CHAPTER VI
Findings from the Focused Group Discussion

6.1 Background of the Area

Besides the quantitative data obtained from interviews with the heads of households, adult and child workers, focused group discussion was conducted to obtain qualitative data and information regarding the socio-economic conditions of tea plantation workers.

The tea estates have been divided into two groups (public and private). Barne Tea Estate was selected from among the public estates and Loknath Tea Estate from among the private estates for the purpose of focused group discussion. Both the tea estates are situated in Jhapa District . Barne is in the northern part of the District whereas Loknath is in the southern part near the Indian border.

6.2 Type of Groups Formed

Ten focus groups were formed, five from the public estate and five from the private estate, comprising 5-10 persons per group representing different castes/ethnic groups, age and sex. A group comprised the following:

1. adult male (above 18 years) workers

2. adult female (above 18 years) workers

3. working boys and others (up to 18 years)

4. working girls and others (upto 18 years)

5. key informants - local political leaders, college & school teachers, social workers, elected VDC officials etc.

6.3 Major Issues Discussed

The following issues were considered in group discussions -

1. Types of work

2. Working hours

3. Working time

4. Types of workers

5. Wage/salary and allowances

6. Facilities besides wage/salary

7. Health hazards

8. Comparison of tea workers with agricultural workers

9. Schooling of children

10. Children working outside the tea estates from workers' families

11. Idlers in the workers' families

12. Labour-management relation

13. Future programme to uplift the socio-economic condition of the workers.

6.3.1 Types of Work

The main work in a tea estate consists of plucking, digging, weeding, watering, tilting, fertilising, nursery work, planting, plant cutting, spraying insecticide, factory work, maintenance of Dhura and other related works. A worker has to accept any type of work assigned by the owner or the management. The management generally engages female workers in leaf plucking (which is more difficult than any other work), weeding, nursery work etc.; male workers in digging, spraying insecticide, plant cutting, maintenance of Dhura etc.; child workers in nursery and leaf plucking. The workers do not specialise in any kind of work.

The nature and types of work are more or less the same in public and private tea estates. The workers of the private estates, however, have to work harder than those in public estates. Permanent and regular daily wage workers are generally assigned hard work compared to seasonal workers.

6.3.2 Working Hours

Every worker (man, woman and child) in the tea estates has to work eight hours per day to get the full wage for the day. Only a few public tea estates allow one-hour lunch break during the eight-hour working period.

The management of the tea estates also insist on a minimum amount of work to be done per day. For example, a worker needs to pluck 23 KGs of green leaves per day to get the full wage for the day. If he/she fails to do this, the management deducts Rs. 1.5 per kg from the wage. On the other hand, if a worker plucks more than 23 KGs in a day he/she gets only Rs. 0.65 per kg which is less than half the rate deducted by the management when the worker fails to deliver the daily quota. Similarly, a worker has to dig more than 250 square feet of land per day. The time taken for digging a certain area of land depends upon the quality of land and other factors. The workers are, however, required to finish the assigned work without any overtime payment even if it takes more than eight hours. The management must also have to be satisfied with the quality of work. All the workers as well as the key informants both from public and private estates agreed that this led to direct exploitation of workers. The workers, who raise their voice against such exploitation are thrown out of employment. They work hard out of fear despite their awareness about being exploited.

In order to eradicate the exploitation of workers, all the participants as well as the concerned Labour Office opined that the terms and conditions of work should be finalised at a tripartite meeting among the management, the government and workers. Regular government supervision of the implementation of the decisions made at the meeting was also necessary.

6.3.3 Working Time

There is no uniform rule in the tea estates regarding the working time. Generally work starts at 7 am. and stops at 4 or 5 PM.. The working time differs from one estate to another, one season to another. In all estates the workers are required to work at least six days per week.

6.3.4 Types of Worker

There are four types of workers in the tea estates, namely:

1. Permanent - Monthly salary earner or staff

2. Permanent - Daily wage earner

3. Temporary - Daily wage earner

4. Seasonal Workers

The number of monthly salary earners or 'staff' is very low. The number of adult permanent regular daily wage workers and temporary regular daily wage workers is more or less equal but no single worker (boys and girls) below 18 years is permanent. According to the Labour Act, the management should give permanent appointment to the worker who works 240 days continuously as a regular daily wage earner. The management, however, discontinues the service of the workers before they become entitled to be made permanent. To overcome this problem of exploitation from the management, all the participants both from the public and private estates suggested that the government as well as trade unions should intervene to safeguard the rights of the workers under the Labour Act and rules thereunder. The condition of the workers in the private estates is bad compared to the public estates. The condition of the workers working in the unregistered tea estates is the worst.

