Economic Condition of the Tea Garden Workers: A Case study of Selected Tea Garden in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar Districts

Abstract

The tea garden enterprise is the mainstay of the regional economy and provides livelihood sources for thousands of workers. While the sector is economically significant, tea garden workers social standing are questionable. Poor wages, delayed payment, inadequate medical facilities, and pathetic residing accommodations are the causes of endemic economic poverty that force generations of workers into perpetuity of poverty, which also affects their social lifestyle. Especially from poor classes, tea garden workers face structural impediments that check social and economic mobility. North Bengal's tea economy, particularly of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts, is a key propeller of the local economy but tea garden labourers still remain in deplorable economic distress. This is a cross-sectional study among the tea garden workers. This study is based on primary household’s survey among the tea garden workers. Sixteen Tea garden are selected for the present study across Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts. Total sample size is 1040. From each tea garden, 65 sample households are selected randomly. The Composite Index is defined as the weighted average of all the indicators, taken as indicators both, positively and negatively and ranked from the lowest score to the highest score. Chi-square test is used to identify the association of different variables for the economic condition. According to the analysis, majority of the tea gardens (Nine) fall under moderate economic conditions, and a few number of tea gardens fall under good (four) and poor (three) economic conditions. The Pearson Chi-Square test suggests that there is a significant association between the different parameter and economic conditions of the tea workers with different indicators.