Study on Socio-Economic Status and Livelihood Migration Trend of the Tea Garden Workers in Dooars Region of West Bengal

Abstract

The tea industry in West Bengal employs a large section of the population amongst whom the tribal populace predominates. A major portion of tea has been cultivated, grown, produced and processed in various tea estates at Doors region in the districts of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar. A sizeable population also resides in the tea gardens which are spread all over these two districts primarily comprised of a rural population with a high number of SCs/STs. Being the foothills of Eastern Himalaya, the landscapes of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar are sprinkled with hundreds of lush green tea gardens and numerous meandering rivers. There are 64 Tea Gardens in Alipurduar District and 120 Tea Gardens in Jalpaiguri District of West Bengal. But, behind the production of this popular beverage, an acute humanitarian crisis remains unfolding. Over the past few decades, owing to various socio-economic factors, many tea gardens have been abandoned or shut down. This has brought the tea garden workers into a stage of dire socio-economic disaster by losing regular sources of income, which results in a serious risk of starvation and malnutrition. There are hardly any alternative employment opportunities for the jobless tea workers in and around the locality except irregular jobs such as stone crushing, tree leaves collection, daily labour in urban and semi-urban localities etc.

As reported, many tea garden workers are now jobless in the Dooars region and a good number of workers are migrating even out of the state for finding alternative livelihoods for their survival. A comprehensive field-based study has been undertaken to assess the present socio-economic status of tea garden workers in the Dooars region of WB and their present crisis; to identify various responsible factors affecting their livelihood condition; to assess prime responsible factors for labour migration from tea gardens; where workers from tea gardens are migrating their alternative livelihoods; remedial measures need to be adopted to stop labour migration from the tea gardens in Dooars; and to ensure better socio-economic condition for them to save the tea industry in Dooars region of WB as a whole.