CHAPTER V
Child Labour in the Tea Estates

5.1 Past Trends

It is difficult to say exactly when the practice of child labour started in Nepal. The fact that Nepal is an agricultural country makes it appear but natural that unpaid labour by child workers should be accepted as a traditional practice. Child labour could be a product of feudal land ownership due to which there was a need for domestic helpers and cattle-herders. The practice of employing children in the handicrafts and other industries has also existed since a very long time. The first tea garden was set up in 1864. It is possible that children had been involved in plucking tea leaves right from the initial stage.

Urbanisation and modernisation of the country have brought about a widespread use of child labour in industrial and service sectors (in hotels, restaurants, manufacturing industries and transport etc.). The trade unions, NGOs, INGOs, the ILO and the government have made efforts to root out child labour but the impact of their activities has been limited due to poverty and the exploitation based socio-economy. The concept of child rights and that children should not be compelled to work, has not been able to take effect

In 1991 CWIN carried out a study on child labour in 13 large tea gardens to examine the nature and the extent of child labour and its causes. The CWIN Research Report states that 11.29 per cent of the total labour force in 13 tea gardens surveyed were children and they worked as daily workers. The survey found 451 child workers among 3995 workers - 180 in 6 public tea estates and 271 in 7 of the private estates. Viewing the incidence of child labour in terms of percentage, 9.5 per cent of the total work force in the government tea estates and 13 per cent in the private tea estates comprised of children. On an average, every tea garden employed approximately 200 children of which 150 were seasonal and 50 were regular daily wage workers.

In 1995, four years after the CWIN study, when GEFONT carried out a sample survey in 5 large tea gardens, a dramatic change was identified. In 1991, most of the child workers had been upgraded to "Aurat (Woman)" or "Marad (Man)". The management had also started cutting down on the employment of children after the enactment of the Labour Act, 1992. The public sector tea gardens now seem to comply strictly with the legal obligations regarding not hiring children. The private tea estates, however, still appear to be employing children, though they do not appear on record. Even so, the 1995 GEFONT sample survey clearly points out the fact that in private tea gardens, the employment of children had begun to decline. The data from four tea gardens can be taken for comparison.

Table 5.1 Comparison of Child Labour: Past Reflections

The GEFONT report states that during the plucking season, i.e., from May through August, the children from the workers' families continue to work in both public and private tea gardens but are kept off the record. However, their number has declined.

The present survey also shows that previously child labour was used on a large scale on regular daily wages. Table 5.2 gives the past trends by analysing the data regarding the adult workers' present age and their age at the time of their joining the tea estate as workers (See Table 5.2).

Table 5.2 Distribution of Adult Labour by their Age and Sex
at the Time of Joining Tea Estate

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Out of the total adult workers interviewed, 4.3 per cent had joined the tea estates before reaching 10 years of age and 23.2 per cent at an age between 10 and 14 years. Thus, 27.5 per cent of the workers joined the tea estate as children comprising 23.8 per cent of the male workers and 30.7 per cent of the female workers (Table 5.2).

A declining trend in the employment of children is now seen. The exact situation is, however, difficult to determine, as after the enforcement of the Labour Act (1992) the management does not record the number of child labourers.

5.2.1 Source of Child Labour

This survey shows that only the children of the tea workers work as child workers. The only exception is the Loknath Tea Estate on the southern border where Indian children from across the border come to work in the morning and return in the evening. According to the workers of the tea estate, up to 40 Indian children work during the plucking season and 15-20 such children work during the rest of the year in this tea estate. Due to the lack of co-operation from the management, these child workers could not be met during the survey. It has been found that during the plucking season the Mittal Tea Estate, the Kalika Tea Estate and the Kabadi Devi Tea Estate of the border areas employ adult Indian workers and also some of their children. The incidence of Indian child labour, however, cannot be considered as significant. The source of child labour is primarily the tea plantation workers' families, especially the ones residing in the "Dhura" at the tea estates.

