An Empirical Study on The Socio-Economic Conditions of the Plantation Workers in the Tea Industry of Darjeeling

Abstract

Tea cultivation occupies a place of pride in the Darjeeling hills. The development of the district has been driven by the growth of the tea industry. Nevertheless, this industry is presently in the grip of a mounting crisis. The Darjeeling tea industry has been passing through a period of stagnation. The existing tea estates experience frequent labour conflicts, and some have been locked out for considerable periods. As the tea workers are dependent solely on their wage earnings, the sufferings of workers have increased driving some of them even to suicide. This gives us a clear picture about the grim situation that confronts workers in the Darjeeling tea estates. The dimension of the structural readjustment that is needed within the tea industry to cope with them needs to be analysed immediately in protecting the rights of plantation workers and in equipping them for work and struggle through new livelihood strategies. Hence, the empirical study on the socio-economic conditions of the workers on the tea plantations would help us to understand their problems, while protecting their interests and provide an immediate help to seek better lookout for the condition of tea plantation workers in the hills before their inefficiency may turn into stagnation of the Tea Industry in Darjeeling.