The report has been made public, only now.

The Committee constituted on the 13^th September 2021 has highlighted some of the prominent issues plaguing Darjeeling Tea industry and suggestive measures to overcome the problems with an aim to bolster the efforts of the government in achieving long-term sustainability of the performance and growth of the tea industry.

Here’s an overview of the report which we found it relevant to the people of Darjeeling Hills, Terai, and Dooars:

Land Rights to Tea Workers

The report takes note that “the tea garden workers in Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars do not have land or ‘Parja-Patta’ (land rights) on their ancestral tea growing lands. To dwell on their ancestral homes, they must send at least one family members to work for the tea company. On failure to send a family member for work, they lose their rights to live on their ancestral lands. Since the land rights are vested with tea company, there have been instances when the aged workers having no children were denied the right to even repair their houses on their ancestral lands.”

The Committee notes with dismay “the plight and deprivation of the tea workers and deplores the feudalistic set up in the region to alienate tea workers from their basic land rights despite seven decades of independence which starkly undermines the clarion claims of 7 successful land reform movements in the country”.

It further notes that “the perpetual struggle of tea workers to seek rights for their own lands not only for living but even for burying their dead family members is unfortunate and saddening.”

It strongly recommends the Government to immediately undertake a detailed scrutiny by a dedicated body of eminent persons on the present status of land rights or ‘Parja-Patta’ of tea workers of the region and take corrective reform measures to ensure land rights to tea workers.

The report recommends that “a specific legislation needs to be enacted which recognizes the rights and ownership of small and marginalised tea workers to their ancestral lands and resources.”

Decent Living Wages for Tea Garden Workers

The Committee takes strong note of the “merger wages being paid to tea workers of Darjeeling and other areas of North Bengal, which is below the statutory threshold of minimum wage in the country.” It notes with concern that “insufficient wages which are minimal to the extent of not meeting the basic needs of workers manifests a severe crisis in the tea sector.”

The Committee recommends that the Government must take all efforts for the upward revision and fixation of a minimum daily wage of tea workers. The threshold of minimum wage should be fixed only after a consensus has been reached between tea planters and tea workers’ unions which would ensure the workers an adequate wage that increases their purchasing power and keeps pace with the cost of living.

The Committee also recommends the Government to expedite the implementation of Code on Wages, 2019 which would give a legal force and clarity on ‘in kind’ components and monetised value of facilities in a wage component.

Welfare Measures for Tea Workers

The Report has noted the abject working and inhumane living conditions of tea labourers and the blatant violation of socio-economic justice wherein workers, with many female workers have to endure an abysmal and dismal life with no access to basic amenities and living standards.

The report views that inadequacy and lack of political will in executing Plantations Labour Act, 1951 has led to deterioration of working standards of tea labourers. 

It recommends the Government to endeavour for ensuring welfare measures, health and housing benefits and decent working conditions for labourers in tea sector and implementation of Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 which would stipulate obligations for providing welfare benefits in both cash and kind components to the tea labourers.

Small Tea Growers

The committed has taken cognizance of the emergence of Small Tea Growers (STGs) as primary stakeholders in tea sector and the need to bring them under the purview of promotional schemes of Tea Board. The committee has proposed that a policy review to be done for making specific regulations for STGs produced tea as GI registered product at par with 87 tea estates.

The report also recommends that “Proper channels for marketing of tea for the tea growers should be devised and an e-auction centre should also be established in the Darjeeling district.”

The Committee report also recommends several structural changes in the functioning of Tea Board, disbursal of pending subsidies to tea gardens, and that the role of Tea Board should be redefined as a facilitator instead of a licenser.

Another important recommendation noted in the report is that “the Department should prepare a database of plantation workers at the earliest for extending welfare facilities to the targeted beneficiaries through Government Schemes or Direct Benefit Transfer.”

It also recommends “speedy implementation of Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 which would stipulate obligations for providing welfare benefits in both cash and kind components to the tea labourers.”

Another important recommendation that the committee has made is that with women comprising the bulk of tea garden workers “warrants their empowerment by encouraging their participation in Tea Trade Unions and Associations. The presence of women labourers in decision making would thus ensure resolution of issues that concern their welfare and development. Also, anganwadi kendras for women and children, Ayush health and wellness centres, skill development centres and proper education facilities should be established and facilitated for the overall well-being of women labourers.”

It may be noted that Darjeeling MP Raju Bista was inducted as a member in the Committee constituted in 2021, and he has since actively pursued this Darjeeling and Dooars tea industry related issues in the Committee.

Besides representative of tea garden and planters’ associations, the following tea garden workers’ union and representative of Small Tea Gardens from Darjeeling Hills Teai and Dooars region have testified in the parliamentary committee meetings and their statements have duly been recorded and considered in the report.

• Darjeeling Terai Doars Chia Kaman Mazdur Union (DTDCKMU)
• National Union of Plantation Workers & Indian National Plantation Workers Federation (INPWF)
• Himalaya Plantation Workers Union (HPWU)
• Bharatiya Tea Workers Union (BTWU)
• All India Plantation Workers Federation & Cha Bagan Mazdur Union (AIPWFCBMU)
• Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (CISTA)

You can download the detailed full copy of the report below

The post Parliamentary Standing Committee Scathing Findings on Darjeeling and Dooars Tea Industry – Recommends Legislative Action for Ensuring Parja Patta Rights and Other Reforms appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

सिन्कोनी अनि चियाबारी श्रमिकहरु गम्भीर समस्यामा!

