Share of Assam's Tea Production
4.9. Conclusion
4. 1992 900419 145228 213135
5. 2000 922064 227368 373496
6. 2004 1030242 227368 313860
Source: Thapa (2012)
4.8.3. Exclusion in Wage Determination
In the case of wage determination, there is the severe instrumental exclusion of the workers. The workers hardly have any knowledge about wage calculation. The majority of them are not adequately aware of the deductions made out of their wages. Most workers can fulfil only the bare minimum needs, and there is little scope for savings. There exists a difference between the actual wage and the wage received by the worker. The workers were not provided pay slips in our study site, making it difficult to find their real wages.
There is a common perception that people are poor because of their fate. Also, many women respondents complained of being paid less than men workers. Most of the women were hired as temporary workers during the plucking season.
were, however statutory rights and not just meant to retain them as workers. The new Act put the responsibility of the rights on the employers.
The enactment and implementation of PLA must be understood in the backdrop of the adaptation of the Constitution in 1950. The citizens were for the first time provided with a host of rights and privileges to ensure equity and justice. However, in the enactment of the Act, the labour and trade unions were not consulted, which raises questions on the democratic nature of decision making.
As suggested by a number of findings, the implementation of the Act shows that it has not led to empowerment of workers. The structural hierarchy remains the same like the colonial era. The Act has loopholes when it comes to the empowerment of the labours or wage determination by the management and the state. Findings show that it is exclusionary as it excludes many workers of the small tea gardens and the temporary workers of the estate. While it is true that the proper implementation of the PLA will increase the cost of production, requiring the employee to invest more, it cannot be a justification for maintaining minimum wages. However, in recent years with the advent of state welfare schemes into the domain of plantations there has been a swift in the availability of welfare provisions in the Garden. In the following chapters, we will see how the labour community negotiates the state mechanism and garden management to avail the benefits of such schemes. In this process, the community comes in direct contact with the various agencies of the state. In this interaction and confrontation, a vernacular state is born, which is different from the state of the elite.
Picture 4.1: A. M. Nomani’s ‘The Plantation Labour Act, 1951’
The Plantation Labour Act, 1951 regulates the way of life in tea plantaions. With a host of welfare provisions, the act is crucial in providing statutory rights to the workers. The implementation of the act was crucial to give equal rights to the garden labourers in par with other citizens of the nation.
Picture 4.2: A view of the Garden school
A view of the garden school. PLA provides for schools in every garden. Most of these schools have come under the Sarba Siksha Abhijan, an initiative of the Government of India to achieve universalization of elementary education. (Source: Fieldwork by author)
Picture 4.3: A view of the workers’ quarter
View of a staff quarter constructed three decades back. A family of six members lives in the house with only 3 rooms. (Photo Source: Fieldwork by author)
Picture 4.4: Garden Hospital
The garden hospital is understaffed with a single employee engaged in different types of work. (Photo Source: Fieldwork by author)
Picture 4.5: A toilet in workers’ quarter
Hygiene is a matter of concern in the plantations. Very few quarters have attached toilets.
Most of them are constructed by the workers themselves. (Photo Source: Fieldwork by author)
Picture 4.6: Tea-Factory in the Plantation
Workers are seen working with heavy machines in the garden factory. Though the PLA has provisions for safety measures at factory sites, it is rarely followed by the management. The workers in the picture are not trained staff. Such working environment is prone to accidents. (Photo source: Fieldwork by author)
Picture 4.7: Garden Creche
A Crèche for the children of women workers. Even though the management provides for creche there is no permanent trained staff to look after the children. The ordinary workers are at times given the duty to look after the children. (Photo source: Fieldwork by author)
Photo 4.8: A factory staff
A factory staff with a local volunteer. For the community it is a matter of pride to be engaged as a staff in the garden. The person (in the picture) whose parents were unskilled workers studied till 12 standard and managed to get a job in the factory. (Photo source:
Fieldwork by author)
Photo 4.9: Workers working in a garden factory
Workers are seen working with heavy machines in the garden factory. Though the PLA has provisions for safety measures at factory sites, it is rarely followed by the management. The workers in the picture are not trained staff. (Photo Source: Fieldwork by author)
CHAPTER 5