.
A second-time MLA from Naharkatiya, Phukon told this newspaper that she was born to a Congress family who participated actively in the freedom struggle. Her grandfather Chandra Chetia was a freedom fighter while her parents were active Congress workers during the movement. When asked when she joined the Congress, Phukon said, ?I was born to a family of Congressmen. When I cast my first vote in Assembly polls in 1985 it was for the Congress.? As a Minister, she now pledges to focus on creating a sub-division at Naharkatiya to fulfil the long-standing demand of the people there.
The new Minister of State for Transport and Social Welfare, Sharifa Begum said, ?The ministerial berth is a gift from the Congress high command in recognition to my victory in the last Assembly polls over rebel Congress leader Rashidul Haque.? Daughter of veteran politician and former State Minister, Md Idris, who held several ministerial portfolios during 1972-85, Sharifa Begum is very content to be the Minister of State for Transport as she feels it will give her ample opportunity to improve communication to backward Constituency of Rupahihat. She was an employee of the State Secretariat from September 31, 1992 till the last Assembly polls. Before that she had served the State Health Directorate for a brief period after being employed by the Government on compassionate ground following death of her husband Dr Azhar Ali.