1. Associate General Manager (AGM)
Key Issues Pertaining to the Protection of Child Rights in the tea gardens of India : The Civil Society Perspective
Child Rights & You-CRY
Ashim Kumar Ghosh
Associate General Manager (AGM)

2. Concerns relating to Children (Issues)
Survival Issues
Infant, Child and Mother mortality…
Malnutrition…(Anemia among Infant, child, adolescent and became severe during pregnancy and completes the life cycle)
Education
Low enrollment, retention, ( that leads to drop out and low transition from Lower Primary to Upper Primary).
Issues of lack of free access and quality education.

3. Concerns relating to Children (Issues)
Protection
Child labour, child domestic workers.
Child Trafficking
Child substance abuse
Child marriage
Child Participation
Children are not able to express their opinion in respect to the child right issues and their growth and development.

4. Child Right Situation In Tea garden
Child Rights to Survival:-
Tea garden area is ranking worst in Infant and maternal mortality and this is due to the poor performance in respect to clinical and behavioural change aspects.
High percentage of Child anemia, adolescent and pregnancy anemia in tea garden areas resulted towards mortality and morbidity.
Lack of coordination in between the State and tea management in implementation of NHM at tea garden areas leading towards non implementation of Schemes in effective manner.

5. Child Right Situation In Tea garden
Child Rights to development…
Tea Garden schools are far from achieving the target of 100% enrollment and 100% retention in primary school.
There are low transition rate from primary to upper primary school in tea garden area .
There are high rate of drop out children from the Government primary schools in Tea garden areas.
RTE norms of infrastructure and quality education in respect of teachers training, extra curriculum activity are lacking in Tea Garden areas.

6. Child Right Situation In Tea garden
Child Right to Protection….
Increasing incident of child trafficking and mostly from Tea garden areas, This is happening because, educational institutions are NOT providing space to the children to continue education in schools.
In the name of elopement marriage, there is rampant child marriage and that leads to early motherhood.
Most of the child from tea garden areas are engaged in domestic work in outside the tea garden area.
Placement agencies are very strong on networking to place children in different parts of country (it resulted towards physical and sexual abuse of the children)

7. Immediate Surroundings
Family
Lack of proper care and protection of children at family level.
Rampant alcoholism….
Domestic violence…
Substance abuse
Inadequate livelihood support to family members, more critical for temporary and non workers in tea garden area, it becomes more severe in closed tea garden area.
Inadequacy of livelihood resources, dependency on tea industry.

8. Immediate Surroundings
Society/ Community
Confined to tea garden….Isolation…
Perception of outsiders are very negative towards tea garden community…
Feeling of inferior complexity when tea community is trying to mix up with the outside community.
Rituals and belief….is mis-matching inside and outside…
Therefore problem in cultural integration…
Community participation in implementation of child related scheme and programmes are lacking.

9. Concerns relating to the Plantation Labour Act, in the context of children
Lack of convergence in between the provisions of Plantation Labour Act and Children right of free and compulsory education Act 2009.
Lack of convergence among the Plantation labour Act, Panchyati Raj amendment Act, 1992 PESA Act and Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996.
National health Mission is not able to intervene completely among the tea community.
Juvenile Justice Act 2015 and provisions of ICPS is not able to intervene completely in tea garden area.
State rule in relation to all child related act must see tea community in contextual reasons and give provision specially for improvement of the conditions of child rights.

10. Any Good practices employed in your State in the process of tackling these challenges / Any other concerns
Child Protection Centre
It is most of the successful model of implementation in Tea Garden areas. Providing space to the children of Tea garden came together every evening in a big ground, lot of fun, enjoyment, sharing, sports activity, creative work, interaction with youth leaders, service providers. It helped in mainstreaming drop out children in school, designing campaign against alcoholism and substance abuse, child marriage. Approach of addressing child right issues through participatory approach of children’s group.

12. Any Good practices employed in your State in the process of tackling these challenges / Any other concerns
Adolescent Mobilization
This is also most of the important successful programme for mobilization, motivation and sensitization to the adolescent girls and boys towards improvement of their nutritional status, reducing child marriage, child labour, child trafficking, Group discussion in Tea garden line by the volunteers, Peer group interaction helped towards reducing the child marriage and mainstreaming in education. Interface with the Medical practioners at garden level helped them to understand the health related issues and remedies.

14. Any Good practices employed in your State in the process of tackling these challenges / Any other concerns
Regular engagement with Mothers
Regular meeting with the mothers in tea Garden line area by the volunteers, Child Rights leaders on the issue of health & Hygiene, food practices, local food availability, govt. health services, interface with the ICDS workers, ASHA. Capacity building on RTE provisions. Child marriage, Child Labour, domestic work is the focus point of discussion with mothers.

16. Any Good practices employed in your State in the process of tackling these challenges / Any other concerns
Stake Holder engagement
We believes in “ Collective”, it will bring changes in the life of children. So it is not only about the tea garden community but what others are thinking about the tea garden community, therefore one of the major work to make engagement with Tea garden managers, Trade union, Panchayat members, community medicine of Assam Medical college and hospital, college students, Media, CWC and Police to extend your support to the children of the tea garden and also change your perception about the tea garden community.

18. We need much more….for children Recommendations….
Broader level
NCPCR/SCPCR must come with the separate policy document for the children who are in tea garden area, across all the states of the country.
NCPCR/SCPCR must recommend to the state Governments, where tea community is residing under the tea industry to frame Plan of action in line with the policy within time frame
Tea Board of India also be taken in loop in implementation of Child Right Policy in tea garden area.
Implementation status of Supreme court order 196/2001…to be reviewed periodically in close tea garden area.

19. We need much more….for children Recommendations….
State level
State RTE rules should be amended in conformity with RTE Act with special focus on tea garden.
In regard to the recruitment of schools teachers, State should follow the norms of educational qualification of teachers.
There is need of regular training follow up with the school teachers of the tea garden.
Need to follow the norms of one LP school within the radius of 1 KM.
North Bengal Medical College and hospital should come with the special wings of community medicine for tea garden community.

20. We need much more….for children Recommendation
District level
NHM needs to be universalized in all tea plantations.
In Tea districts, NRC (nutritional Rehabilitation centre) must come with active role to play for reducing the malnutrition among the children of tea garden.
RTE monitoring committee at district level must engage the tea garden representative from tea Management, Trade Union and Civil society organisation.
DCPU/CWC/JJB /SJPU to be more proactive to implement the Juvenile Justice Act 2015.
District level child protection committee must be engaged with the representatives of Tea Garden

21. We need much more….for children Recommendation
Tea garden level
Health department and the Tea Management should work for health behavioural change aspects in tea garden area.
Supplementary nutrition programme for pregnant and lactating mothers is required and the management should supervise and coordinate it.
Community participation in Child related schemes and programmes.
Appointment of lady doctors is required in tea gardens.
Management should sensitize the workers about necessity of good health.
Panchayat representatives must be engaged in promoting child rights in tea garden area.
Last but not the least, Trade union must play their role to mobilize the tea garden workers for promotion of child rights at tea garden level, should not be only confined to wages, bonus and other infringe benefits.

22. THANK YOU
T H A N K S