„Der Kampf von Jesuiten gegen die Ausbeutung auf den Tee-Plantagen in ASSAM“ – P. Hans Tschiggerl SJ im Gespräch mit P. Xavier Lakra SJ

Bericht von P. Xavier LAKRA SJ – dem Superior der Missionsprokuratur in Assam:

General background of the Adivasis working in tea gardens of Assam and their plight
Introduction/Background: The Kohima Region of the Society of Jesus was divided into two Units on 3rd December 2006, the new Unit is called Assam Mission and it is handed over to the Ranchi Province to the Provincial Fr. Ranjit P. Toppo S.J. Fr. Xavier Lakra S.J. is the Delegate of the Provincial of Ranchi in Assam Mission.
The Assam Mission covers mostly the upper and lower Assam, covering 950 k. m. from east to west. We have these 7 centres: Pengaree towards the easternmost part of Assam touching the boarder of Arunachal and Kathalguri towards the westernmost part of Assam touching the boarder of West Bengal and Balipara Parish, St. John’s school; St. Xavier’s College and Jesuit Bhavan cum Gana Chetna Samaj (People’s awareness society) are in the middle, Manas Bansbari and Mushalpur in Baksa District. In this area there are 885 registered tea gardens, where the Adivasis, the indigenous people of Chotanagpur, present Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa are working as the bonded labourers. The Jesuits working in Assam Mission will focus their attention for the integral development of these poor, oppressed, marginalized, nameless and faceless Adivasis.

Background of the Legal Holder:
The Ranchi Jesuits is a registered non-government organization for undertaking various activities for the welfare and progress of the people especially the tribals. It takes care of Christian population of their pastoral needs, to form and strengthen them in their faith. It has other activities too in order to work for the integrated development of the people. We are involved in educating our people from primary up to higher secondary and Degree College education plus we have got a social wing, which takes care of the social and economic development of our people. It has been operating in the Central India, particularly in Ranchi and Chhattisgarh for the last 130 years and in Andamans for 25 years. Its activities were extended to the State of Assam in the last 17 years from Jan. 1998 onwards.

The General background of the Adivasis:
The Adivasis were brought into Assam by the British from 1831 onwards, as indentured labourers to work in their tea estates. Over the years, these illiterate and poor people have lost track of their origin. As a result, they cannot go back to their own land, because there is nothing, which they can call as their own. This situation has forced them to continue to remain as the labourers in the tea gardens.
Adding to this woe, locally they are considered as people who are ‘good for nothing’ except plucking tea leaves. Their masters in the estates call them ‘coolies’ a pejorative word in Hindi, which means ‘servants/slaves’ worse still the local Assamese call them ‘okras’ which means ‘good for noting.’
In short, these ‘Adivasis’ are people uprooted from their own land, but not accepted by the local Assamese dominant community. The government neglects them, though they are an ’indigenous’ people, but they are not considered so in this State of Assam, because, in the eyes of the government, they have come from another place.
These Adivasis in Assam live in a caste-ridden society, which looks down upon the Adivasis as the dalits. Therefore, the Adivasi community as a whole suffers from a low self-image and a lack of self-respect.

Cultural Background:
Adivasis have a rich culture that finds its expression through their songs and dances. They live as a community. They are very hospitable people. They welcome guests very happily and treat them generously in their own simple ways. They identify their clan by different dialects of their own. Before they were converted to Christianity, they followed an animist religion. While 60% of the Adivasi population has become Christian, the remaining 40% continue to be animists.

Their Religious Faith expression:
The general observation is that the Adivasis are religiously pious and God fearing people. They do have faith in common parlance with the other believing communities. They are religious –minded and quite faithful in observation of the Christian moral laws and the laws of the Church. They attend their Sunday prayers in their local churches led by the catechists because the priests cannot go to every village on Sundays.
However going into their lives one finds that their faith is not very deep and they live most of the time indifferent to sacraments. Therefore we do need to take care of their simple faith by providing them decent place to meet and worship. Thus these communities regularly meet on Sundays and support one another and build up the faith of one another.
DESCRIPTION OF TARGET AREA & GROUP
St. Xavier’s College has concentrated the Adivasis of North East, especially early Adivasis resident in whole of Assam who has been witnessing their misery life with the History of living 150 years in the TEA GARDEN of ASSAM. Adivasi comprises of tribes such as Oraon, Kharia and Munda, Santhal, Bhil and Gond. Each tribe has their own folk dance and music. A society is known by its folk dance music, dress code, social and cultural values.

