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Paper short abstract:

Tea garden workers form a distinct population in Assam, India facing challenges that are unique to the community and thereby make them a marginalized group. With the tea industry facing a crisis in terms of productivity, the quality of the workforce is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Paper long abstract:

The state of Assam in India is a major tea growing region of the world. Like any plantation work, the cultivation and processing of tea requires a large work-force. The present labour force working in the tea gardens of Assam are the descendants of the workers who were brought as indentured labour from other parts of India during the British rule which makes them culturally distinct from other groups and communities in the state. With a view to improving the condition of the plantation labourers in India, the Parliament passed the Plantations Labour Act, 1951, which underwent amendments subsequently. Despite being governed by welfare provisions of the Plantation Labour Act of 1951, the community remains a marginalised with low levels of attainment in terms of health and education which have incapacitated the community from seeking other forms of livelihood. This is the situation at the time when tea industry in Assam is facing the challenges of low land productivity due to climatic factors, and low labour productivity. Although tea gardens are gradually becoming unviable, but the social costs of a closure of factories is an issue that cannot be ignored. This is because historically labour productivity was never sought to be encouraged by empowering the tea garden workers with requisite skills or providing them exposure to other forms of livelihood.