Tea Plantation Labour in India The studies of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu show that water supply is adequate. Workers in the plantations of Dooars and Terai get their supply of water from shallow tubewells or (in some Dooars gardens) from reservoirs. In Darjeeling water was supplied from reservoirs through pipes. However we are not sure whether water from the tubewells is good for drinking. The ground water level in Dooars and Terai is high, which means that one does not have to dig deep for water. This also means that the water could be polluted as it is too close to the surface. However, in the absence of anything better, the workers in these plantations have no choice but to use this polluted water, The water supply in Darjeeling appears to be better although the area suffers from acute water shortage during summer (before the monsoons), In such a situation if tea gardens are able to supply water regularly in the lines it is creditable. This is perhaps the only thing worthwhile in the lives of the workers. In this regard too the situation in Tamil Nadu is much better, as Kalam’s study shows, The situation in Assam is the worst as water is scarce and taps are few. The situation in the gardens in Dibrugarh is better than those in Jorhat but even these do not match up to Tamil Nadu. Medical Facilities and Creches | Access to health services in the gardens in the three States is not adequate, in the sense that not one of them has met the requirements of the Plantation Labour Act. The general problem in all regions, except Dooars, was the non-availability of doctors, Most of the plantations do not have resident doctors and depend on part-time doctors, Shortage of medicines and other trained staff are also added problems. The supply ?f medicines in all the gardens covered, except one in Dooars, is inadequate. In some cases the managements reimbursed the cost of medicines partly butin others they did not bother to do so. Nurses and hu:fal'th assistants are few. In general the conditions are far below the minimum stated in the Act. Another weakness in the system is the lack of proper creches. The plantations in Tamil Nadu have a better record in maintaining creches. Adequate creches reduce the burden of childcare for working mothers. In West Bengal and Assam the situation is different, The gardens in Darjeeling and Dooars have creches but few were well maintained. In­112 Clonclusion some of the gardens refreshments are not provided for the children and mothers have to leave work to feed their children. In most of the gardens creches are few and unable to meet the requirements of all the, mothers. Hence mothers carry their children to the workplace. The situation in Terai and Assam is worse.': The managements’ apathy towards creches cannot be condoned. While they may be able to justify the poor medical facilities by arguing that trained doctors are not willing to work on plantations, they cannot do the same in the case of creches. The Act specifies that trained attendants should be employed in creches but the training required is simple and the local labour could easily be employed for this purpose. The other expenses incurred would be decent space to house the creches and some funds for providing milk and food to the children. The managements are not able to make even these basic provisions for the workers. This leads us to believe that they are totally indifferent to worlkers’ welfare, especially those of women.' Education The employers' commitment to education is perhaps the least. Though the Act provides for adequate primary schools for the children of plantation workers, in Dooars and Assam the facilities are nominal, In Assam around half the children are not able to attend schools afld i‘n Dooars the facilities are very inadequate. In Darjecling the situation is better mainly because the parents, in general, are more lceen on educating their children. In Tamil Nadu there are enough schools but the teachers do not take theirjobs seriously. The indifference of teachers is also common in Assam and Dooars. In Terai there are no schools. Another problem regarding schooling is the prospect of post-primary education, We find that the children and their parents have to deper}d a great deal on the managements for transport to t%m schools, While this is provided in some gardens in Dooars, in Darjeeling the emp!oyers do not provide transport, However there are a large number of children attending school despite the problem. In Assam, whe‘re gardens are far-flung and generally more isolated than those in Dloo ars and Darjeeling, the enrolment of students in secondary schools is very low. 113