Tea Plantation Labour in India Adolescent workers are mainly engaged for spraying pesticides and other chemicals on the tea bushes. This work is comparatively lighter than the regular work of the adults but it is hazardous to health. Since the Plantation Labour Act in its present form does not have any provisions relating to occupational health, most tea gardens do not provide any preventive measures, such as masks or even a piece of clof:h to cover their nose and mouth, These workers thus breathe in the poisonous fumes while spraying the chemicals. The trade unions rarely take up the issue of occupational health with the management. Wages The wages of tea worlers are a combination of time and piece rates. All workers, whether temporary or permanent, are paid the minimum wages. In addition, the workers are paid an incentive price, known as ‘extra leaf pice’ in planting parlance and as ‘doubly’ among the workers, Workers engaged in plucking of tea leaves are eligible for this. Each garden fixes its minimum quota of leaves to be plucked. This is known as thika and it varies between 25 and 30 kilogramme per worker. It can be increased or decreased according to the availability of tea leaves, During the peak season (June to September) the base can be increased and during-other times it can be lowered. The thika of female workers is usually lower by three kilogrammes than that of the males. Each worker engaged in plucking is expected to pluck the thika. The extra leaf pice is paid for every kilogramme plucked above the thika, The worker can increase his or her income by plucking above the thika However, it should be noted that the extra leaf pice is avajlable only fOI: those workers engaged in plucking, Usually between sixty to eighty per cent of the total workers are engaged in this activity. Hence the others do not get the incentive price, Moreover, the workers can get e only haloft o of othe year. It must be reca] ed dt that chiildren are extra leaf pice only when there are sufficient leaves. Usuaily this is for paiid half f;he The workers are entitled o rati ons of foodgrains at subsidise Each worker in Dooars and Terai and his or d rates. her of rice . (those between the 12 an a d nd 18 age­group) are entitled totwo kilogrammes bonafide dependents per one kg. and The a q r u a a t r e ter for ki Dar ' j l e o e g l r i a n m g me o 1 f 5 w a he f a e t w p w a e i e s k e ly hig a h t er R . e 0.37 These rates are 50 Tea Plantation Workers in West Bengal much lower than the market prices for these foodgrains. The subsidy forms a part of the worker’s wage. In case a worker is absent from work the quota of foodgrains is deducted proportionately. The total number of bonafide dependents was 343,097 in 1992.(Tea Board 1994:138) The foodgrain subsidy would add at am average Rs. 5 to the worker’s daily wage.: The wage rates at present(w.e.f. 31 March 1995) are Rs. 24.30 per day for males and females and Rs, 12.27 for children.(See Table 6) The wages of workers employed in gardens which are less than 200 ha are four rupees less for adults and two rupees less for children. The extra leaf pice is Re 0.32 per kg. The average monthly wage by the present rate should be Rs. 632(24.30 x 26 days). This amount, even if one takes into account the seasonal increase in earnings due to extra leaf pice, is still well below the wages of other workers in the organised sector,' TABLE 6 Daily Wages System in West Bengal and South India Stale Korala Tamil Nadu West Bengal Cash Wage(Rs) Ratelkg(p)_ 42.00 40.00 24.30 Incentive — 24-40 32 Base(kg) — 14 24-30 Wages in West Bengal and South India A COMPARISON The above discussion shows that the wages of tea workers in West Bengal arelow. This becomes more evident when we compare wages of workers in this State with those of the two main tea producing States in South India. The total production of tea in Tamil Nadu and Kerala amounts to a little over the tea produced in West Bengal and their productivity per hectare is lower whereas the wages of the workers are " substantially higher. The minimum wage in Kerala is Rs. 40 and in Tamil Nadu it is around Rs. 38, Moreover, the incentive rates(extra leaf pice) in both these States are higher. In Kerala a worker has a guaranteed minimum rate of Rs. 6.05 per day. In Tamil Nadu the