I’m lucky!” the Britisher had exclaimed upon discovering this prime patch for tea cultivation in Assam. This is how the Amluckie tea estate earned its name. However, luck was definitely not on the side of Sisul Tanti, a chowkidar of this garden owned by the Assam Tea Corporation Limited (ATCL). ATCL did not pay him Rs 1.15 lakh as Provident Fund (PF) dues, after deducting it from his salary throughout his service.For 12 years, Tanti suffered from diabetes but got only Rs 10,000 from his PF as an advance for treatment. When Tanti died on October 4, 2006, his, comprising his wife and his three minor children, got only Rs 20,000 of the total PF amount. Two years later, Tanti’s wife and children are still waiting for the remaining sum, which they should have received within 15 days.
Tanti’s family is not alone. Pohandia Tanti, a permanent worker of the garden died during the working period, but his family is yet to receive any compensation, gratuity or PF. In fact, no PF contributions from these workers have been deposited by the ATCL since 1998 under the Assam Tea Planters Provident Fund Scheme. Lakhon Kalindi, a permanent worker recalls a similar situation a few years ago when workers had to eat wild plants to beat starvation.
The once full-fledged hospital in the tea garden lies dilapidated, with no doctors or pharmacists. A health assistant at the hospital, who did not wish to be named, said: “We don’t keep indoor patients, nor do we have laboratory facilities.” They refer serious patients to the neighbouring towns of Nogaon, Samaguri and Tezpur. For common ailments, They hand out medicines from their stock.
In 1972, 759 tea gardens of Assam were declared sick. As many as 359 gardens were said to be in a bad condition. Of these, 15 were adopted by the government, which set up the ATCL to improve the plight of the workers.
However, what should have been ‘model’ tea gardens have, in fact, become the shame of Assam. Mismanagement, financial irregularities and incompetent administration in the 15 government-owned ATCL gardens have so ruined them that the workers are on the verge of starvation. These gardens, located in Golaghat, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Silchar and Nogaon districts, have been overburdened by liabilities.
Says Pallab Das, General Secretary of All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (AATTSA): “These gardens should have been ideal gardens. But everything has failed including government sche mes like the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. People here die of common ailments like diarrhoea, malaria and even gastroenteritis.”
The condition of the gardens started going from bad to worse in the late 1990s. In fact, the government has, from time to time, tried to review the state of affairs in these gardens. It set up an empowered committee in 2001 to suggest both short- and long-term measures for the revitalisation of the ATCL. The only recommendation of the committee followed was the selling of the ATCL office in Guwahati to meet salary requirements.
The situation is grim. Workers have been living without wages and rations for the past few weeks. “Workers face starvation and an acute water shortage. Most try finding work in the neighbouring brick kilns and construction sites,” says Krishna Tanti, an activist.
Ironically, the plight of these tea workers, brought to Assam as indentured labourers by the British, has not improved in independent India. Dipankar Banerjee, a historian at Gauhati University, says, “it is an example of lopsided economic growth that the workers who made a tremendous contribution to the state’s economy are dying of starvation.”
Even the wages in ATCL gardens are lower than in other gardens. Bhagirath Karan, Chairperson, Congress Tea Cell, says, “The workers in other gardens in Assam get Rs 54, but ATCL garden workers get Rs 48. They work for six days and get wages for only five days. Since October 2007, they have been getting single rations, but even that has stopped.”
The situation is so bad that while PF contributions have been deducted from workers’ wages, nobody bothered to give a statement of accounts at the office of the Assam Tea Planters Provident Fund scheme. “There are many who have retired and died without getting their PF money,” adds Karan.
Karan also adds that the Board of Directors has not been constituted for the past two years and everything is handled by the Managing Director. “There is practically no transparency in any financial dealings. Private companies have made a fortune using the same soil, climate and workforce,” he adds.
Many feel that in order to revive these gardens, extensions should be made in barren land and new ones planted. Among ATCL’s big liabilities are its high number of permanent workers and poor productivity. The yield per hectare is also much below the Assam average.
Pawan Singh Ghatowar, President, Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangh, says, “The government is not competent to run these gardens. It doesn’t have the expertise or the managerial know-how to operate the gardens. Liabilities have increased beyond the actual value of these gardens.”
He feels that a viable alternative has to be found to solve the livelihood crisis for the thousands of workers in the gardens. There are about 16,000 permanent workers, and 350 employees and dependents who have not been getting their legal dues including gratuity, PF, subsidised rations or minimum wages. “One solution could be to hand these gardens to big tea companies,” he says.
