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89-545: A sizeable section of the community, particularly those having Scheduled Tribe status in other states of India and living mainly in the village areas other than tea gardens, prefers to call themselves " Adivasi " and are known by that term in Assam, whereas the Scheduled Tribes of Assam are known as Tribe . Many tea garden community members are tribals like Munda , Santhal , Kurukh , Gonds , Bhumij and others. According to

178-674: A Santali script is widely accepted among Santal communities. Presently in West Bengal , Odisha , and Jharkhand , Ol Chiki is the official script for Santali literature & language. However, users from Bangladesh use Bengali script instead. Santali was honoured in December 2013 when the University Grants Commission of India decided to introduce the language in the National Eligibility Test to allow lecturers to use

267-529: A boy was flogged to death because he did not salute the European manager. The most notorious incident was a shooting in which a tea garden labourer was killed by the European planter of the Kharial Tea Estate of Cachar in 1921 after refusing to provide his daughter as a concubine to the planter for a night. Facing such atrocities, many tea garden labourers often become insane. Many such sufferers were confined in

356-467: A derogatory term by the community. In these barracks, each tea garden labourer had barely twenty-five square feet of area for their personal use. Many of the tea gardens insisted on a morning muster of the labours. They were not allowed to remain absent in their duty for a single day even when they were unwell. The labourers did not enjoy any personal freedom at all, and were even forbidden to meet labourers working at other tea gardens. Prior permission from

445-562: A notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification. Article 342 (1) The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purpose of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as

534-603: A punishment for their uprising against the regime ( Santhal rebellion of the 1850s and Birsa Munda Rebellion of 1899–1900). The community dominates the districts of a significant portion of Upper Assam , including Sonitpur , due to the high density of tea gardens and plantations in this region. Districts of North Lakhimpur , Darrang , Golaghat district , Charaideo district , Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) areas, Dhubri district , Barak Valley areas, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas, and North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NC Hills) areas of Assam also have

623-545: A result. Nearly one million are now Christians in the state. Kurukh , Santhals , Kharia and Mundas are among the major tribes who have been mostly converted by the Christian missionaries. Catholicism and Protestantism are the major denominations among Adivasi Christians. Festivals are an important part of their lives and are generally deeply connected to their religion and their culture. They celebrate many festivals during different seasons. Almost every major Hindu festival

712-428: A revolt across the tea garden regions of Rangapara in 1915 and was publicly hanged at Phulbari T.E (near Rangapara) by colonial authorities in 1916. Malati Mem, alias "Mangri" Oraon of Tezpur Ghogara TE (near Tezpur), became the first ever woman martyr of Assam in 1921. She was killed by colonial police while participating in the non-cooperation movement . The names of these tea garden labourers never got any importance in

801-511: A significant population of the community. They form nearly 11% and 6.2% of the total population in the Barak Valley region and BTR region respectively. According to the 1921 census, total population of tea garden community was 1,220,808, among whom the prominent groups were Munda (149,851), Pan (92,353), Santal (78,736), Gond (50,960), and Oraon (39,739). In the 1951 estimate, their population stood at 1,583,457, forming around 20 percent of

890-485: A targeted flow of funds and associated benefits from the annual plan of states and Union Territories (UTs) in at least a proportion to the national SC population. Twenty-seven states and UTs with sizable SC populations are implementing the plan. Although the Scheduled Castes population according to the 2001 Census was 16.66 crores (16.23% of the total population), the allocations made through SCSP have been lower than

979-482: Is Jharkhand (2.75 million), West Bengal (2.43 million), Odisha (0.86 million), Bihar (0.46 million), Assam (0.21 million) and a few thousand in each of Chhattisgarh , and in north-eastern states Tripura , Arunachal Pradesh , Mizoram . The highest concentrations of Santali language speakers are in Santhal Pargana division , as well as East Singhbhum and Seraikela Kharsawan districts of Jharkhand ,

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1068-497: Is being denied to them in Assam although in other states of India their counterparts fully enjoy that status. The community is composed of many large tribes like Munda , Santhal , Kurukh ( Oraon ), Gonds , Bhumij and dozen others who are being denied Scheduled Tribe status. These tribal call themselves " Adivasi ". This has given rise to identity politics among these people and different political parties are banking on this issue to get votes for decades during elections. Now some of