Seasonal workers are used only during the peak season. The seasonal work is known as Bigha among the workers. Men, women and children from the workers' families and also those from outside the estates can work as seasonal workers on either daily wage or piece rate.

6.3.5 Wage Rate/Salary and Allowances

In the tea estates, only the 'staff' gets monthly salary while all other workers get daily wages. The wage rate is equal in all the public tea estates but it varies in the private tea estates. There is no gender discrimination in the matter of wage in public estates but a vast difference exists in the private estates. Normally, the wage rate for adult workers varies from Rs. 34 to Rs. 47.50 per day including Dearness Allowance depending on the type of work. However, in a few private estates the wage rate is below Rs. 34 per day. On the other hand the child workers get Rs. 15 to Rs. 30 on the basis of their work and physical size. Generally the wage of the child worker is fixed on the basis of their size.

The main reason behind the low wage rate in the private estates is that the Labour Act has a flexible clause i.e. in the specified tea estates the wage rate can be fixed by the agreement between management and the workers. In this situation, the management always tries to maximise its profit by employing cheap workers. It can expel those workers who demand high wage rates or other facilities.

All the discussants suggested that the Labour Office should intervene to protect the rights of the workers from this sort of exploitation. The Labour Office, however, claimed that they could not solve the problem without an amendment in the existing Labour Act.

6.3.6 Facilities Besides Wage/Salary

The staff and permanent daily wage earners get certain other facilities, besides their wages and salaries from the management. The facilities vary in public and private estates, and also within the private estates.

a) Residence
Most of the workers working in the public estates reside in the Dhuras provided by the management. This facility in the private estates varies according to their capacity and attitude.

b) Medical
Similarly, medical facility is not the same in public and private estates and also among the private estates. After the restoration of the multi- party system, the workers of NTDC tea estates lost the previous medical facilities. During the Panchayat regime, all medical expenses of the permanent workers had been covered by the management but the present democratic government decided to provide Rs. 200 per year per worker in four instalments as medical expense which is negligible considering the present costs. The government tried to justify this decision in the name of controlling corruption of the management. All the participants suggested that it was better to establish a health clinic or health post with qualified and experienced medical personnel, on the basis of the number of workers instead of providing Rs. 200 per worker. The private estate management rarely provides medical facilities. They are not following the present Labour Act strictly because the workers are not aware of their rights and allow themselves to be exploited and suppressed by the management.

c) Leave
The permanent staff and some of the daily wage earners can get about 29 days paid leave annually. Besides, female workers can get 45 days maternity leave up to two births. All workers get 13 days' leave for funeral rites.

d) Gratuity
Workers (male and female) can get a maximum sum of ten thousand rupees as gratuity on the basis of his/her service period, but partiality and discrimination by the management is very common even in this matter.

e) Provident Fund
In the Labour Act there is a provision of provident fund for permanent staff and workers. However, most of the workers are deprived of this facility. The amount due to be deposited in the provident fund is collected in a private account of the management. It is necessary for the government to intervene and compel the management to deposit the provident fund of the workers regularly in their own accounts as per rules.

f) Labour Substitution
There was a tradition in the tea estates in which an idle adult family member could work in the place of any working member of that family. Similarly, after the death of a worker, one member of his/her family had the right to get the job. All the participants expressed the view that the family income declined due to the control of the management over labour substitution.

6.3.7 Health Hazard

Almost all workers including those who are directly involved in spraying pesticides and insecticides are ignorant of the health hazards from chemicals and fertilisers. The management does not instruct them about health hazards and safety measures. Even those workers who know a little about health hazards of pesticides, are tempted to do the job because they can get a higher wage.

All the key informants and a few workers said that the management should arrange regular health check-up of the workers engaged in hazardous work and provide them with safety masks, apron and other protective equipment as well as instructions on the nature of hazardous and how to minimise them. At present, nothing of this sort is done even when demanded by the workers. Thus the Labour Office should directly intervene to protect the workers from occupational safety and health hazards.

6.3.8 Comparison of Tea Workers and Agricultural Workers

The workers and key informants expressed different views on the relative merits of work in agriculture and tea gardens. The workers said that the daily wage rate of agricultural workers was high compared to that in tea plantations. At present, the agricultural workers receive Rs. 40 per day with three meals whereas the tea plantation workers receive Rs. 40 or less without a meal. However, the tea garden workers appear to be satisfied because tea gardens unlike agriculture offer them employment on a regular basis throughout the year.

