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Majority of the tea plantation workers in the country are being deprived of their rights mainly because of legal bottlenecks and irregularities in government monitoring agencies, a study has revealed.
The workers cannot enjoy their rights due to lack of awareness, education and training, said the study conducted by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).
The findings of the study titled 'Working atmosphere in tea estate and workers rights: challenges to good governance and way forward' was presented at a press conference organised by the TIB at its office in the city.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, its adviser to executive management Sumaiya Khair and members of research teams Dipu Roy, Golam Mostafa and Md Rabiul Islam attended the press conference.
Giving a brief outline of the tea sector, the study said the country grew 78.95 million kg of tea from 229 tea estates in 2017.
The sector, with a contribution of Tk 18.25 billion to Bangladesh's GDP, has created direct and indirect employment for nearly 0.5 million people.
The report said nearly 1,22,840 workers are employed in the tea estates, of which 21,997 are working on temporary basis.
Making an overall observation over the living standards of the tea workers, the study said some initiatives, both by government and owners, have helped improve the status of tea plantation workers in the last 10 years.
"Despite some visible improvement in the last one decade, tea estate workers are one of the underprivileged communities mainly due to lack of good governance in agencies concerned," the report said.
It also said tea plantation workers are deprived of various facilities, including minimum wage, leave, healthcare and residence due to some legal bottlenecks.
"Considering overall circumstances, wages offered to the tea plantation workers are the lowest compared to that in other sectors," it said.
Despite all odds, the workers are bound to continue with their profession due to unavailability of their own land, language barrier and differences in culture and religion, the study said.
The government agencies, which are expected to work for the tea plantation workers' betterment, cannot play their proper role because of organisational limitations along with irregularities and corruption, the study revealed.
"More cordial efforts from the government agencies and estate owners to ensure good governance would establish workers' rights and (ensure) the tea sector's profitability," the study said.
The study also criticised the role of government inspectors for not inspecting the tea gardens regularly.
"The government officials protect their own interest instead of workers' rights through negotiations with the tea estate owners," the study observed.
The TIB study made a nine-point recommendation, including introduction of a wage board, review of it in every two years and a formal agreement between workers and employers in line with the related labour laws.
It also suggested digitising all activities related to the workers' provident fund management and informing the workers of their funds on regular basis through mobile phone.
The TIB study also called for prompt implementation of 'Roadmap to improve tea sector' with the participation of all stakeholders, including the Tea Association of Bangladesh.
The study was conducted from August 2017 to August 2018.
The researchers gathered information from 1,911 permanent workers and other staff representing 64 tea gardens in Sylhet division.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Iftekharuzzaman said despite some progress made in recent years, tea workers still cannot enjoy their basic rights.
"Tea estate workers are deprived of basic needs like education, healthcare and residential facility, though the sector is a vital part of the Bangladesh's economy," he said.
He also expressed concern over the very low wage of tea workers.