Tea garden production affected .... Hill absenteeism hits .... 50% MIGRATION, 100-DAY JOB SCHEME AFFECT TEA SECTOR

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 19 Nov 2018,  Darjeeling: Producers of world famous Darjeeling Tea have said workers' absenteeism hit as high as 50 per cent -- a matter of concern for one of the biggest brands in India.

Multiple factors, including 104-day Gorkhaland agitation in 2017, implementation of 100-day employment scheme, higher wages for other jobs and better education, have been attributed to the absenteeism.

The hills have 87 estates which produce Darjeeling Tea.

Mechanisation seems to be the only way out to fight the low attendance of workers, but industry leaders believe it is easier said than done given the terrain of the hills.

"Darjeeling Tea is quality based and it needs fine plucking of two-leaves-anda-bud together in a difficult terrain," said a tea garden manager.

Sandeep Mukherjee, the principal advisor to the Darjeeling Tea Association, told The Telegraph: "When the 100day work scheme was implemented in the country, we suddenly found that absenteeism of workers was touching the 20-25 per cent mark. This year, gardens registered absenteeism as high as 50 percent." The Darjeeling tea industry has 55,000 permanent workers and 15,000 temporary labourers. Nearly 60 per RIGHT PICK cent of the workforce is women in this industry.

"Many people did not join work after the agitation last year as they left for other places in search of work. But the major issue is not the migration of workers. Its the attitude of workers who are generally disinterested in working in tea gardens now," said the manager.

"Recently, a worker turned up late and when I enquired, he said: `it's fine, I will not attend work for the day'. This attitude is worrisome," the manager added.

Under the 100-day job scheme, one is paid a daily wage of Rs 191. In a tea garden, a worker earns Rs 176.

However, Mukherjee said: "If we include all fringe benefits and statutory obligations like provident fund, the wage component comes to around Rs 325 per day for a worker." The planters admit that since the cash component of the remuneration is less in tea gardens, workers prefer the 100-day job scheme or move to towns where daily earnings are higher.

"Also in a tea garden, labourers have to work under supervision for eight hours. I think work is a bit more relaxed under the 100-day scheme," said another estate manager.

"With a steady increase in salaries in armed forces and other services over the past decades, many men do not send their wives to pluck tea leaves anymore," the manager added.

He said almost 20 per cent of the workers were still residing in gardens but were not attending work.

They instead focus on other source of livelihood like piggery and poultry.

Bharat Thakuri, the general secretary of the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union, a wing the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, said wages should be increased.

"Wages have to be more attractive in the industry. But it is also a fact that the younger generation is more educated and hardly anyone wants to be a tea plucker." Within the tea industry, there have been informal discussions on monetising fringe benefits so that the cash component in wages is more attractive.