Journal of Global Resources

Volume 2January 2016
Page 200-204
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

28
TRIBALS ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN THE CLOSED TEA GARDEN OF DOOARS: A
CASE STUDY OF DHEKLAPARA TEA GARDEN
Shakti Dutraj
Department of Geography, Sikkim University, Gangtok (Sikkim), India
Email: shaktidutraj7@gmail.com
Abstract: The livelihood of the tribal communities of Dooars, have been dependent on tea
gardens since centuries. They have are the backbone of the tea industry. Their hard work andeffort have provided acceleration to the industry, but on their part they have been remained
stagnant with respect to development. The paper examines the impact of the closure of tea
garden on the livelihood issues of the tribal of the Dooars, on the basis of primary andsecondary data, and discusses the findings of the work.
Key words: Communities, Dooars, Livelihood, Tribal, Tea Industry
Introduction
Chamber and Conway (1991) defines livelihood as “a livelihood comprises of people, theircapabilities, and their means of living, including food, income and asset. Tangible assets areresources and stores, and intangible assets are claims and assets. A livelihood is sociallysustainable which can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, and provide for futuregeneration.”(Chambers, R and Conway, G 1991) .The introduction of the tea plantation
brought about changes in the workforce structure, affecting livelihood of the tribal’s andNepalese both positively and negatively too. By 1854 tea plantation was established in andaround Darjeeling and Kurseong region, started as a small nursery for experiment, but by
1891 the number of tea gardens that grew was around 113. (Sharma, K and Das T 2008). The
tribal people initially came to the Dooars from their homeland outside Bengal as tea garden
workers, but later on the migrant tribal people settled permanently in the Dooars (Basu 2012).
Dooars also saw a growth in the tea plantation industries, with introduction of tea just as aventure project. The plantation which was started as a commercial venture in 1856 brought a
remarkable impact within a short period of time. The rapid commercialization of tea garden
brought about a change in demographic profile, with sudden influx of labour migrants. Today
there are almost 235 tea gardens in Dooars covering an area of 81,338 acres undercultivation.
Objectives
To analyze major shifts in livelihood practices and the associated consequences ofsuch shifts.
To examine the impact of alternative livelihood strategies on the living conditions
To understand the interventions of the community, government and civil society in thetransformation of livelihoods.
Methodology:
The methodology has been based on studies done through the help of both primary andsecondary data using appropriate statistical techniques.

200

Findings and Discussions
Certain tea gardens of Dooars are incurring huge losses and are in the verge of getting close.
On the other hand there are tea gardens that have remained closed for last twelve-thirteen
years which have greatly affected the tribal workers who were dependent in tea gardens forlivelihood and support their family.
Table 1: The operational status of Tea Gardens in different states of India
State

No ofgarden
closedbetween
2000-041753

No ofworkers
involved

No ofgardens reopened

No ofworkers
involved

Assam
10134
146313
West43590
4739245
Bengal
Tripura7466
6394
Kerala3811829244412Tamil Nadu 32423
32423
Total
11868442
9452787
stSource: 51 Annual Report 2004- 2005 (Tea Board of India)

No ofgarden thatstill remainclosedNo ofworkers
closedinvolved

3638214345

114024*727417015655The above data shows the number of tea gardens that have been closed between the periodsof 2000-04 in different tea growing states of India. In West Bengal alone there were 53 tea
gardens closed during that period affecting a huge working population.
Impact on Livelihood
The livelihood of 600 workers both casual and permanent has been swinging since the closureof tea garden. They have to be dependent on different sources of livelihood as an alternative
for their living. One prominent feature of their livelihood is they have been shifting from one
source of livelihood to other source from time to time, but the majority of the workers havebeen dependent on quarrying to earn their living which provides a healthy income than othersource of livelihood.
The number of workers engaged in quarrying is very high, as such the competition among
them have been a major problem among the workers. The amount received from querying
depends on the amount of crushed stone but the wage received from querying is too less osupport the household.
Table 2: Different Livelihood sources adopted by the affected workers
Occupation Structure of the Affected
Percentage of Workers
WorkerQuarrying
42.74
Forest Dependence
15.32
Daily Wage Labour
20.16
Agricultural Labour
7.25
Shops
4
Private Sector
1.61
Migrated labour
6.45
Dairy Farming
1.61
Source: Field Survey March-April 2014201

Impact on HealthThe phase of 2004 had seen a severe impact on the health issues of the workers in teagarden. The phase saw a number of deaths of the workers during that phase. A government
report conducted to study the impact on health status of the workers during that phase cameup with the finding that there had been an increase in the average number of deaths in thestudy area after the closure of tea garden.
Table 3: Number of Deaths in the Closed Tea GardensYear
Mujnai Raimatong Dheklapara Ramjhora
Total
1998
2953
24
24130
1999
2641
25
16108
2000
1130
32
2295
2001
743
192392
2002
4163
2441169
2003
5473
3154
212
Average number of death per
18422521106
year (before the crisis
Average number of deaths per48
682848191
year (after closure)
Percentage increase in deaths
6239955
44
Reproduced Source: Report on Hunger in Tea Plantations in North Bengal, January, 2004.