1157-410: Is celebrated by the community, with Christians celebrating Christian festivals. Major festivals celebrated by the community are Fagua , Karam (festival) , Jitia , Sohrai , Mage Parab , Baha parab , Tusu Puja , Sarhul , Nawakhani / Nuakhai , Lakhi puja , Manasa Puja, Durga puja , Diwali , Good Friday , Easter and Christmas . Music is an important component of the community. Their music

1246-810: Is minimal and animistic Shaktism dominates in religious practices. The ancient tribal religion Sarnaism is also deeply rooted among a sizeable section of tea garden workers. They believe in a universal supreme God and worship him/her in different names like Marangburu, Mahadeo, and Singboga. Vaishnavism is also steadily gaining footholds among a section of the Hindu population of the community. They are very religious-minded people and love to worship nature. Many trees are considered sacred and are worshipped. Nearly every village has religious temples and sacred ground (jaher than) for community worship. However, increasing conversions into Christianity have led many of them into adopting Christianity and many churches have been built as

1335-400: Is often called Assam Sadri or Bagania bhasa. However, with a steady rise in literacy levels, newer generations of those multilingual ethnic groups are becoming fluent in standard Hindi , Assamese , and English . The Tea garden communities of Assam are undergoing a language shift due to different socio-cultural and linguistic environments compared to their native states. Various groups within

1424-778: Is the most widely-spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages , related to Ho and Mundari , spoken mainly in the Indian states of Assam , Bihar , Jharkhand , Mizoram , Odisha , Tripura and West Bengal by Santals . It is a recognised regional language of India as per the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It is spoken by around 7.6 million people in India , Bangladesh , Bhutan and Nepal , making it

1513-400: Is the only sector where the majority of the workers are female. About one million labourers are dependent on Assam's tea industry and almost all of them are the descendants of those who were brought to Assam as labourers by East India Company, mostly from Jharkhand and Orissa. The sacrifice, toil and hard work of these labourers gave shape to the tea industry of Assam. However, the story behind

1602-439: Is usually collectively performed for a variety of occasions like weddings, festivals, the arrival of seasons, ushering-in of new life, and harvests. The community is rich in a variety of music and dances. Through the folk music and dance, they try to convey their perspective on social issues and define their daily lifestyles and their history. Dhols , Manjiras , Madars, Kartals, Tamaks, Nagaras, Nishans, and Bansuris are some of

1691-591: The 2011 census ). The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 lists 1,108 castes across 28 states in its First Schedule, and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 lists 744 tribes across 22 states in its First Schedule. Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were given Reservation status , guaranteeing political representation, preference in promotion, quota in universities, free and stipended education, scholarships, banking services, various government schemes and

1780-704: The Brahmaputra and one via the Surma . Debarken Depots were used to carry the bonded labours. Some of the Debarken Depots in the Brahmaputra were Tezpur , Silghat , Kokilamukh, Dibrugarh , etc. Debarken Depots in Surma (Barak) were Silchar , Katigorah, Karimganj etc. Labourers were brought in ships, in conditions that were far lower than required for the transport of animals. Steamers were overcrowded with recruits and it

1869-891: The Jangalmahals region of West Bengal ( Jhargram , Bankura and Purulia districts) and Mayurbhanj district of Odisha . Smaller pockets of Santali language speakers are found in the northern Chota Nagpur plateau ( Hazaribagh , Giridih , Ramgarh , Bokaro and Dhanbad districts), Balesore and Kendujhar districts of Odisha, and throughout western and northern West Bengal ( Birbhum , Paschim Medinipur , Hooghly , Paschim Bardhaman , Purba Bardhaman , Malda , Dakshin Dinajpur , Uttar Dinajpur , Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts), Banka district and Purnia division of Bihar ( Araria , Katihar , Purnia and Kishanganj districts), and tea-garden regions of Assam ( Kokrajhar , Sonitpur , Chirang and Udalguri districts). Outside India,

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1958-493: The government of Assam . This assistance of the government of Assam for an all-inclusive Medicare system is now available in 105 estates of its membership. The residents of the estates have benefited from the PPP mode as was decided by the government of Assam since 2007. Another unique direction that the ABITA took was its partnership with UNICEF . An intervention which started in 2000 through

2047-462: The 10 aspirated stops which occur primarily, but not exclusively, in Indo-Aryan loanwords and are given in parentheses in the table below. In native words, the opposition between voiceless and voiced stops is neutralised in word-final position. A typical Munda feature is that word-final stops are "checked", i. e. glottalised and unreleased. Santali has eight oral and six nasal vowel phonemes. With

