Home ›› 12 Apr 2023 ›› Nation
The lives of the tea workers of Moulvibazar’s Sreemangal upazila are changing for the better after decades of labour-intensive harsh history.
There are over lakhs of tea workers working tirelessly in a total of 163 tea gardens in the country. Among those 97 gardens are in Moulvibazar district.
Recently under the direction of the Prime Minister, there has been some positive change in their lives. The daily wages of the workers have been increased, and they now receive various other facilities including festival allowance.
Many tea workers are now getting better housing, electricity, and easily accessible clean drinking water. Their children are also getting proper access to education.
During a visit to Zerin, Phulchhara, Rajghat, and Kharuraura tea gardens, this correspondent found out about these changes in the lives of the tea workers.
Various initiatives taken by PM Sheikh Hasina for the people of the small ethnic groups of the plains are changing their lives for the better.
The tea workers have been working in this industry for generations for a lack of opportunities to find any other type of work. However, nowadays some of them are switching professions to poultry and livestock rearing, or working in grocery shops.
Garden management also allows part-time work and overtime pay if necessary.
Dulal Ravi Das works in a grocery shop and also at a tea garden as a temporary worker. He also does agricultural work.
“I am now living a comfortable life along with my family. I want my children to become educated adults unlike us who did not have such opportunities. We also get our salaries on time now,” he said.
The tea produced in the gardens of the district is also exported abroad. The industry is solely dependent on the labours of the tea workers who were previously neglected. Their contribution to the country’s economy had previously gone unseen.
While there have been many positive changes in the lives of the tea workers due to the initiatives taken by the government, some problems still prevail.
Pankaj Kand, vice president of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union central committee, said that the number of tea workers working across the country is about 1,30,000 and over half of them are women.
“However, the majority of the 70,000 tea workers in the Moulvibazar district are women. While the tea workers play a major role in the country’s economy, they are often deprived of many basic necessities,” he said.
Makhan Lal Karmakar, president of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, said that now the main demand of tea workers is their land rights and national recognition of May 20 as 'Tea Workers Day'.
GM Shibli, chairman of Bangladesh Tea Association, Sylhet, said that plantation owners are working alongside the government to improve the quality of life of tea workers.
“Their daily wages are Tk 170 right now. They also receive various facilities including housing, medical, ration, and fuel provision. Every two years the owners sign a biennial contract with the tea workers union,” he added.
Sreemangal Upazila Parishad Chairman Bhanu Lal Roy said, “All of the workers have been brought under the programme of providing educational materials and scholarships, bicycles, training and professional skill development, grants or loans for the people of small ethnic groups. At the same time, the standard of living of tea workers and small ethnic communities is developing.”
In this regard, the Acting Director of Project Development Unit of Bangladesh Tea Board, Dr AKM Rafiqul Haque said, Bangladesh Tea Garden Workers Education Trust was formed in 2001 to improve the quality of education of tea garden workers in view of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's grant.
“Since the inception of the trust, scholarships have been provided to the children of workers. Other benefits are also being provided through the Union Parishad on the instructions of the Prime Minister,” he added.
