Abstract:
Technically tea plantation is a labour intensive sector and it
requires 2.5 labours per hectare. However, the privatized tea plantation
could not retain land labour ratio. The land for extension of tea remains
unchanged, however, the number of registered workers have been declined
by 42% from 405,304 in 1990 to 242,266 in 2010. The focus of this study is to
find out the reasons for the drop and to analyse the strategy adopted by both
the workers and the estate management in order to rectify the situation. The
study found diversity of employment among the tea workers. As literacy
provides extra avenues for alternative jobs, mobility from tea estate works to
non-estate works increases. The privatized tea estate is engaging in
recruitment of temporary workers mainly from the non-traditional tea sector
rather than resident workers.