2136-472: The 1860s by European anthropologists, folklorists and missionaries including A. R. Campbell, Lars Skrefsrud and Paul Bodding . Their efforts resulted in Santali dictionaries, versions of folk tales, and the study of the morphology, syntax and phonetic structure of the language. The Ol Chiki script was created for Santali by Mayurbhanj poet Raghunath Murmu in 1925 and first publicised in 1939. Ol Chiki as

2225-432: The 2011 census, the prominent languages spoken by the tea garden community are Sadani/Sadri , Santali , Odia , Kurukh/Oraon , and Munda . Additionally, Mundari , Kharia , Chhattisgarhi , Gondi , and Savar also have notable speakers. Among these, Sadri is predominantly spoken as a first language and serves as a lingua franca among the multilingual ethnic groups. However, Sadri spoken in Assam slightly differs from

2314-721: The Assam Company brought the first batch of 2,272 recruits from outside. Out of 2,272 recruits, 250 died on the way to Assam. From 2 April 1861 to 25 February 1862, 2,569 people were recruited and sent to Assam in two batches via the Brahmaputra river route. During the journey 135 died and 103 absconded. Between 1 May 1863 and 1 May 1866, 84,915 labourers were recruited, but 30,000 had died by June 1866. From 1877 to 1929, 419,841 recruits entered Assam as indentured labourers, including 162,188 males, 119,582 females and 138,071 children. From 1938 to 1947, 158,706 recruits came to Assam. They were brought to Assam through three riverine routes, two along

2403-837: The British-administered provinces. After independence the Constituent Assembly continued the prevailing definition of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, giving (via articles 341 and 342) the president of India and governors of the states a mandate to compile a full listing of castes and tribes (with the power to edit it later, as required). The complete list of castes and tribes was made via two orders: The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 , respectively. Which are derived from colonial list and first updated in Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Lists (Modification) Order, 1956. Furthermore, independent India's quest for inclusivity

2492-496: The Constitution lays down the general principles of positive discrimination for SCs and STs.   As per Article 366 (24) of Constitution of India the Scheduled Castes is defined as: Such castes , races or tribes or part of or groups within such castes, races or tribes as are deemed under Article 341 to be Scheduled Castes for the purpose of this [Indian] constitution. As per Article 366 (25) of Constitution of India

2581-518: The Education, Creche Development & Nutrition Programme, later expanded and diversified into a more structured intervention to promote health, nutrition, sanitation and child rights amongst the tea workers population. The tea industry is a crucial part of the Indian economy . Assam produces 55% of India's total production of tea. It is a labour-intensive industry and highly dependent on a large workforce. It

2670-582: The Indian Reservation policy. Hence, these societies usually forge their community certificate as Hindus and practice Christianity or Islam, afraid for their loss of reservation. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Constitution of India. Santali language Santali ( Pronounced: [santaɽi] , Ol Chiki : ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ , Bengali : সাঁওতালী , Odia : ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ , Devanagari : संताली ), also known as Santal or Santhali ,

2759-527: The Lokur Committee (1965) they formed around 20 lakh. They have been demanding Scheduled Tribe status in Assam, but the tribal organization of Assam is against it, which has resulted in several clashes between them and deaths. In the 19th century, the British found Assam suitable for tea cultivation and wanted to increase their revenue by planting tea plantations, so they brought labourers from different parts of

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2848-552: The Scheduled Tribes is defined as: Such tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to the Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this [Indian] Constitution. Article 341 (1) The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification specify

2937-619: The Varna system. Since the 1850s, these communities were loosely referred to as Depressed Classes, with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The early 20th century saw a flurry of activity in the British authorities assessing the feasibility of responsible self-government for India. The Morley–Minto Reforms Report , Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms Report and the Simon Commission were several initiatives in this context. A highly contested issue in

3026-498: The Workmen's Breach of Contract Act (Act 3 of 1859). Under this act employees were liable to prosecution, and even imprisonment, for breach of contract. Inertia, refusal to work and desertion were likewise punishable offenses for which the workers could be flogged, subjected to physical torture and imprisoned under the provisions of this act. Flogging was common practice in the tea gardens. The then Chief Commissioner Assam Fuller commented on

3115-404: The amount spent on tea garden education in the first five-year plan was just 0.26 million (2.6 lakhs), i.e., not even ten paise per tea garden labourer. The medium of instruction had also created problems in the tea gardens. Different tribes and castes had their own language and literature in the school owing largely to their original places. In tea gardens, three languages were primarily spoken by