Realising that these tea workers are a substantial votebank, the government has announced a slew of measures by roping in the Public Health Engineering Department and the National Rural Health Mission to resolve the water and medical facility crisis. But like all government schemes, these relief measures will take time. Till then, basic amenities will remain a dream in these government-owned tea estates and the workers will continue to suffer in ignominy.
Tanti’s family is not alone. Pohandia Tanti, a permanent worker of the garden died during the working period, but his family is yet to receive any compensation, gratuity or PF. In fact, no PF contributions from these workers have been deposited by the ATCL since 1998 under the Assam Tea Planters Provident Fund Scheme. Lakhon Kalindi, a permanent worker recalls a similar situation a few years ago when workers had to eat wild plants to beat starvation.
The once full-fledged hospital in the tea garden lies dilapidated, with no doctors or pharmacists. A health assistant at the hospital, who did not wish to be named, said: “We don’t keep indoor patients, nor do we have laboratory facilities.” They refer serious patients to the neighbouring towns of Nogaon, Samaguri and Tezpur. For common ailments, They hand out medicines from their stock.
In 1972, 759 tea gardens of Assam were declared sick. As many as 359 gardens were said to be in a bad condition. Of these, 15 were adopted by the government, which set up the ATCL to improve the plight of the workers.
However, what should have been ‘model’ tea gardens have, in fact, become the shame of Assam. Mismanagement, financial irregularities and incompetent administration in the 15 government-owned ATCL gardens have so ruined them that the workers are on the verge of starvation. These gardens, located in Golaghat, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Silchar and Nogaon districts, have been overburdened by liabilities.
Says Pallab Das, General Secretary of All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (AATTSA): “These gardens should have been ideal gardens. But everything has failed including government sche mes like the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. People here die of common ailments like diarrhoea, malaria and even gastroenteritis.”
The condition of the gardens started going from bad to worse in the late 1990s. In fact, the government has, from time to time, tried to review the state of affairs in these gardens. It set up an empowered committee in 2001 to suggest both short- and long-term measures for the revitalisation of the ATCL. The only recommendation of the committee followed was the selling of the ATCL office in Guwahati to meet salary requirements.
The situation is grim. Workers have been living without wages and rations for the past few weeks. “Workers face starvation and an acute water shortage. Most try finding work in the neighbouring brick kilns and construction sites,” says Krishna Tanti, an activist.
Ironically, the plight of these tea workers, brought to Assam as indentured labourers by the British, has not improved in independent India. Dipankar Banerjee, a historian at Gauhati University, says, “it is an example of lopsided economic growth that the workers who made a tremendous contribution to the state’s economy are dying of starvation.”
Even the wages in ATCL gardens are lower than in other gardens. Bhagirath Karan, Chairperson, Congress Tea Cell, says, “The workers in other gardens in Assam get Rs 54, but ATCL garden workers get Rs 48. They work for six days and get wages for only five days. Since October 2007, they have been getting single rations, but even that has stopped.”
The situation is so bad that while PF contributions have been deducted from workers’ wages, nobody bothered to give a statement of accounts at the office of the Assam Tea Planters Provident Fund scheme. “There are many who have retired and died without getting their PF money,” adds Karan.
Karan also adds that the Board of Directors has not been constituted for the past two years and everything is handled by the Managing Director. “There is practically no transparency in any financial dealings. Private companies have made a fortune using the same soil, climate and workforce,” he adds.
Many feel that in order to revive these gardens, extensions should be made in barren land and new ones planted. Among ATCL’s big liabilities are its high number of permanent workers and poor productivity. The yield per hectare is also much below the Assam average.
Pawan Singh Ghatowar, President, Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangh, says, “The government is not competent to run these gardens. It doesn’t have the expertise or the managerial know-how to operate the gardens. Liabilities have increased beyond the actual value of these gardens.”
He feels that a viable alternative has to be found to solve the livelihood crisis for the thousands of workers in the gardens. There are about 16,000 permanent workers, and 350 employees and dependents who have not been getting their legal dues including gratuity, PF, subsidised rations or minimum wages. “One solution could be to hand these gardens to big tea companies,” he says.
Realising that these tea workers are a substantial votebank, the government has announced a slew of measures by roping in the Public Health Engineering Department and the National Rural Health Mission to resolve the water and medical facility crisis. But like all government schemes, these relief measures will take time. Till then, basic amenities will remain a dream in these government-owned tea estates and the workers will continue to suffer in ignominy.