सिन्कोना(Cinchona) अनि चिया बगान श्रमिकहरुको (E.P.F) भविष्य निधि कोषको आफ्नु(U.A.N) Universal Account Number संग आफ्नु आधार कार्ड संख्य Link नभएमा उक्त, श्रमिकहरुको मासिक कटौती ई,पी,एफ धनराशी 01 जुन 2021 देखि आफ्नु कोषमा जम्मा नहुने सरकार द्घारा अधिकारीक आदेश आए वापत सिन्कोना अनि चियाबारीको हजारौं श्रमिकहरु मार्कमा परेको छन् !

हजारौ श्रमिकहरुको आफ्नो आधार कार्डमा लेखिएको उमेर अनि आफ्नु नामको हिज्जे(Spelling) E.P.F अफिसको Record संग मेल नखाँदनै यो समस्याहरु देखा परेको हुन् अब यस्तो भुलहरुलाई संशोधन गर्न हो भने पहिला आ-आफ्नो आधार कार्डलाई संशोधन गरे पश्चयात मात्र उक्त, आधार कार्डको आधारमा E.P.F अफिसको Record लाई संशोधन गर्न सकिन्छन् ! दार्जीलिड पहाडमा आधार कार्ड खिच्ने केन्द्रहरु नभएको कारणले गर्दानै हजारौ श्रमिकहरुले उक्त समस्यहरु भोग्न परेको हुन्!

भविष्य निधि कोष केन्द्रिय योजना हो, केन्द्र सरकार अथवा राज्य सरकार संग सम्बन्धित रहेको जन प्रतिनिधिहरुले हजारौ श्रमिकहरुको गम्भीर समस्यहरु प्रति अवहेलना नगरी यथ शीध्र P.F Regional Commissioner अथवा उच्च अधिकारीहरु संग वहस गरि 15 जुन 2021 श्रमिकहरुको मासिक P.F धनराशी Deposit गर्ने मिति अगवै श्रमिकहरुको हितमा निष्कर्ष निकाल्न सके हजाकौ श्रमिकहरुले राहत पाँउने छन्!

श्रमिकहरुको समस्याहरु प्रति आज सम्म जन प्रतिनिधिहरुले अवहेलना गरेको कारणले गर्दानै उक्त, गम्भीर समस्याहरुमा फसेको ठान्छन् सिन्कोना अनि चियाबारीको हजारौं श्रमिकहरु!

Important Instructions

• Seeding of Aadhar is Mandatory for filing of ECR from 01.06.2021.

• Section 142 of the Code on Social Security, 2020, has been notified vide gazette notification No 1730(E) dated 30.04.2021 (copy of gazette notification is attached).

• Now, in accordance with the provisions of the above mentioned gazette notification, the monthly ECR shall be allowed to be filed only for those members, whose Aadhar numbers are seeded with UAN and verified, w.e.f 01.06.2021.

• In this regard, Establishments covered under EPFO are advised to ensure that the Aadhar is seeded in respect of all the contributory members, to enable them to avail uninterrupted services of the EPFO and to avoid any inconvenience.

• Employees can also seed their Aadhar number with the UAN.

• Employees can seed their Aadhar directly through the online e-KYC facility available on the member portal & UMANG App

• Further changes have been made in the Employer Unified Portal enabling the employer to upload the signed Digital Signature Certificate letter PDF through their login itself and once uploaded; the Signed DSC letter will be available with the field office for further necessary action.

• For further details visit www.epfindia.gov.in and ls you may contact us at ro.darjeeling@epfindia.gov.in

Writes: B K Rai

The post Cinchona and Tea Garden Workers Facing Grave Problems Due to Mismatch in Aadhar, EPF, and UAN Numbers appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

The problem among the tribal household had been long before the outbreak of disease. The closure of tea industries with limited scope for livelihood choices had already made the livelihoods vulnerable. Poor housing, low standard of living and very little scope for improving the livelihood conditions had plagued the tribal population much before the disease actually affected them. The serious failure of institutional mechanism to make the tribal livelihood stable was clearly visible prior to COVID. No serious action had been taken to improve the living conditions of the tribal belts in Duars region except for serious planning just before the election to get the votes. Now the similar process has already begun with day and night planning for acquiring the votes of the tribal population by making the false promises for the upcoming elections.

The problem of the tribal households have been multiple. Poor living standards and low level of education have been the common characteristics. COVID has in fact intensified the problem of the households where the poor children are not being able to attend their classes (digital) as the households are not able to afford the necessary condition required for attending it. The poor children are just able to hear about the digital classes being conducted elsewhere. The most important of all has been inability to meet the daily needs due to unemployment. The women forms an important contributor to the household income among the tribal population. Contribution made  the women as a maid in the urban households have been lost owing to the fear of transmission of disease by the masters who employed them. Now one can well imagine a situation where the only source of income has been constricted and the family of five on an average are to be fed without an employment.

The government has been stressing on PDS ( Public Distribution System) for the households but that too has not been very sufficient among on the households. PDS just supplies the grain which needs to be supplemented by Pulses or a green vegetables to be served on the plate for meeting the required nourishment. However, with the rising prices of green vegetables and unaffordable prices of pulses make the households to have their meal with a plate of Rice and Green chillies. As reported by Amir Munda, a tea worker  “ I don’t mind having my meal with green chillies and salt but my children cannot take this and I serve them with water and salt”.

This has not been today’s problem among the tribal households. They had already been under such stress much before the Tea Estates were shut down and the government did not take any initiatives to revive them. Majority of the abled members then had to migrate to distant towns for their livelihood with meagre saving which formed the part of remittances. After  the sudden lockdown, all these migrants returned home and are left with no choice but to see the starving children and malnourished parents at their native places.

