Health and Sanitation Behaviour of the Tea Garden Labourers: Crises and Deprivation

Abstract

In recent years progress in the areas of health and sanitation coverage in Bangladesh has received national and international attention. But not all are getting equal coverage; specially some marginal groups of people remained excluded despite having constitutional provisions. Among others, tea garden labourers are one of the segregated communities in Bangladesh has been facing sever discrimination and deprivation. Economic crises, absence of facilities, lower rate of education and ignorance led them to depend on traditional unscientific and unhygienic practices. This paper is based on a qualitative study on a particular tea garden, named Tarapur Tea Garden in Sylhet city, Bangladesh, which focuses on their health and sanitation practices, facilities, problems and coping strategies. Findings revealed that they are far from the modern health and sanitation facilities and thus maintaining miserable life. Use of unsafe toilet, inappropriate garbage and drainage facilities, unhygienic living arrangement, absence of preventive measures regarding basic health safety, etc. are very common among the tea labourers. Even they fail to get legal facilities as the garden authorities show less interest. The paper attempts to describe their miserable life style, crises and survival ways. In-depth Interview and Focus Group Discussion were the tools for data collection.