condition of the workers. Most of the respondents viewed higher education as unnecessary for garden work.
Figure 5.6: Level of Education amongst Garden Workers across Gender.
Source: Fieldwork and ACMS Office.
The table above makes it clear that tea-garden society is lagging when it comes to education. Only very recently, a handful of students have been able to reach university-level education. It is the economy, the fight to survive, which has prevailed over education in the gardens.
Table 5.1: School Attendance Record
Standard/Class Male Female Total
Class 1 20 24 44
Class 2 22 18 39
Class 3 19 25 44
Class 4 21 16 37
Class 5 23 21 44
83
64
32 23
7
209
53 38
25 13 6
135
0 50 100 150 200 250
Primary School Middle School High School Higher Secondary
Graduation Total Literates
NUMBER OF WORKERS
LEVEL OF EDUCATION
Class 6 25 19 44
Class 7 22 15 37
Class 8 17 11 28
Source: Field study (School Records)
The above table indicates that garden children attend school, even though the numbers are not very high. However, it is not clear is whether the children regularly come to school or not. It was observed that a few students attended only to have the mid-day meal, free lunch provided by the government, and would leave after that. The school lacked a boundary wall making it easier for the children to leave the campus as and when they wished to. The presence of only two teachers in the school too made the matter worse.
Most parents do not want their children to follow their steps, but the lack of an alternative forces them to work with their parents. Higher education is lacking because there is no college nearby, and most workers cannot afford to send their wards to distant places. Sujata Gorh (name changed), who is among the very few girls who could complete her graduation, says, "It was difficult for me to complete my graduation. The college is almost 20 km away from the garden. Daily I had to spend Rs. 60 as bus fare, which is a big amount for us. Somehow, due to the efforts of my parents, I managed to complete my graduation last year". Today she is engaged as a contractual employee in the labour office under the Government of Assam. Thus, we see few examples of individuals who have come struggled and tried to make some change. Below, we present one such example.
Case 5: A dream waiting to be true
Mr. Tanti sits sipping tea in a small office of his NGO, Balya Bikash Bhawan. He had founded this organisation way back in 1983 to work for the education of tea garden labourers' children. Today he runs a middle and primary school within the garden. His school was recently provincialised by the Govt. of Assam. It is a dream that has been realised for him and his organisation. However, he laments the fact that a large number of children are still
out of school. Most of the parents are unaware of the value of education. Mr Tanti observes that it is a colonial legacy. The management is not interested in education as educated workers will be more aware of their rights, posing a problem to the administration.
According to Mr Tanti, even the union bodies find little interest in improving the education level of the workers.
"We lack sufficient infrastructure and manpower in the garden schools", comments Mr Tanti. He has been teaching in the school despite his busy schedule in many socio-cultural affairs of the community. Lack of permanent teachers hampers the quality of teaching in the school. "Most children attend our school to have the mid-day meals and give little interest to what is being taught", observes the man who has given his life to the education of gardens' children.
"I am just a graduate, but I want our children to be doctors, engineers, scientists and whatnot. We have potential here, but it needs to be polished". There is a sense in his mission to change the age-old traditions and power relations in the garden.
5.3. The Poor and the Non-state Network
The shark contrast between the natural world and the paper world for the workers points to the fact that the state is usually not a part of their social imagination. The poor state is also not at the heart of their livelihood strategies. Thus, with significant penetration of the developmental state into the countryside, most poor people in India do not see the state as their first line of help whenever they seek help. For them, 'Sarkar' is a distant personality who cannot be approached without a mediator. The social network of the poor provides an intuitive platform for them to interact with the state, which is far more regular than formal interaction with agencies of the state. These networks overlap and at times eclipse a large number of development agencies of the state. We will provide more details in the next section on the participatory politics of the poor.
Given the high occurrence of poverty in the field, it is evident for people to seek employment and look for credit creation. Opportunities for the workers are minimal outside the gardens. The support of local leaders and patrons is crucial in getting a permanent job within the estate. Thus, a good relationship with the local patron provides an added advantage to the worker who desperately needs work throughout the year. Many times, the local leaders are also helpful in getting provisions of PLA to the garden workers.
However, many times this adversely affects their bargaining capacity with the management.
Another essential feature of the relationship between the poor and the local powerful is the requirement of credit needs of the poor. The high demand for loans by rural poor and workers is met usually by the local employers and agents within the garden. The rate is interest is naturally more elevated than the interest rates of formal credit institutions. In few cases, the workers relied on loans from co-workers and relatives, but this was rare since most of them lacked cash credit. There are well-known moneylenders in the close vicinity of few gardens, traditionally the Marwari traders and Kabuliwallas. They have been a continuous source of credit to the rural poor since the colonial period. A significant reason most people avoided formal credit institutions is their lack of knowledge and inability to carry out the 'paperwork' associated with the credit. Besides, the local agents and employers provide for 'ready money which is easily accessible.
To understand the nature and tendency of the workers towards saving, our survey looked into the types of savings in the garden. Fig. 5.7 shows the different modes of savings practised by the workers. It is found that almost all permanent workers have a bank account since their salary is routed through a bank account. However, it needs to be noted that having a bank account is not enough to prove that workers can save their money.
Opening a bank account is required for salary purposes only. The majority of temporary
workers relied on Cooperative Societies and Self-Help Groups for credit requirements. A large number of workers are dependent on non-institutional sources of credit during times of crisis.
Figure: 5.7: Modes of Saving in Tea Garden
Source: Fieldwork and Office of Garden Welfare Officer.
The relationship between the employers, workers, local brokers, and agents can be best described as a private-market-based relationship reflected in the mode of production in the gardens. The workers have no say in the decision over the product or value generated by their labour. The labourers exercise very little bargaining power within the garden. It was seen that few labourers with considerable experience and could gain the employer's trust are regarded as valuable and treated with respect by the authority.
Another vital aspect to be looked into while considering the role of local leaders is their role in negotiating disputes. Mediation of disputes by local elders and community leaders is an age-old tradition amongst the garden community. However, with
74, 74%
5.5, 5%
6.5, 7%
14, 14%