3204-514: The anti-colonial anti-British attitude alive in their mindset. Noted historian Amalendu Guha remarks, "Illiterate, ignorant, unorganised and isolated from their homes as they were, the plantation workers were weak and powerless against the planters." Still, several times they tried to protest against the atrocities of the planters and estate managers: for example, protest of 1884 in Bowalia T.E., Strike of Helem T.E. in 1921, etc. Numbers of people from

3293-412: The case may be. (2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in a notification issued under clause any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification. In a broader sense, the term 'Scheduled' refers to

3382-470: The castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be. (2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause of any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid

3471-530: The categories. For much of the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent , they were known as the Depressed Classes. In modern literature, many castes under the Scheduled Castes category are sometimes referred to as Dalit , meaning "broken" or "dispersed" for the untouchables. The term having been popularised by the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar during the independence struggle. Ambedkar preferred

3560-475: The coast of Odisha from Indochina about 4000–3500 years ago, and spread after the Indo-Aryan migration to Odisha . Until the nineteenth century, Santali had no written language and all shared knowledge was transmitted by word of mouth from generation to generation. European interest in the study of the languages of India led to the first efforts at documenting the Santali language. Bengali , Odia and Roman scripts were first used to write Santali before

3649-554: The commission established by the Ministry of Welfare's Resolution of 1989. In 2003, the Constitution was again amended to divide the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two commissions: the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Due to the spread of Christianity and Islam among scheduled caste communities, the converted individuals are not protected under

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3738-522: The community actively participated in the Indian independence movement . Some of the names of the participants are Gajaram Kurmi, Pratap Gond, Shamburam Gond, Mohanchal Gond, Jagamohan Gond, Bidesh Kamar Lohar, Ansa Bhuyan, Radhu Munda, Gobin Tanti, Ramsai Turi, Bishnu Suku Majhi, Bongai Bauri, Durgi Bhumij, etc. Some of the freedom fighters who became martyrs are Christison Munda, Doyal Das Panika, Mongol Kurku, Tehlu Saora and Bankuru Saora. Christison Munda ignited

3827-512: The community. But Adivasi students' organisation AASAA has demanded an extension of the area of the Adivasi Development Council to all parts of Assam, as it is currently operational in only sixth scheduled areas of the state. There have also been demands for the formation of an autonomous satellite council for Adivasis in Assam. Tribals among the community have been fighting for decades to receive Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, which

3916-593: The condition of labourers, "...They were deprived of all their freedom and their derogatory conditions and atrocities remind one of the slaves running in Africa and the global slave trade." In addition to this, the tea garden manager might abuse the workers physically. A tea garden manager in Darrang district caught a boy in an attempt at burglary, and he was beaten to death. His dead body was subsequently found with marks that showed that he had been cruelly beaten. In Cachar district,

4005-474: The country to clear large tracts of forest and make tea gardens. Tea garden workers were brought to the tea plantations of Assam in several phases from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century from the tribal heartland of central-eastern India as indentured labourers. During the 1840s, tribal people throughout the Chota Nagpur Division were revolting against expanding British control, and

4094-1222: The exception of /e o/, all oral vowels have a nasalized counterpart. There are numerous diphthongs. Santali, like all Munda languages, is a suffixing agglutinating language . Nouns are inflected for number and case. Three numbers are distinguished: singular, dual and plural. The case suffix follows the number suffix. The following cases are distinguished: Transcript version: Santali has possessive suffixes which are only used with kinship terms: 1st person -ɲ , 2nd person -m , 3rd person -t . The suffixes do not distinguish possessor number. The personal pronouns in Santali distinguish inclusive and exclusive first person and anaphoric and demonstrative third person. The interrogative pronouns have different forms for animate ('who?') and inanimate ('what?'), and referential ('which?') vs. non-referential. The indefinite pronouns are: The demonstratives distinguish three degrees of deixis (proximate, distal, remote) and simple ('this', 'that', etc.) and particular ('just this', 'just that') forms. The basic cardinal numbers (transcribed into Latin script IPA) are: The numerals are used with numeral classifiers . Distributive numerals are formed by reduplicating

4183-406: The first attempt was made by the Assam Company to recruit labourers. In this attempt, 652 people were forcibly recruited, but due to an outbreak of cholera, most of them died. Those who survived fled. In 1859 the Workmen's Breach of Contract Act was passed, which instituted harsh penalties for indentured labourers who broke their contracts, including flogging. It alleviated the scarcity of labourers on