There has been clear Institutional failure in terms of making the lives and the livelihood vulnerable among the tribal households of Duars. Failing to revive the tea industries before it got completely shut down was the biggest failure. The second failure of the government was it’s inability to provide alternative livelihood sources or to take the initiatives that would secure at least the nourished diet for the tribal population that has been hard hit by livelihood crisis. Besides this the failure of several government and semi government Institutions like banks, SHG’s and other micro financing institutions to have easy access to loans.  The problem has been very severe among the households with more dependent and old aged members in the family. The fear of disease have even kept the government inspections away from vigilance department especially in case of PDS system and MGNREGA which could have been the important livelihood sources. There must be an immediate actions and long term policies to be made keeping in mind the households that have been suffering from long term economic and health crisis before it becomes too late to mend.

Writes: Bipul Chhetri

The post COVID 19 and Livelihood Crisis among the tribal households in Duars appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Today the world is in limbo, where future seems unprecedented, people in the hills, all over the country and abroad takes some sort of natural immunity booster by drinking Tea. In some cases it makes us feel high, a sense of relief and energize our body. Black, Green, white and oolong are some of the varieties found in Darjeeling hills and surrounding areas. The most common Phrase in Nepali “Luhai Chiya khaidhew” can be heard whether it is summer nor winter, community gatherings and social activities (as of now prohibited). “Chiya and Biskut” is the most common and commonality to each other. Basically, everyone has their own preference and ways of drinking Tea, sometimes consuming more Tea rather than Water.

The Origin Story of the Tea is widely speculative, from what I heard is that the monk was meditating in the forest when suddenly a leaf fell into the boiling water and changed its colour. So wondering what it is, the monk than drank the liquid and felt more focused and energized. Then what happens next, is what we are today experiencing, “Chiya and Biskut”. We are from a place where Tea garden is in our back yard and with which our economics starts and ends.

Tea industry in Darjeeling dates way back, our ancestor’s worked in the plantation and earned a living, nevertheless our main foundation was built on it. In today’s circumstance, we must probably give our huge respect to the workers in Tea Garden, who are working tirelessly for the benefit of all. Without doubt this workers are no less important than most other essential professionals who have made us proud in this present time. While in heavy rain, or thunderstorm, be it a sunny day with most scorching heat on top of their head they are always working in the fields.

While most of us lay asleep in our comfy bed, they are to report their workday at 7 am sharp. When Rooster crows to break the dawn a symphony of the chime can be heard to which they wake up, hurriedly following their morning routine so as to report their duty on time. It can be said that these are some hardships with which they live rather happily. A mere wage of 150-200 rupees a day, the earnings are one thing considered to be increased without much hesitation.

The tea industry is well in true an essential commodity from way back – till today, it is the backbone of our region economically, socially and acculturation where future seems promising. We need to keep our precious heritage well in check for sustainable development and for most importantly “Chiya and Parle-G Biskut”.

Writer : Prasan Syangbo

The post Cup of Tea appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Most reporting, have sugar-coated this alarming decision as to the “West Bengal government’s move to promote tourism in the hills”.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Whence Parjapatta?

In gifting tea garden land to their financiers in the Tea Industry, the TMC government is trying to further marginalize the real owners of the gardens – the workers and their families. For over 200-years, the tea garden workers have put their blood, sweat and heart to run the tea gardens. Yet, till date the West Bengal government – be that of Congress, Communists, and now TMC have vehemently refused to grant land rights to the families that work in the tea estates.

Even today, the tea garden workers are treated as indentured labourers, they are forced to send a family member to work in the tea garden, and if they do not send a family member to work for the garden, the tea garden management can ask them to vacate their homes and leave. It doesn’t matter for how long a family has served the tea garden, they have ZERO RIGHTS when it comes to owning land that they can call their own. Case in point, a couple of years ago Makaibari Tea Estate refused to give permission for a retired family to repair their home citing the fact that no one from their family was working in the tea estate anymore. This forced that family to make a choice, either stay in that dilapidated house or leave the tea estate and go find shelter elsewhere.

Not having land rights deprives our brothers and sisters in tea gardens in the most fundamental way. Any day the tea garden owner or the government of the day can force them to leave. Case in point, the workers from Chandmuni tea garden near Matigara were kicked out on the pain of death, to make room for Ambuja Housing lead Uttarayon complex.

How can a government elected by its people decide in favour of the owners, but not the workers?

That happens because the West Bengal government never gave two hoots about the Gorkhas, Adivasis, Rajbanshis who form the majority of workers in the tea gardens. For those in power in Bengal, we will always remain “ora – the others”

Scarcity and the sweetheart deal

Darjeeling is a prime tourism destination but the locals don’t have any land rights. Every succeeding West Bengal government has cunningly kept the locals deprived of their right to land by denying them ParjaPatta. The two entities that own the largest land in Darjeeling are tea gardens and the Forest Department. With land so scarce, anyone with large tracts of land will automatically go onto dominate the tourism industry.

Basically the tea gardens are LAND BANKS which the West Bengal government can use for any purpose – gifting it to their friends, selling it off, logging it and extracting resources from it; without any need to take consent from the very people to whom this land belongs – the locals. From around 50000 acres of land that the tea garden hold, the West Bengal cabinet has decided to permit around 7500 acres to be diverted for tourism purposes.

This means, in a prime tourism destination that is Darjeeling – now tea garden owners are going to be the largest LANDOWNERS. It is important to understand this, due to the decision by TMC lead West Bengal Cabinet from being LAND LESSEE the tea garden owners will effectively turn into LANDOWNERS.