Table 5.3 Number of Children 5 - 14 Years
by Their Status and Sex in the Labour Family

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Using table 3.7, it is seen that 26.7 per cent boys and 34.9 per cent girls from the government tea estate workers' families and 47.3 per cent boys and 58.4 per cent girls from the private tea estate workers' families do not go to school. Out of this large number of children who do not go to school, 24.7 per cent are involved in household and income generating work and the remaining 17.9 are idlers. This huge mass of idlers and semi-idlers are the potential child workers in the present situation.

Acute poverty and the inability to bear the school expenses and having to look after younger siblings were the reasons behind the children's being engaged in casual jobs and staying away from school. Most worker parents prefer having their children employed to supplement the family income. Therefore, even the present school-going children can be considered as potential child workers.

About 40 per cent children of the 5-14 age group are involved in different types of work within and outside the household. Out of 155 adult workers (63 from public estates and 92 from private estates) who responded to questions on the causes behind the involvement their children in work 47.7 per cent said that they had employed their children in different kinds of work because of abject poverty, 17.4 per cent because they had not been able to afford their school expenses, 27.7 per cent because other young children had to be looked after when they were at work (Table 4.21). The situation in public and private estates is slightly different. It is strange that poverty is perceived to be the cause of child labour more in the public tea estates than in the private sector.

Table 4.21 Causes of Child Involvement in Household and
Outside Household Activities by Status of Tea Estate

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Regarding the effects on their family conditions in case their children did not work either within or outside their households, about 42 per cent said that they would have to face a shortage of food and clothing, 16.8 per cent said that the living standard of their family would deteriorate and 33.5 per cent said that there would be no one to look after their home and other children (Table 4.22).

Moreover, 83.9 per cent said that if their economic and family conditions were to improve, they would send their children to school, 4.5 per cent said that their children would continue to work and the remaining 5.8 per cent said that they would send them to school and also engage them in household and outside activities (Table 4.23).

Table 4.22 Effects on Family Condition when Children are not Involved in Household and Outside Household Activities by Status of Tea Estate

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Table 4.23 Feelings of the workers about what
their children would do if family condition improved

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Thanks to the Labour Act 1992, in public sector tea estates, only a single child worker was found during the survey and the reason, according to the management, for his being there was that his parents, both estate-workers, had died and he had nowhere else to go. According to the old method of classification those considered "Chhokara" or adolescents are also not found in the public tea gardens. It is possible that they have increased their ages to 18 and above, and have been kept on record as adult men and women. However, in the private tea gardens, child labour is still present in the form of regular wage earners and the number of Chhokaras (adolescents) is also quite significant.

Chhokaras are the workers within the age group of 15-18. Out of the total population 2828 of the interviewed working families, the population of the 15-18 age group (i.e. the Chhokara Age) is 243, 8.6 per cent. Of the total population of the age group, 102 are males and 141 are females constituting 7.3 per cent of the male population and 9.8 per cent of female population respectively (See Table 3.1). The number of Chhokaras working in the tea estate is 50, i.e. 5.1 per cent of the total workers under the sample. Among them, 14 are male and 36 are female, i.e. 3.1 per cent of them are male workers and 6.9 per cent are female workers respectively. Others generally wait for the plucking season to work.

One peculiar observation was that the wages among Chhokaras also varies. The common practice is to pay them Rs. 30 per day. However, even in the public sector tea estates, it has been observed that Rs. 30 and Rs. 31 is the daily wage in Soktim and Barnei, whereas Rs. 36 is paid in Tokla. In private tea estates, the Chhokaras are given very low wages ranging from Rs. 18-30.

During the study, 23 child workers below the age of 15, considered as Lokada according to the old classification, were found. Although they are working all the year round, they were not on record. Two, out of these child workers, could not be contacted and only 21 of them could be interviewed. Among these child workers there was one child in the age group of 5-9 years and 20 in the age group of 10-14 (See table 5.4).