Educational Background:
The Government runs primary schools in the State often do not deserve to be called schools. Lack of adequate monetary assistance from the government, extremely poor infra structure, lack of good and competent teachers are the major problems of these schools. In the classrooms, the Adivasi children are always the neglected lots, because they belong to socially and economically backward communities. Their poor and illiterate parents neither are able to pay for the private education of their children (as most affluent people of India do), nor understand the importance of education. Consequently, very few Adivasi students manage to complete their high school education and pursue higher education.
The absence of scheduled tribe status has deprived these Adivasis of many educational privileges and facilities ensured for the scheduled tribes in the constitution of India. Literacy rate among the Adivasi community in Assam is as low as 5%. Lack of education automatically pushes them to the fringes of Society in every way. Incidentally, their employers would like them to remain illiterate, because the illiterate naturally makes a cheap labour force in the tea estates.
It is this pitiable plight of the Adivasis that inspired the Jesuits to start a center in Balipara and to work for their total and integral development. We are trying our best to motivate and animate the parents to send their children to school. We are trying to conscientize the parents to change their mind set that their children can read and write and tomorrow through education only, the future of the children will be bright and better.
The average level of literacy among all the Tribals is very poor for the state of Assam. As per the1991 census report, the literacy rate for the whole State of Assam is 52.89% while the literacy rate of Adivasi is 19.11%. The Adivasi population in the area where the college is situated is 48.45 % and is literacy rate is 64.28%. Education among the Adivasi had been a priority and so there are hand count students who have completed higher education.
In most of the villages, education is available only up to the primary level in the government-run lower primary schools. The student teacher ratio is very high and so the teacher is unable to pay attention to every student. The teachers are not motivated, as they do not receive their salary on time. As a result, the dropout rate at the primary level itself is quite high. It is therefore not surprising that only 15 % of tribal and 5 % Adivasis complete high school education. In spite of certain constitutional safeguards, the scheduled tribes of Assam have largely remained educationally backward.

Economic condition:
The state of Assam contributes about 20% of the world’s tea production. The Adivasi women are the mainstay of this Tea Industries’ labour force because they require less skill. This is very significant contribution of Adivasis to the economy of Assam. However, their lives are marked by poverty, illiteracy, oppression and backwardness. Though agriculture is the main stay for marginal farmers, they have small land holdings of 3-4 bighas of land. The agriculture outputs are very little to support the families throughout the year and so women are forced to go for work as daily laborers in tea gardens and other unorganized sectors to contribute towards family income.
Income of the Adivasis of tea garden is very low and hence the standard of living is very low. The wage of a tea garden worker is not only substantially lower than that of a worker in the jute or textile industries, but even much lower than a worker if an unorganized labour as in coal mines. Their working and living conditions are unhygienic with very meager facilities for medical care. There is maximum exploitation of the women labour and child labourers in the industrial sector. In course of the year wages have increased but due to rising prices of essential goods and commodities wages still remain below minimum requirements. And for those living in villages they totally depend on agriculture which is even not sufficient and thus they are forced to go out to other states and cities in search for job.
The Adivasis are simple, submissive and hardworking people by nature. Over the centuries, their employers have mercilessly exploited them. For the whole day’s work in the tea gardens, they are paid a meager Rs.90/- a day, which is little more than one Euro. With this scanty amount, it is very difficult for them to meet their basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, education and health care. Therefore, malnutrition and various starvations related illnesses are quite rampant among them. The women and children are invariably the worst affected.

Social Condition:
The Adivasis have been in Assam since 1830 but their social condition has not improved till now. The government has failed to recognize them as ‘Schedule Tribes’ except in Assam and so they are termed as “More Other Backward Class” in their own land. Thus they have low self-image and considered the poorest in the society. The Adivasis are also deprived of the government facilities, which are meant for the poor. The original culture, traditions, language and customs of Adivasis also face major threat because they are on the verge of losing their own identity as Adivasis. The unity among the people is not seen due to which they are unable to demand their rights and entitlements.
The Adivasis are the migrants of Jharkhand and Chotanagpur plateau who were brought to work in tea estates in Assam as the local inhabitants were unwilling to work. It can be seen that an estimate of 75% Adivasis reside in tea gardens with very minimum wages and facilities. They also live in villages known as “Basti” and depend on agriculture product as their main source of livelihood. They are generally known as the most backward communities due to their poverty and lack of education. They earn a meager income which is just hand to mouth. They are not recognized as scheduled tribes in Assam State even by the government but in the other states in India these people enjoy the scheduled tribe status.

Political Condition:
The state has various political parties such as Congress, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Assam United Democratic Front (ADUF), and Boroland Peoples’ Front (BPF) etc. of which Congress has a strong hold in the State of Assam in most of the districts at present. Though many political parties came to power but failed to do any development for the Adivasis. The politicians visit them only during assembly elections and make false promises. After the elections, the sight of political leaders remains a distant dream and the Adivasis are just utilized as vote banks. Due to their ignorance on political field they are often misguided by vested interest leaders. Though Adivasis consist of 20% of the total population there is only a handful educated people in the soc.
Seeing the plight of Adivasis the need to promote higher education among them is a prime requisite for the Jesuits of Assam Mission of Ranchi Province.

Request for Scholarship of Euro 400/-@ Rs. 80/-= Rs. 32,000/- for 100 Adivasi students who would like to continue their higher education at St. Xavier’s College Sonabheel, Tezpur.
To meet the tuition fees per month Rs. 450/X 12= Rs. 5,400/-per year. Hostel mess charges Rs. 2500 X 10 months= Rs. 25,000/student in a year X Rs. 80/- Rs.32, 000/- for books and other things Rs. 1,600/- for 100 students of our St. Xavier’s College at Sonabheel.

Request for 34 Euro from the donor per month for one student for 3 years.

Xavier Lakra, S.J.
The Mission Superior of Assam Mission
The Delegate of the Provincial of Ranchi in Assam Mission