As of today, the tea gardens are leased out to their owners for a period ranging from 25-30 years. They are charged a very nominal fee for the use of land, as tea gardens are labelled as “employment generating units”. According to the provisions of West Bengal Land Revenue Act 1955 (amended in 2015), while a hotel set elsewhere is defined as “commercial industrial unit” and pay around ₹ 1500/acre inland revenue annually, tea gardens only have to pay ₹30/acre. This means for every acre of land used for tourism in Tea Gardens, the owners will have to pay Rs 1470 less than the rest.

Imagine the absurdity of gifting over prime tourism land to the current owners, without developing any due processes on who will get the land, how will that land be used, how much revenue will be paid, how will the revenue earned by the tourism operation in the tea gardens be shared among the workers, who will be employed – under what terms, and so on.

Legitimate concerns over this illegitimate decision

Land, as I have mentioned above is the most precious resource in Darjeeling – very few own it. As such tea gardens have continued to change hands over the decades. Tea garden owners have continued to abandon their gardens and flee without paying the workers their wages, provident funds, gratuity and so on. In case of a tea garden owner not paying the workers their wages, bonus or PF, will the Govt of West Bengal have the right to seize funds from the tourism operation of the garden and use it to pay the workers debt? or will the tea garden owners be permitted to keep the earnings from tourism operation separate from their tea estate operation?

Because, I am sure in the next decade or so, most tea garden owners will report negative earnings from their tea production operations and will want to shut down the gardens, while retaining the tourism part of the garden citing investments already made to develop the tourism infrastructure.

What will the West Bengal government do, if tomorrow someone like their Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh decides to run away abandoning the tea gardens without paying the workers, but having built a massive tourism infrastructure by securing funds from legitimate businesses in India or Abroad? Will the Govt of WB has the right to confiscate their infrastructure, or will those tourism operations be permitted to continue, until someone else runs and the garden and goes through the same motions till the entire plantation is replaced by tourism operations?

Eco Absurdity

What is most shocking about this whole deal is that this is being painted by pro-TMC media as this “God-sent-Deal aimed at reviving tea industry, promoting ecotourism, increasing employment” etc.

Tea Industry will be revived only when each leaf of tea produced in Darjeeling is accounted for and revenue generated from the same used for the development of Darjeeling region, instead of funnelling it out to pay for expenses elsewhere.

Ecotourism is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education”- building multi-storeyed five star hotel blocks doesn’t help in conserving environment, it doesn’t contribute towards the well-being of the local people, and it will cause massive burden on the local resource-base.

As for increasing employment, will these five-star hotels that will come up in the tea gardens eventually be mandated to employ local youths or is it a ploy being used by West Bengal government to push out the locals from the tea gardens, and cause demographic changes in the region?

What will be the impact on the local environment, culture, traditions, social fabric when these massive resorts are allowed to operate? As we have seen in the recent case of Hotel Ramada, an employee from Orissa tried to rape a local girl, and instead of taking the case to the police, the hotel did their best to hush up the matter. Won’t this leave our youths more vulnerable to exploitation?

By permitting diversion of land from tea plantation to tourism purposes WB Govt has effectively made the tea garden owners the richest business entities in Darjeeling. What right does WB Govt have to grant lands to these people, at a subsidized rate, but not give even an inch of land to the very workers who have dedicated generations of their lives for tea gardens?

This frightening decision which could eventually end up uprooting us is being imposed on our place and people without any consent from us. We will either have to oppose this or stand to lose the very land that we have been fighting to have our identity based on.

The post IN THE NAME OF SAVING TEA GARDENS – TMC is Handing Over our Prime-Land to their Financiers appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

The sub-centre that provides primary health care—iron tablets, information about government schemes, immunisation and contraceptives—gets flooded every monsoon. “The mothers are then forced to stay home,” said Das. Over 30 of Assam’s 33 districts are inundated by the Brahmaputra annually, washing away crops and crippling the state’s rural economy.

Das does not remember when the road outside her sub-centre was built, but said it enables access to health care and tetanus injections—which reduces the chances of infection among mothers right after childbirth. “Roads are helping save lives,” Das added.

For every 100,000 live births, 130 women die in India due to pregnancy-related complications, according to Niti Aayog, the think-tank of the government. While Kerala has the lowest maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 46, Assam’s MMR of 237 is double India’s average and is currently higher than Zambia’s (224), according to World Bank data (Poland’s MMR of three is the lowest in the world).

Assam’s current MMR status might overshadow the strides the state has made in maternal healthcare. In just over a decade, Assam has reduced its MMR from 480 to 237–that is a greater than 50 per cent reduction.

Maternal mortality is high where access to skilled and emergency care is either unavailable or limited, said Dileep Mavalankar, director, Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) in Gandhinagar. “Wherever that situation has improved, either in the government or the private sector, the mortality rate has gone down.”

(L-R) Arundhati Das, 52, a community health worker at the Bhojkhowa health sub-centre with her colleague Meera Bhuyaa, 31. Das credits the road outside the sub-centre for improved health services in the area.

The 15,000 roads constructed in Assam under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojanalaunched in 2000 have helped improve access to health care, according to the health workers and doctors that IndiaSpend spoke to across five villages in Sonitpur district. However, there are issues that Assam needs to address.

Anaemia among pregnant women

Rukiya Begum, 44, is an accredited social health activist (ASHA) in Tengabasti village in Sonitpur district. The sub-centre near her village is being repaired, so for now, health officials are using her one-room brick home. There is a plastic chair and a table covered with green cloth. On it is a box of iron tablets that Rukiya is trained to give pregnant women to prevent anaemia.