Table 5.4 Age and Sex Distribute of Sampled Child Workers

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

All the child workers were found in Jhapa. Among them 11 children or 52.4 per cent work as daily wage earners. They were denied the benefit of the provident fund. The remaining 10 or 47.6 per cent were working as seasonal workers. Their wages, however, were equal to those of the regular daily wage earners. (See table 5.5 & 5.10)

Table 5.5 Terms and Conditions of Work for Child Worker

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Wage rates differ from garden to garden. It was learnt that 19 per cent of them receive less than Rs. 20 as daily wages while 81 per cent between Rs. 20-25 (See Table 5.10). The daily work of these child workers keep changing depending on the priority of the management, but especially according to the allocation made by the supervisors or Sardars. Child workers were found to be engaged in plucking, applying fertiliser, weeding, watering, digging and in the nursery, especially for transplanting. Normally, they were not made to spray insecticides. After the plucking season was over, 52.4 per cent of the child workers were engaged in weeding and 14.3 per cent in the nursery (See Table 5.6). According to the child workers, during the peak plucking season the management employed additional children as seasonal workers on a piece rate basis.

Table 5.6 Types of Work Done by Child Workers Last Week

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Children assist their parents in plucking tea leaves to enable them to pluck leaves excess of the daily quota of 23 kg and receive an incentive payment. Even though the management refuses to employ children, the workers take the permission from the supervisor or group leaders for this. This practice is less prevalent in the public sector tea estates but quite common in the private tea estates. The children not being employed formally do not enjoy the facilities extended to workers. Even so, the children seem to be attracted towards working in the tea gardens. 66.7 per cent child workers said that they worked in the tea garden in accordance with their parents' desire. Likewise 28.6 per cent said that they had been working, as their parents, relatives and friends also worked there, 4.8 per cent of the child workers said that they were working there as the tea garden was close to their residence. It was found that more than 90 per cent of the children give their full earning to their parents. It was clear from their apparent enthusiasm and from what they said that they would try to get some other job if they had to quit their job in the tea garden. This is also borne out from the reasons they gave for not going to school. While 9.5 per cent had no interest in education, 14.3 per cent said that they were not allowed to go to school by their parents and about 62 per cent did not go to school as they were required to support their household (See Table 5.7).

Table 5.7 Causes for the Child Workers' Not Going School

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Most of the children work in the tea gardens through-out the year and hardly think seriously about going to school or about leaving their jobs. Only a third of the children had worked less than ten months and the remaining two thirds had worked 10 to 12 months during the previous year (See Table 5.8). 81 per cent of the child workers were found to have been working for less than a year, 14.3 per cent had been working for one year or more but less than 5 years and 4.8 per cent had completed their fifth year at work (See Table 5.9).

Table 5.8 Number of Months Worked by the Child Workers Last Year

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Table 5.9 Total Duration of Work of the child workers in the Tea Estate

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

Another major factor to consider is health. Ill-health, inadequate housing, malnutrition, a lack of proper clothing during the monsoons and other poverty related problems are rampant here. The scarcity of drinking water is one of the main problems of the tea estates. It was found that 47.6 per cent of the children suffered from frequent fever, cold, cough, headaches and backaches. Even though cases of serious illness were not found, the children were exposed to long term health hazards on account of insecticides sprayed on tea bushes. They were generally ignorant of occupational hazards but were only aware of the danger of snake bites.

Table 5.10 Child Workers by Causes for Attraction to the tea estates
Daily Wage Rate, uses of their earnings and Relation with Management

Note: The total percentage may not add up 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996

In the tea gardens, there is no arrangement regarding regular health check up of the workers. The tea garden management does not bear the expenses for medical treatment. A large number of workers treat themselves with medicine available in the area or go to the nearest Health Centre or hospital. The child workers said that they were compelled to use their family's income or to ask for loan for medication and treatment (See Table 5.11).

In spite of this situation, 61.9 per cent stated that they had satisfactory relations with the management, while 33.3 per cent stated that the management behaved badly with them (See Table 5.10). The fact that they have been subject to ill-treatment and verbal abuse for a long time could have made them indifferent to the behaviour of the management.

Table 5.11 Distribution of Child Workers by their Illness
due to Work, Place for Treatment and Medical Expenses

Note: The total percentage may not add up to 100.0 due to rounding up.
        Figures in parenthesis indicate number of workers
Source: Field Survey, 1996