6.3.9 Schooling of Children

From the point of view of schooling of children the workers can be divided mainly into two groups. One, the aboriginal group and the other migrant group. The school going children are only about 10 per cent from the aboriginal group and more than 50 per cent from the migrant group. Similarly there is a vast difference in the living standard between the aboriginal group and the migrant group even though they earn the same amount of wages and have the same family size. Few workers from the aboriginal group and most from the migrant group think about their future generations. However, both the groups are gaining in awareness of the world around them and the prospect of development.

The school dropout rate is also high among the aboriginal group. When a child of a family gets seasonal work (Bigha), s/he joins the work at once. Even if s/he was going to school. The boys and girls, who do not go to school or are without any job, pass their time by playing and loitering around.

In order to send all school-going-age children to school, it is necessary to improve the level of awareness of their parents/guardians as well as the level of income of the workers' families.

Less than 50 per cent boy and girl participants who do not go to school, are not interested to go to school because they have lost the habit of doing so. More than 50 per cent could, however, join school if the guardians permit them.

6.3.10 Children From Workers' Families
             Working Outside Tea Estates

At present less than 5 per cent children from the workers' families are working outside the tea estates. They are mainly working as domestic helpers, hotel boys, carpet workers etc. A few years back this percentage was very high. Now this trend is declining and the proportion of school going children is increasing every year in the tea estates.

6.3.11 The Unemployed in the Workers' Families

More than 50 per cent members of the age 15 years or above in the workers' families are unemployed both in public and private estates. All the participants except the child group accepts this situation.

According to them the major causes behind this situation are:

1. No work within the tea estates

2. Lack of work opportunity outside the tea estates.

3. Inability to be self employed job due to lack of technical/ vocational knowledge.

4. Lack of capital

5. Employment of Indian workers instead of Nepali workers

The management of private tea estates especially in the southern border area of India employ cheap Indian labour (adult as well as child) regularly as well as seasonally. This is mainly because -

1. Indian workers work at low wage rates compared to Nepali workers,

2. Nepali workers demand facilities as prescribed in the Labour Act but the Indian workers cannot do so. It is easy to fire Indian workers at any time. It is also found that a few private estates of the southern border area regularly employ Indian child workers. The broker or middleman brings them from India in the morning and takes them back in the evening.

All the adult groups and key informants suggested that to improve the living conditions of the workers' families, it is necessary to carry out awareness programmes both for male and female workers as well as skills provide them with training to strengthen their capability to be self employed. The authorities should also exercise strict control over the flow of Indian workers.

6.3.12 Labour-Management Relation

The aim of the management is to maximise its profit, whereas the aim of the workers is to get a reasonable wage for their work. So occasionally a clash or dispute between management and workers is inevitable. All the worker participants except boys and girls agreed that they faced labour-management disputes, mainly in matters related to increment in salary/wage rates, work distribution and labour welfare issues. Such disputes sometimes are solved locally and sometimes with the intervention of the government.

6.3.13 Future Programme to Uplift
             the Socio-Economic Condition of the Workers

The child workers have no idea about their future and plans. They are ready to be involved in any type of income generating activities which their parents or guardians find for them.

The female groups are interested to do more work to improve their present living standards and to accumulate something for their future. They are ready to be involved in any type of work within the family or the tea estate such as livestock farming, poultry farming etc. but are not ready to go outside the estates for work.

The male workers are ready to do any type of work for additional income. The male adult workers working in public estates are interested in getting up a co-operative shop with the direct help of the management. All the workers from the public and private estates agreed that the co-operative shops cannot be operated by themselves alone because the level of awareness and literacy is very low among the workers and there is no unity among them due to the direct influence of political parties.

The key informants of both the places suggested that if the government or any other institutions were interested to improve the living conditions of the tea workers they would have to organise skills training in feasible and sustainable trades. The workers could produce goods which are used everyday in the tea estates such as tools for cutting, digging, weeding, doko, namlo etc. Similarly Jhalla (home made Jute carpet) made by the aboriginal workers (especially Rajbansis) can easily be sold in the market. The unemployed family members can also sell tea produced by their tea estate and supplement their family income. For this purpose, a simple training and small investment would be sufficient. It is important however that the management should provide the finished tea at the dealers' rate so that they can sell the tea to the packers.

6.3.14 Conclusion

The socio-economic condition of the tea plantation workers appears to be unsatisfactory as their level of income is very low and their family size is large. They are unable to afford school education for their children. They cannot think about their future due to illiteracy and lack of awareness. Thus, in order to improve the living standards of the workers' families and to send their school age children to school, it is necessary to increase their level of awareness on issues of health, environment, education, family planning etc. Besides, training in relevant trades should be provided to them.