Interrogating social security: Experiences of labourers in the closed tea gardens of Darjeeling hills
- Social Change and Development
- 19(2), Jul, 2022: p.89-102
The tea industry in India witnessed a setback in the five major tea-growing states of India, i.e., Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, during 2003–04, when as many as 118 gardens were closed. The present research is an exploration of the vulnerabilities and sudden loss of social security of the labouring community engaged in three closed tea gardens in West Bengal, ensured under the provisions of the Plantation Labour Act. Three gardens are Dooteriah, Kalej Valley, and Peshok Tea Garden, situated in the Darjeeling hills. These gardens were abandoned in October, 2015 but it was officially declared as closed in January, 2018. The workers have receivable dues from the company, and provident fund contributions are not withdrawn in many cases. As evident from the field survey, labourers are engaged in different types of economic activities as per the demand of the local labour market, namely quarrying and extraction, agricultural labour, animal rearing, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) jobs, grocery and stationary shops, and daily wages in nearby urban centres and markets. They also out-migrate to distant cities to join urban informal services, such as the army slums, and are in constant search of jobs as they lost regular work after the closure of the gardens. – Reprdocued
Social security, Labourers, Tea gardens, Darjeeling hills