Idea
Tea plantation workers are the most marginalized occupational group in Bangladesh. They own none of the land that has been their home for over 150 years. Descendants of indentured laborers, they live in poverty and a captive situation without entitlements. Land ownership will greatly improve their livelihood.
Innovation
The tea plantation workers (118,000) and their communities (approximately 500,000) are the most marginalized minorities in Bangladesh. Socially, economically and culturally excluded from the rest of the Bangladeshi society and descendants of indentured laborers, the tea workers have no title to land they have lived on for four generations and they remain captive to “labor lines” on the tea estates. Their situation is aggravated by extremely low wages compared to the wages of the Indian and Sri Lankan tea workers. With ongoing investigation and reporting by SEHD on the conditions of the tea workers, one reality becomes obvious, the tea workers must have titles to the land they live on and the land they till to compensate for their food deficit. The land area for tea cultivation is 115,629.76 hectares (285,727.36 acres)—all government land granted to the companies/owners of 163 tea estates. The annual rent for use of the government land is infinitesimal, viz., Tk.110 (1.5 USD) per acre. Only 45% of the land is actually under tea cultivation. If the tea workers get titles to at least the homesteads and the paddy land they currently use, their lives will significantly improve. A large portion of land granted for tea but used for rubber and monoculture plantations for commercial gains of the owners can also be awarded to the workers. A combination of research, media reporting, advocacy, and court action (i.e. writ in the High Court) can bring change. This is indicated in work already done.
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