‘Very few sexual harassment cases in tea gardens of North Bengal’

Sanchita Aich Bag, MP, 14 Mar 2023, Siliguri: According to a study, the number of sexual harassment cases against women in the tea garden areas (workplace) is very low in this region. A set of government guidelines is also in place to protect women from such assaults. The young and unmarried women in the tea garden areas are the primary victims of sexual harassment in workplaces, revealed a joint summary report by two organisations on the situation analysis study of women’s safety in workplaces. 

“Safety of the female tea garden labourers is being taken care of with due importance. Anyone can register any complaint to the district administration and police as per the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment Act, 2013. We take strong action accordingly. The female tea garden workers are completely safe in our region,” said Kallal Banerjee, the Additional Labour Commissioner, Siliguri. 

An organisation had initiated a survey on sexual harassment cases in tea garden areas of the Terai and Dooars region. They have made a summary report on the survey. On Tuesday, they discussed the report with the trade unions of this region. 

Although, the number of sexual harassment cases in this region is very less. But according to their report, whenever there are some cases, the primary targets are the young and unmarried women. In such cases, they are involving the trade unions to solve such cases. 

Naba Dutta, the general secretary of the organisation said: “We carried out a survey in tea garden areas. We didn’t find a large number of cases. However, we found that the women workers are not aware of the laws in connection to such cases. We are trying to sensitise them about the law and what they should do if such incidents occur. With this aim, we have started the survey.” 

The survey was conducted from May to September 2022. Within this period, they visited 24 tea gardens of the Dooars and Terai region. Only three sexual harassment cases had been registered in these tea gardens. India is the second-largest tea producer in the world and women workers form the backbone of this industry, as they constitute some 58 per cent of the workforce. 

Among this, in West Bengal 61 per cent of women are working in tea garden areas. In 2013, the total number of workers engaged in the tea plantations in West Bengal was 3.27 lakh permanent workers, consisting mainly of scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and ethnic minorities. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/very-few-sexual-harassment-cases-in-tea-gardens-of-north-bengal-511652