Anaemic women are at a higher risk of developing pregnancy-related complications, found a 2016 study that looked at births in five government medical colleges in Assam. Anaemic mothers are more likely to develop infections after childbirth, and their babies tend to be smaller. In Assam, as in the rest of India, nearly half of all pregnant women in the age group of 15-49 year are anaemic.

A pregnant woman with anaemia is twice as likely to die during childbirth, according to a 2018 study published in the medical journal Lancet.

Rukiya talks about her 18-year-old sister-in-law who died during childbirth in 2007. “Since the area was flooded, it took us a few hours to get her to hospital. She bled to death after childbirth,” said Rukiya, who had just become an ASHA worker then, and had limited training.

A woman with anaemia is low on haemoglobin, which reduces her body’s ability to carry oxygen to all the organs. As a severely anaemic woman bleeds after childbirth, her heart has to pump at a higher rate to bring more blood to the organs to make up for the limited concentration of oxygen in the blood, increasing the chances of a cardiac arrest. “The doctor then has very little time to give her blood,” explained Ravikant Singh, a public health expert and founder of Doctors for You, an NGO that works in 12 states across India, including Assam.

Of Assam’s 33 districts, 10 have no blood banks, and if a woman needs blood following a C-section, there is none.

Unsafe abortions

Rukiya Begum is an ASHA worker in Tengabasti village in Sonitpur district of Assam. Responsible for distributing contraceptives to women in the village, she says supplies have not arrived for three months.

As an ASHA worker, Rukiya’s job also involves dispensing contraceptives. She ran out of supplies three months back but said this was the first time it had happened.

A 2006 study established the link between access to contraceptives and maternal deaths.Providing women with options to plan their families would avert 32 per cent of global maternal deaths and 10 per cent of children deaths, it said. Contraceptives allow a woman to avoid an unplanned pregnancy.

In Assam, 22 per cent of women rely on oral contraceptive pills–more than five times the national average. However, the uptake of family planning methods is deficient in Assam. Only 37 per cent of married women in the age group of 15-49 use any new means of family planning. This number stands at 47.8 per cent for the rest of India.

“Oral contraceptives and injections have a high rate of discontinuation as women might forget to take them,” said Roger Rochat, former director of reproductive health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US, and professor of global health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

To terminate an unwanted pregnancy, the women either opt for over-the-counter abortion pills or turn to a quack. When unskilled practitioners perform abortion in a less than sterile environment, it increases the chances of infection.

“A few months back a woman in a neighbouring village died after taking abortion pills,” said Rukiya.

Is it easy to get these pills?

“Yes, the medical shops stock them, but I do not know about them,” she said, unwilling to provide more details.

In rural areas such as Tengabasti, in the absence of enough diagnostic labs, it can be a while before a woman finds out she is pregnant. Once the pregnancy is older than 20 weeks, a doctor cannot terminate it legally. Desperate, women often turn to quacks or private practitioners.

“Even in the best healthcare facility abortion can be risky, and death may occur,” said Ajit Virkud, a Mumbai-based obstetrician and gynaecologist and author of several medical textbooks. “In rural areas, most abortions are unsafe, specifically those done by people who are not qualified.” These deaths might never be reported as the procedures are illegal. .

One of the solutions to the problem is to provide contraceptive options (injections and intrauterine device or IUD) that are acceptable to people, said Rochat. “Another is to provide skilled practitioners to conduct abortion services.”

Maternal deaths that occur in the first three months of pregnancy are a significant contributor to MMR.

Neglect of tea garden workers

The most significant blind spot in Assam’s maternal health is the neglect of women working in its tea estates—803 spread across 27 districts–that report a disproportionately high number of maternal deaths. It was found that in the tea gardens of Assam, anaemia among women was almost universal, IndiaSpend reported in April 2017.

It was a pleasant May afternoon in the Durrung tea estate, one of the oldest in Assam. Rain comes early here, and the temperature is in the mid-20 degrees Celsius. A group of women wearing Assam’s traditional mekhela chador (a kind of saree) spread out plastic sheets on a mud road skirting the tea plantation. Some have young babies clinging to them, others have toddlers running around. The women are taking a break for the first time since 8 a.m..

In Assam’s tea gardens, it is the women who pluck the tea leaves–a painstaking process. The men water the plants and spray pesticides.

Bilasi Urau, 32, has grown up in the tea estate, as have all the other women sitting to have lunch with her. They live in villages spread across hundreds of acres of the estate. All the women know someone in their village who died during pregnancy.

Do women have access to healthcare?

“Yes, if we need anything, we have to inform the sardar [supervisor]. He will take us out [to hospital or to a doctor],” Urau said.

Can they not go out without permission?

“We can. However, there is no guarantee we will be allowed to return, so we do not. When we do go out we have to provide the address of the place we are visiting,” Urau said.

Construction of roads that improve access to health centres, contraceptives and tetanus injections are some of the basics helping save mothers in flood-prone Assam. The gains, though, are yet to reach its tea-garden workers.

The supervisor was cycling around to make sure the women did not rest when IndiaSpend visited.

Maternal deaths are disproportionately high among tea estate workers, found a study published in February this year. Researchers who investigated 150 maternal deaths discovered that 69 per cent of all deaths were among the tea garden community. Half of the deaths were among first-time mothers, and more than half of those who died had husbands who were temporary workers.

A high rate of mortality among pregnant tea-garden workers (mainly Adivasis–indigenous tribal peoples) was also highlighted in a 2018 report by Nazdeek, a legal empowerment organisation.