At present the health status remains stagnant, the area don’t have even a primary
health centre and have to depend on the main health centre which is around 9-10 km from thearea. The health infrastructures have remained underdeveloped in the study area .The
workers are dependent on local medicines available from nearby village shops, and on
emergency issues only they prefer to visit the health centre located by the nearest vicinity.
Other Impacts
One of the major impacts among the workers due to the closure of tea gardens has been lossof basic facilities, which used to be their life support that was provided by tea garden while it
was operating. As per the Plantation Labour Act of 1951, the tea owners is required to provide
the works with basic facilities like housing, health, nurseries and crèches, primary education to
the children of the workers, weekly ration etc. At present the housing facilities are available,
but other facilities like health, weekly ration consumption, education etc needs to be bought byspending their amount. An increase in the household income due to engagement of morefamily members in earning process has been noticed by dropping out children from education,
cutting up expenses, enrolling women’s to government schemes like MGNREGA.
Table 4: Amount spent on weekly consumption of Ration PDS
Amount Spent on Weekly Ration Consumption
in Rs
20-25
35-50
50-65

Households in Percentage
77.45
16.66
5.88

Source: Field Survey March -April 2014

Table 5: Food intake on daily basis among the households
Consumption of Food
2 times
3 timesHouseholds in Percentage
54.9
44.1

Source: Field Survey March -April 2014202

Though the amount spent on weekly ration seems to be quite less as per the dataobtained from field but the amount of quantity received by the workers is also less. As per theinformation collected from the field the quantity received is around 200gm for each individual,
as such their dependence on outside source is quite high than on PDS.
Impact on Education
The closing phase of tea garden saw a decline in the education of the youths where droppingout from education had been a common strategy to support their family. At present the status
remains the same where dropping children from education, unwillingness of children for going
schools and unable to meet with the demands of children have been seen in the study area.
Table 6: Impact on Education
Households in Percentage
60.7
14.7

Impact on Education
Dropouts
Education Gap
Selling of Property
Unaffected

4.9
19.6

Source: Field Survey March -April 2014

Migration an alternative to Livelihood
The process of migration in the study area seems to be high among the youths who have been
migrating to different urban centres of the country to. The pull factor has been very high in thestudy area, and a chain of migrants have followed them to different urban centres working as
daily wage labourers, housemaids, waiter in hotels, cooks etc adding up support to their family
income. The remittance send by the migrants to their houses are either on monthly basis orthey bring all together when they visit their home once or twice a year. Some of the migrants
have been misguided by their owners with respect to monthly income, which seems to be a
growing concern among the migrants.

Destination of Migrants
Delhi
KeralaBihar
Hyderabad
Punjab and Haryana
Mumbai
Madhya Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
GujaratTable 7: Destination of the Migrants
Percentage of Migrants
48.38
3.22
3.22
3.22
22.58
6.45
3.22
3.22
6.45

Source: Field Survey March -April 2014

The role of Government
The effort of government in solving the problem seems to be quite negligible. The governmenthas been neglecting the issues, though there has been a visit by government officials andministers from time to time. The government has been providing the workers with a monthly
fixed income of Rs. 1500 known as fawlai. It was found that there has been a delay inproviding the amount to the workers. Though certain government schemes are underutilization in the study area but have been worthless while observing the impact of theschemes among the workers. Schemes like MGNREGA have been functioning in the study
203area, but there has also been a delay in respect to wages provided to the workers. The local
institutions have been supporting the workers by engaging them in plucking up the leaves andselling to the other tea gardens at a daily wage of Rs 35 which to some extent helps in
supporting the family of the workers.
The Growing Vulnerabilities and Challenges
A study on Vulnerability, Forced Migration and Trafficking in Children and Women has comeup with a finding that there has been an increase in trafficking of women in children from thetea gardens of North Bengal, who are either performing as a sick unit or has been closed.
(Ghosh, 2014) The study reveals the fact the regions has been an exposure to placement
agencies who enjoys the benefits of illiteracy and unskilled workers providing hope to theyouth workers of placements outside the region. The growing incident of such trafficking is
becoming worse and worse with parents of the victims not raising up their voices for theproblem. The problem is not only found in the closed or the sick tea gardens, but it has also
been very common in working tea gardens, as less income has contributed to the exposure ofyouths to the outside world.
Conclusion
The overall study brings out the plight of the workers in Dheklapara tea garden, whereunderdevelopments in different fields have affected the overall development process of thearea and the people in all. The unawareness and lack of education have impacted a lot in thestudy area, as such the workers have been exposed too much vulnerability that was unknown
prior to few decades. Their livelihood has undergone a drastic change and has been struggling
to deal with problems that have engulfed them at the present date. The venture of thegovernment to develop the region as a hotspot tourist region should also focus on providing
opportunities to these people who have lost their livelihood a decade ago. The development ofvocational training institutes, training centres on handicrafts to women can be seen an
opportunity of developing these communities, since the region has a lot to provide them alongwith tea industry.
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