Lok Sabha Question No. 3451 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-16
Subject: Miserable Lives of Labourers
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Badruddin Ajmal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3451 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2020

## MISERABLE LIVES OF LABOURERS

## 3451. SHRI M. BADRUDDIN AJMAL:

Will  the  Minister  of  LABOUR  AND  EMPLOYMENT  be  pleased  to state:

- (a)whether the Government is aware of the fact that labourers working in  the  tea  gardens  are  living  miserable  lives  in  Assam  tea  garden areas being deprived of proper healthcare facility, proper shelter to live in and educational facility for their children;
- (b)if  so,  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  provide  them  with healthy lives;
- (c)whether it is a fact that these workers are paid very less wage by
- the companies and tea garden owners;
- (d)if  so,  whether  the  Government  has  made/will  make  policy  for  a
- proper payment compulsory to these workers; and
- (e)if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a) & (b): The Plantations Labour (PL) Act, 1951 regulates the conditions  of  work  in  plantations  and  provide  for  the  welfare  of plantation  labour.    The  Act  requires  the  employers  to  provide  the workers  with  housing,  medical  facilities,  sickness  and  maternity benefits  and  other  forms  of  social  security  measures.   There  are provisions  for  educational  facility  for  the  worker's  children,  drinking water, conservancy, canteens, crèches and recreational facilities for the  benefit  of  the  tea  plantation  workers  and  their  families  in  and around the work places in the tea estates. The PL Act is implemented through  the  concerned  State  Governments  for  which  separate  Rules have been framed by them.

Moreover, the workers of the tea industry are also covered by  various  industrial  and  social  security  legislations  like  Employees' Compensation  Act,  1923,    Payment  of  Gratuity  Act,  1972,  Provident Funds  &  Miscellaneous  Provisions  Act,  1952,  (Assam  Tea  Plantation Provident  Fund,  Pension  Fund  and  Deposit  Link  Insurance  Fund Scheme  Act  1955  -  only  for  Assam),  Payment  of  Bonus  Act,  1965, Maternity  Benefit  Act,  1961,  Payment  of  Wages  Act,  1936,  Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Factories Act and Industrial Employment (Standing Order) Act, 1946.

Tea  Board  also  supports  and  extends  various  welfare measures for the welfare of tea workers and their wards/dependants, which  is  supplemental  in  nature.  The  labour  welfare  measures  are undertaken  within  the  ambit  of  the  Plan  scheme  of  the  Board  i.e. Human  Resource  Development  component  (HRD)  under  the  overall 'Tea Development & Promotion Scheme''. This HRD component aims at achieving improvements in the  life and living conditions of the Tea Plantation workers and their dependents under  the three broad areas viz.  (a)   Improving  the  health  and  hygiene  of  workers  and  their dependants; (b)  Education of wards of workers & (c) Training to the wards/dependants on workers. Disbursement made by tea board under the HRD schemes to Assam tea garden during the ongoing MTF period (2017-18 to 2019-20) is as under:

| Schemes   | Year      | Year      | Year                                      | Year      |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------------------------------------|-----------|
| HRD       | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-20 (upto February 2020- provisional) | Total     |
| Total     | 1.32 crs. | 0.75 crs. | 0.32 crs.                                 | 2.39 crs. |

As  per  Tea  Board  Baseline  Survey,  2018  data,facilities under different welfare measures with reference to health care sector, shelter and educational facilities covering number of labour quarters, hospitals, doctors, nurses, schools etc. as available in the tea gardens of Assam is as under:-

| Welfare measures.                                 | Welfare measures.   |   Welfare measures. |
|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| Number of workers provided with houses            | Standard            |              196313 |
|                                                   | Non standard        |               79729 |
| Number of hospitals                               |                     |                 439 |
| Number of beds in hospitals                       |                     |               12051 |
| Number of dispensaries existing in tea states     |                     |                 460 |
| Number of ambulances existing in tea states       |                     |                 740 |
| Number of doctors available in tea gardens        | Full time           |                 319 |
|                                                   | Part time           |                 307 |
| No. of Paramedical staff available in tea gardens | Nurses              |                1154 |
|                                                   | Compounders         |                 807 |
|                                                   | Dressers            |                 785 |
|                                                   | Attendants          |                1201 |
| No. of toilets in tea gardens                     |                     |              231970 |
| No. of water points in tea gardens                |                     |               94591 |
| No. of school going                               | Boys                |              119209 |
| children in tea gardens                           | Girls               |              117233 |
| Type of schools existing in tea gardens           | Lower Primary       |               78370 |
|                                                   | Primary             |               55899 |
|                                                   | Secondary           |               33370 |
|                                                   | Higher secondary    |               13269 |
| No. of children < 5 yrs of age                    |                     |               81611 |
| No. of crèches available in tea gardens           |                     |                1378 |
| No. of crèche attendants                          |                     |                1196 |

(c) to (e): The  fixation  of  minimum  wages  for  tea  garden  workers, falls under the purview of State Governments which are the appropriate  Government to fix/revise  the  minimum  wages  as  per  the provision under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.  Moreover, the wages of  tea  garden  workers  are  fixed  as  per  agreement  reached  between producer associations and workers unions.

Daily wages of worker in the tea gardens in Assam are as under:

| Name of the State   | Plantation District   | Effective Date   |   Daily Wages |
|---------------------|-----------------------|------------------|---------------|
| Assam               | a)Assam valley        | 01.03.2018       |           167 |
| Assam               | b) Barak Valley       | 01.03.2018       |           145 |

Apart  from  the  above  daily  wages,  as  per  PLA,  1951,  the workers  are  eligible  to  get  other  fringe  in-kind  benefits  covering provision  of  drinking  water,  latrine  accommodation  at  work  sites, medical facilities, canteens, crèches, housing accommodation, education,  firewood,  free  tea,  food  grains  etc.  are  provided  to  the workers in Assam.

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