Most of the workers in the tea gardens are from marginalised communities from central India. They were brought to Assam in the early 1900s under British colonial rule. These communities continue to earn lower than the state’s minimum wage, and 60-70 per cent of the workers are hired-at-will with few or no benefits, according to Nazdeek’s report.

“The women have to depend on someone to take them out of the tea garden if they go into labour. In complicated cases, such delays could lead to death. The high rate of anaemia is another reason for the deaths,” said Pranti Dutta, who studied maternal deaths in four districts of Assam for her PhD thesis at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.

As this reporter and her translator prepared to leave, the women began eating–rice and what looked like green chilli chutney, the only meal the women will have between 8 am and 4 pm. “Malnutrition is certainly a problem in the tea estates not just because of the poor economic conditions but also because of the unavailability of nutritious food,” admitted Purnananda Khaund, chief medical officer of Amalgamated Plantations Pvt. Ltd–the enterprise carved out of the erstwhile Tata Tea Ltd.

Last year, the Assam government launched the Wage Compensation Scheme for Pregnant Women in tea gardens, reported India Today on October 2, 2018. Under this cash transfer programme, pregnant women working in the tea gardens are provided with Rs 12,000 by the government. “The women would get this money in instalments through the pregnancy and after childbirth,” said Krishna Kemprai, joint director, health services for Sonitpur district. For women who make Rs 167 per day, providing monetary assistance to buy nutritious food could help improve their health, at least marginally.

Eight generations have passed since these tea estate workers were brought to Assam by the British. The villages have grown, and a few villagers have found employment outside the estate, but not all. “There are only so many people the tea estates can absorb. This situation is critical and needs a sincere political solution,” said Khaund.

When a maternal death is reported, a district-level committee is constituted to examine the causes. The mechanism does not function effectively, however. Only a few deaths are reported to district-level hospitals such as the Tezpur Medical College and Hospital (above). Many go unreported.

Unregistered deaths

Before it works to save its dying mothers, India needs to identify maternal deaths. India is lagging when it comes to registering births and deaths on to the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics portal. Around 83.60 per cent of births and 67.40 per cent of deaths are registered in India, according to data from the World Health Organization. India’s neighbour Sri Lanka registers 90 per cent or more of both births and deaths, and Brazil, a developing country like India, registers close to 99 per cent.

Maternal deaths might not be registered when the delivery is done at home or as a result of an illegal abortion. “If a primary health centre or rural hospital registers too many maternal deaths the administration could come down heavily on them and so there is a tendency not to register them if no one is watching,” said Singh from Doctors for You.

This is not to say that there is no system in place to investigate maternal deaths. In theory, every death needs to be investigated, and committees need to be formed at the district level.

“When we come across maternal deaths we hold a meeting to discuss the reasons and submit a report,” said Jagannath Patar, associate professor at the obstetrics and gynaecology department at the Tezpur Medical College and Hospital, Sonitpur. However, there are limitations to such investigations. There is no facility or personnel to conduct an autopsy at the hospital. “We are not even sure if the reports we make have an impact or the feedback reaches those at the primary healthcare centres,” Patar added.

The feedback does not reach the intended, the Nazdeek report confirmed.

There is another way to make sure maternal deaths are recorded accurately. “Record all deaths of women in the reproductive age of 15 to 49 and then investigate if that woman was pregnant or had recently delivered a baby. That way you will not miss any deaths,” advised Mavalankar of the IIPH.

This process does not have to be expensive. Countries such as Sri Lanka investigate all maternal deaths at low cost, a model that can be replicated, according to studies. “India has not paid attention to recording of all deaths, including maternal deaths,” said Mavalankar. Registering each death and investigating the cause behind them would help identify the problems and its solutions, which in turn will help more mothers live.

Thanks to INDIA SPEND for permitting us to upload this news.

Writes: Disha Shetty (Shetty is a reporting fellow at IndiaSpend.) This report was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s (IWMF) Reporting Grants for Women’s Stories.

The post Assam’s World-Famous Tea Gardens are Deadly for Pregnant Women appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Since the past four years, Radhika has been plucking tea to afford her and her brother’s educational expenses. In fact, the residents of the tea garden stand proud of Radhika’s dedication towards studies, and hence they have even appealed to the govt for financial assistance to her.

Radhika happens to be a resident of Nagarkatta’s Dharnipur Tea Garden. After her father passed away 8 years ago, her mother married another person, Radhika and her brother started to live with their grandmother. Having no other option, she started working in the tea garden to sustain her and her brother’s expenses. Doing so, she cleared her higher secondary from the Chengmari Tea High School in 2015 and got enrolled at Banarhat Moraghat Hindi College, where she is currently an Under Grad student in 3rd year. Her brother, on the other hand, is studying in class 12 at Chengmari Tea High School.

While Radhika plucks tea along with other women of her mother’s age, she dreams to complete her education and become a govt servant someday. She talks about her the hardship and struggle, but then she never made them come between her education and her.