4272-504: The gardens appointed some trained physicians, called LMP (Learned Medical Practitioners), only after 1889, when Berry White Medical School was set up at Barbari, Dibrugarh. A report published by a European DPI in 1917–18 stated that as many as 2 lakh children of school-going age were in the tea gardens of Assam, but not even 2% turned up for primary education. The numbers of the schools and students' enrolment were in papers and files only. In 1950 there were 5,00,416 of children who could attend

4361-559: The government on broad policy issues and the development levels of SCs and STs. Now it is included in Article 342. In 1990, Article 338 was amended for the National Commission for SCs and STs with the Constitution (Sixty fifth Amendment) Bill, 1990 . The first commission under the 65th Amendment was constituted in March 1992, replacing the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and

4450-815: The histography, but as Guha quoted, "It must be admitted that these Adivasis joined in the Indian Independence movement, not because of the Assamese middle class, the Congress or the Assamese non-state organizations, but in spite of them." An ethno-linguistic minority, the population of the community is primarily rural in nature and estimated to be around 7 million (70 lakhs), or nearly 20% of Assam's total population. Different political parties appeal to them during election seasons in Assam as their demographic numbers always influence politics in Assam. They live in almost every district of Assam, but their density varies according to

4539-527: The imposition of Sadri language in primary school for tea-tribes and demand inclusion of the Kurmali language in the school curriculum. In July 2021, Adivasi Sahitya Sabha of Assam urged the education minister of Assam, Ronuj Pegu, to promote Adivasi/tribal languages such as Santali, Mundari, Kurukh, Kharia and Gondi. The president of Adivasi Sahitya Sabha of Assam opposed the use of Sadri or Bagania language in schools by claiming it as an artificial language and opposed

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4628-438: The jail set up at Tezpur in 1876 for insane people. Thousands of labourers died annually due to the lack of availability of health care. The gardens did not appoint any doctors. Though the colonial government tried to make tea gardens appoint European medical officers and send health reports to the government regularly, tea gardens failed to comply. Most of the gardens didn't have hospitals to treat labourers in ill health. Most of

4717-407: The labours: Santhali , Kurukh , and Mundari . But commonly Sadri was used and outside the tea gardens the Assamese language was used as a medium of communication. Therefore Narayan Ghatowar, a prominent intellectual of the community, advocated that Assamese be imparted in the schools only by teachers who knew Sadri. Though the community remained oppressed as plantation labourers, they still had

4806-433: The language in colleges and universities. Distribution of Santali language in the states of India Santali is spoken by over seven million people across India , Bangladesh , Bhutan , and Nepal , with India being its native country and having the largest number of speakers. According to 2011 census , India has a total of 7,368,192 Santali speakers (including 358,579 Karmali , 26,399 Mahli ). State wise distribution

4895-629: The language is spoken in pockets of Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions of northern Bangladesh as well as the Morang and Jhapa districts in the Terai of Koshi Province in Nepal . Santali is one of India's 22 scheduled languages . It is also recognised as the additional official language of the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. Dialects of Santali include Kamari-Santali, Khole, Lohari-Santali, Mahali, Manjhi, Paharia. Santali has 21 consonants, not counting

4984-707: The larger community, and overall backwardness. The scheduling process refers back to the definitions of communities used in the colonial census along with modern anthropological study and is guided by Article 341 and 342 . Per the first clause of Article 341 and 342 , the list of Scheduled communities is subject to specific state and union territory , with area restrictions to districts , subdistricts , and tehsils . Furthermore, members of Scheduled Communities are entitled based on religious criteria: Scheduled Castes must be adherents of Hinduism , Sikhism , or Buddhism , whereas Scheduled Tribes can belong to any religion to be recognized as Scheduled. The evolution of

5073-419: The legal list of specific castes and tribes of the states and union territories, as enacted in the Constitution of India , with the purpose of social justice by ensuring social security, and providing adequate representation in education, employment, and governance to promote their upliftment and integration into mainstream society. The process of including and excluding communities, castes, or tribes to/from

5162-516: The list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes adheres to certain silent criteria and procedures established by the Lokur committee in 1965. For Scheduled Castes (SCs), the criteria involve extreme social, educational, and economic backwardness resulting from the practice of untouchability . On the other hand, Scheduled Tribes (STs) are identified based on indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with

