Tea Plantation Labour in India Health Facilities All workers are entitled to free medical facilities for themselves and their families. The West Bengal Plantation Labour Rules state t?mt any plantation émploying 1000 or more workers must have a hosp}tal with a ratio of 15 beds per 1000 workers. In addition every plantation, irrespective of the size of its labour force, must have a disl?ensary. Each hospital must have atleast one qualified doctor, a trained nurse, a trained midwife and a qualified compounder. Dispensaries must have a qualified compounder, a trained nurse and a medical assistant. All the three gardens which were studied have hospitals Wit.h a qualified doctorin each. G1 has a 24-bed hospital and an X-ray machine. But though the garden had a doctor it has no nurses. There are two midwives, one health assistant, one compounder, a technician 'for the X-ray machine, Despite all these facilities the workers complain that the supply of medicines was poor and even common medicines are n.ot readily available. This is mainly because the garden has cut down. its expenditure on medicines even as prices rose. G2 has a 25-bed hos;nta] with a senior qualified nurse and a junior nurse with no qualifications. In addition there is one compounder, a health assistant, a dresser (who does the bandaging) and a midwife. The supply of medicines is better than in G1 ag the garden’s medical budget is higher, It spends around Rs. 40,000 every month on medicines compared to half the amount spent by G1. G3 has an eight-bed hospital with one compounder, one nurse, a dresser and a health assistant. The workers feel that the supply of medicines is fairly adequate. Creches The Plantation Labour Act lays down that any plantation having 50 women workers or 20 children below gix years of age needs to provide a creche with trained attendants. The State’s Plantation Labour Rules state that the creches must be situatedin pucca houses with plinth. There must be suitable furniture and cradles and a washroom for washing the children’s clothes, Bach child must be given 175 ml of milk and refreshments. G1 has two creches one of which is located in a pucca house while the other is a makeshift (mobile) one, comprising a tent which can be 14} Tea Plantation Workers in West Bengal moved near the worksite, There is provision for two permanent creche attendants, Only milk is given to the children and its supply is not regular. In most cases mothers have to leave their work to feed their children which hampers their productivityat worl, G2 has two creches which are housed in permanent rooms. There are four creche attendants. The children are given a mixture of milk and sago to drink and some biscuits to eat. The supply of food and drink is regular. The creche facilities in G3 appear the worst. The plantation has one creche with two attendants. It does not have a permanent; structure and the children are kept under a tree or in a shed in the factory. However, milk and puffed rice are regularly given to the children. Education Primary Schools: Any plantation having 25 or more children in the age-group of 6-12 has to provide for primary education to these children. The plantation must provide the school house but the teachers are employed by the State’s education department. Earlier, the plantations had to employ their own teachers but the government found that many of these were not qualified and hence it decided to appoint its own part of the cost. teachers. The State Government levies an education cess to cover a G1 has a pucea school house with four classrooms. There are four teachers and the students have g choice of opting for Bengalee or Hin as the medium of instruction. The school has around 150 stu d; its rolls; however, the teachers do not come regula dents on rly wh ­the students b i u n i d l i d f i f n e g r . ent T t h o e stu s d c i h es, The school ich has mad at e G2has a less impressive oo blackboards on ejther side, It ha S two teachers one of whom l house co mprises one long room with two given quarte o r th s er wi f t u h n i c n tio t n h s e g i a n rde th n e . He has an has been assistant to take care of plantation is often irregular. The school had between school, T he teacher who comes from outside the students. G3 ha w s ere a 1 s 2 c 5 hoo s l tud w e i n t t h s fo s ur tud r y oo i m n s 150 to and 200 four teachers, There g for the children, there . The garden also provides some snacks 57