Here is her full story…

असाहय राधिका सार्कीलाई विद्ययाकी धनी सरस्वती माताको अर्को रुपमा हेर्ने गरेका छन । बन्द धनरनीपुर चियाबरीका श्रमिकहरुले । गत ४ वर्षदेखि कमानमा विघा काम गरेर आफनु उच्च शिक्षाको खर्च साथमा भाईको पढाईको खर्च पनि राधिकाले पत्ति टिपेर उठाई रहेकी छिन । राधिकाको शिक्षाप्रति रहेको लगन अनि मेहनतलाई देखेर श्रमिक परीवारहरु गर्ब महशुस गर्छन । बन्द चिया कमानका श्रमिक परीवारले राधिकाको आर्थिक सहयोग निम्ति हात बढाई दिन सरकार समक्ष आह्वान गरेका छन ।

घटना नगरकट्टा खण्डको बन्द धरनीपुर चियाबारीको पानीघट्टा लाईनको हो । राधिका सार्कीको पिताको मृत्यु आज भन्दा ८ वर्ष अघि उपचारको अभावमा घरमानै भएको हो । तिनी धरनीपुर चियाबारीका एक जना स्थायी श्रमिक थिए । पिताको मृत्यु पछी आमा अर्कोसित पोइला गइन । त्यपछी राधिका सार्की अनि भाई राज सार्की अनाथ भएका थिए । आमाले पनि छोडेर गएपछी दिदी अनि भाईले हजुर आमाको घरमा शरन लिए । शिक्षाप्रति लगनशिल रहेकोले राधिकाले आफनो हाई स्कुलको शिक्षालाई अघि बढाउदै कमानमा विघा काम गर्न शुरु गरिन । चेंगमारी टीई हाई स्कुलबाट तिनले २०१४ सालमा उच्चतर माध्यमिक परीक्षा पास गरेपछी राधिकाले उच्च शिक्षालाई जारी राख्दै बानरहाट मोराघाट हिन्दी कलेजमा दाखिला लिइन । अहिले उनी कलेजको तेस्रो वर्षमा अध्यनरत रहेकी छिन भने यता भाईलाई पनि चेंगमारी टीई हाई स्कुलमा पढाई रहेकी छिन । राधिकाले भने अनुसार भाई राज सार्की कक्षा बारहमा अध्यनरत छन । दुवै जनाको खर्च राधिकाले कमानमा पत्ति टिप्ने काम गरेर उठाई रहेको वताउछिन । तिनको लक्ष्य उच्च शिक्षा हाँसिल गरेर सरकारी जागीर गर्ने अनि भाईलाई पनि राम्रोसित पढाउने सप्ना आफुसित रहेको छ ।

राधिकाको घर परिवारको आर्थिक अवस्थाले गर्दा आमाको उम्रेर रहेका अन्य श्रमिक महिलाहरुसित मेलामा पत्ती टिपने काम गर्छिन । उनलाई काम गर्नमा कुनै पनि हिचकिचाहट छैन । मेलामानै पुगेका यस सम्बादधातासित बात गर्दै राधिकाले घर परीवारबारे बताउदै भनीन, मलाई पढने धेरै रहर छ । शिक्षालाई अघि जारी राख्न मलाई कुनै पनि काम गर्न लाज लागदैन । कारण मेरो जीवनको एक मात्रा साहारा भनेको शिक्षा हो । यसैलाइनै असल सम्पति बनाएर मेरो अनि भाईको उज्जवल भविष्यको निम्ति अग्रसर रहेको राधिका बताउछिन । कमान वर्षोदेखि बन्द छ । पिताको मृत्यु पछी हाम्रो जीवन सङघर्षमय हुन्छ । बडाबडीको घरमा बस्दै भए पनि उज्जवल भविष्यको निम्ति अहिले पनि सङर्ष आफुले जारी राखेको राधिका बताउछिन ।

मेलामा सघैकाम गर्ने छिमेकी महिलाहरु— सावनती उराव अनि विष्णु छेत्रीले भने, राधिकालाई देखेर हामी गर्वको साथ साथ दुखी पनि महशुस गर्छौं । कारण राधिका हाम्रो छोरीहरु जस्तो हो ।

आजकाल बढेको केटीहरुले कमानमा काम गर्दैन । उसको घरको परिस्थितिले उसलाई यसो गर्न बाध्य बनाएको छ । हामीले चाहेर पनि केही गर्न सकदैनौं । कारण हाम्रो पनि घर परिवार छ । १० वर्षदेखि कमान बन्द अवस्थामा छ । काँचो पत्ती टिपेर कमाएको सुख्खा पैसाले हाम्रो घर परिवार धानी रहेका छौं । बाउ आमा नभएपछी कलीलो उमे्रदेखिनै उनीहरुले समस्या भोगी रहेका छन । कमानमा कमाएको पैसाले परिवारको पालन पोष गरी रहेको छ । घरमा बुडी हजुरआमा र भाई छ । दिदी भाईनै पढछन । भाईलाई उसैले पढाइ रहेको छ । उसको निम्ति सरकारले केही सोच्नु पर्ने श्रमिक महिलाहरुले माग गरेका छन ।

Those who want to SUPPORT Her can contribute towards her education:
Name: Radhika Sarkee
Account No: 121001217940
IFSC Code: WBSC0JCCB18
Bank: Co-Operative Bank, Nagrakata Branch

Writes: Nand Poudel

The post Radhika Sarki – Her Persistence is Inspirational appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

राती ताप्केमै छाडेको
हाते चियाको बासी छोकरा
अलिकति पानी थपिएपछि
एकपल्ट फेरि उम्लन्छ भुलुक-भुलुक
चाल्नीबाट छिर्दै बगेको झरनाले
बनाउँछ कलाईको मगमा सुन्दर तलाउ
अनि शुरू हुन्छ साइरन कुरेर बसेको
कुनैपनि कमानको एकैखाले बिहानी
फीका चियारङको तातो घुट्कीसंगै ।