5251-471: The lives of tea garden labourers. Reputed Tea Associations such as Assam Branch Indian Tea Association (ABITA) and Bharatiya Cha Parishad (BCP) have been working with organizations such as UNICEF and the Government of Assam to improve the lives of the tea garden labourers. The ABITA has embarked on a partnership with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of the government of India promoted and partnered by

5340-649: The lower caste into the modern-day Scheduled Castes is complex. The caste system as a stratification of classes in India originated about 2,000 years ago, and has been influenced by dynasties and ruling elites, including the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. The Hindu concept of Varna historically incorporated occupation-based communities. Some low-caste groups, such as those formerly called untouchables who constitute modern-day Scheduled Castes, were considered outside

5429-557: The lower primary schools, but only 29,361 children attended. It was just meagre 6%. From 1946–50, there were only four college students from tea gardens. The number of students who attended high schools, including M. E. schools, during this period was Jorhat – 29, Dibrugarh – 15, Golaghat – 22, Titabor – 04, Nagaon – 10, Lakhimpur – 12, Tezpur – 41 and Mangaldai – 05. The tea planters never encouraged education to garden labourers as it would prevent them from physical labor or encourage protest against exploitation. Even after Indian independence,

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5518-432: The lowest against Assam's 72% overall literacy rate as tea garden management and other vested interests hinder in their educational development. The government of Assam has a full fledged "Tea-tribes welfare department" for looking after the socio-economic welfare of the community. There also exist an Adivasi Development Council and Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes Development Council to look after specific development needs of

5607-464: The majority of the community are still labourers, they live in labour lines built inside tea-estates and established by tea planters. These estates are located in remote areas and this contributes to the backwardness and exploitation of them by the tea planters. The labourers in a way have to live with the basic facilities provided by the tea planters. The tea planters usually exploit the workers every possible way. Violence and agitation of labourers against

5696-462: The management is common, where the state machinery normally protects the tea-planters. Non-education, poverty, addiction of males to country-beer, poor standard of living, rising population and inadequate health facilities provided to them are the problems in their lives. There are instances when tea-planters do not even supply the life-saving drugs when workers are dying out of epidemics. The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha has been instrumental in improving

5785-483: The manager of the tea gardens was necessary for the marriage of the labourers. In addition to emigrant labourers, tea planters also forced labourers to increase the birth rate, so that each garden could garner enough labour force. Abortion was strictly prohibited. The wages paid to labourers were very low. This forced the whole of family members to work in the tea garden. From 1865–1881 men labourers were paid only ₹5 per month and women ₹4 per month. The situation remained

5874-741: The musical instruments used by them. ' Jhumair ' is a famous folk dance form among the community. This dance is a folk dance prevalent in Jharkhand , Odisha and West Bengal . It has become famous among the community although traditionally different ethnic groups and tribes have different folk dances. Karam dance is an important dance form that is performed during the Karam festival by boys and girls alike. Other folk dances are Chhau dance , Sambalpuri Dalkhai dance, Santal , Kurukh dance of Oraon tribe and Kharia dance of Kharia tribe, which are performed on different occasions. Dhols , Mandars, and Kartals are

5963-632: The native Chota Nagpuri variant and has several sub-varieties that arise due to dominant linguistic groups, differing in their phonological, morphological, and syntactic features. Nagpuri Sadri, on the other hand, exhibits linguistic features from the Bihari group of languages like Bhojpuri , Magahi , etc., making it often considered a dialect of Bhojpuri. Meanwhile, the Assam Sadri sub-varieties are influenced by languages that are Indo-Aryan , Dravidian , Austroasiatic , Tibeto-Burman , and Tai-Kradai , hence it

6052-577: The number of tea plantations in different regions of Assam. They are more numerous in Upper Assam and Central Assam than Lower Assam. Some were not brought for tea garden labour. Many tribes (most notably Santhal, Kurukh, Bhumij and Munda people) were forcibly displaced by the British from the Chotanagpur region due to their rebellion against the British regime. They were dumped into Lower Assam regions of then-undivided Goalpara and undivided Darrang districts as

6141-399: The part of the government. Though the younger generations are better-educated and are becoming professionals in various fields, there are not many of those in the community. The literacy rate of the community is one of the lowest in Assam, particularly among girls and women. Due to this, girls are extremely vulnerable to sexual exploitation and early marriages are prevalent among them. