Performance Audit on Health Facilities in Tea Gardens in Assam

Abstract

Due to poor socio-economic, health, and education indicators in Tea Estates (TEs), a Performance Audit (PA) on Implementation of Schemes for Welfare of Tea Tribes was undertaken. The welfare of tea tribes is a shared responsibility between the State Government and the Plantation Management under the Plantations Labour Act, 1951. The State Government has introduced various welfare measures, such as wages during pregnancy and motherhood, mobile medical units for tea gardens, free medicines, and financial assistance for students pursuing higher studies. The PA also examined the implementation of the Plantation Labour Act, 1951 and the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and their enforcement by the Labour and Welfare Department in tea plantation areas. In terms of healthcare, not all tea estates had garden hospitals, and the ones that did, suffer from lack of infrastructure and manpower. Out of 40 test-checked Tea Estates (TEs), 26 TEs had Tea Garden Hospitals (TGHs), 10 TEs had facility of dispensaries and the remaining four TEs did not have any medical facilities for workers. The buildings of 16 out of 36 hospitals/ dispensaries were in poor condition. Drinking water facility was not available in 15 TEs. Provision of attached lavatory in in-patient wards was absent in all the test-checked hospitals. Full-time medical practitioner was available in only 15 TGHs and the remaining hospitals/ dispensaries were running with part-time doctors or were without doctors.