लाटो पाहाडको पिँठ्यूमा चडेर
शोषक चाबुककले हानिबस्छ / खेलिबस्छ
अन्ध-धुन्द चोटिल चान अनि
चुँडिबस्छ कुमारी मुनाहरुसंगै
बुख्याँचा बोटहरूसितै कचल्टिएका
चियाबारीका बोनसाइ सपनाहरु ।

पुस्तौंदेखि चर्म रोगले ग्रसित हातहरू
नियमित चुँडछन पात र सुइरोहरू
पसिना-पानी, पसिना-घाम
भिजेको पसिना, सुकेको पसिना
लुकेको पसिना, दुखेको पसिना
मजदूरको पसिनाहरूबाट
नुन-नुन छुट्ट्याउँछ मालिकले
अनि चियाबारीको घाउमा
बेला न कुबेला छर्छै छर्छ ।

श्रमका थुङ्गा थुङ्गा फुलको माला पहिरिएर
मालिक चियाबारी डुलेको कुनै भयानक दिन
क्यामाराहरू पनि सँगै डुल्छन्
सुन्दर चियाबुट्टा अघि पोज दिन्छिन्
कुनै अर्ध-नग्न हाइ-प्रोफाइल मोडल ठिटी
बिश्व प्रशिद्ध ‘ग्रीन टी’को कभरमा
कुन्नि-कसरी छलिन्छन् चियाबारी ।

उत्पादन तिथि: साँइली रोजमा पसेको दिन ।
समाप्ति तिथि: जेठाले अवकाश पाउने दिन।
मूल्य: श्रमिकको हाजिराभन्दा हजार गुणा मात्र अधिक ।
अतिरिक्त कर: दसैँको बोनसजस्तै मालिकलाई पनि बक्सीस ।
काँचो रगतजस्तै अक्षरहरू
कुदिरहन्छन् किरिङ्ग-मिरिङ्ग
‘ग्रीन टी’को कभरभरि
पोखिरहन्छन् अस्तित्वका गुनासोहरू
लडिरहन्छन् वर्चस्वका युद्धहरू।

मालिक मौन हुन्छ सधैँ सधैँ जस्तो
श्रमिकहरूको बिरोधाभासको प्रतिरूप
ऊ चियाबारीको ठुलो भित्तिचित्र बनाउँछ
अनि झुण्ड्याउँछ आफ्नु ड्रइङ रूममा
कैंयौ कालसम्म तुन्द्रुङ्ग ।

कवी: विकाश आले

The post ग्रीन टी – Green Tea appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Within the last 15 days, Leopards have attacked and killed 3 children in Ramjhora, Dumchipara and Garganda Tea estates. It’s possible that one single leopard is responsible for these three incidents. If so then a man-eater leopard may be on the move and it’s a matter of great concern. There are high chances that this leopard is injured and needs help and treatment. If this issue remains unattended, many more human life will be at stake and villagers around this area will have to face the consequences.

Jim Corbett’s sensational stories of the man-eaters of Kumayon and Champawatt have attracted my attention since childhood. Stories apart, real-life experiences are entirely different and nerve wrecking. After dark, the wild forested region around my home in Madarihat becomes a nightmare. After hearing stories of brutal leopard attack merely 8 km away, tends to freeze the blood in the veins. It restricts a deep sleep and a fearful sensation knocks the brain all night long. People living in Kuchha houses experience even more fear. The big question now is ” how long such a fear is gonna last ?”

In this photo taken Tuesday, July 19, 2011, a leopard runs to escape after attacking a forest guard at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara, on the outskirts of Siliguri, India. The leopard strayed into the village area and mauled several villagers, including three guards, before being caught by forest officials, according to news reports. The leopard, which suffered injuries caused by knives and batons, died later in the evening at a veterinary center. (AP Photo)

The need of this hour is to employ wildlife scientists and experts in the Forest Department in order to study and understand the nature and trends of leopard movement in this region. It’s also advisable to take the help of local NGOs and Volunteers. This massacre must be stopped immediately.

After all, We can’t teach wild leopards to learn human emotions instead human beings have to understand that deforestation and destruction of wildlife will result in great danger, not only for wildlife but also ourselves.

Writes: Sudeep Ray

The post Man Eaters of the Northern Tea Gardens appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Me: What’s your daily routine and wage?

Her: We have to reach the tea garden at 7 AM (latecomers are sent away) and work till 4 or sometimes 5 in the evening. Until the truck comes to fetch us and the supervisors tell us it’s time to go home we have to remain in the garden. The leaves are then weighed and we are paid around 150 on a good season. (No work during offseason.)There is a certain amount /quota we have the pick in a day. If we pick extra tea leaves we are paid 2-3 rs extra per kg. However, if we finish picking them before noon we are paid only half day. No matter even if we finish the quota and pick extra. So we are, in a way, forced to pick the whole day if we want to earn the full amount and extra.

Me: Do they provide umbrellas, water or any other amenities?

Her: No, Water, food, umbrella etc are all our own. Even the cloth bags are our own. The tea leaves are transferred to the company’s green bags in the tea factory itself.

Me: Any complaints?

Her: What can I say? It brings food to my plate. This is the only season I can earn money. It would be good if they raised the wages. But I cannot afford to protest.

The lady I spoke to happens to be my neighbour and works in the plains of Siliguri (Gulma Tea Estate). In the hilly areas of Darjeeling whose tea is sold at auctions for almost 19,000 Rs per kg, the labourers are paid 130-172 rs per day. This is a sad condition of labour struggle in the tea gardens and cinchona plantations (my own grandparents were labourers here) of North Bengal.

Implement #MinimumWagesAct #SayNoTo176

Writes – @HinduGorkha

The post BLOOD TEA : All In A Day’s Work appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.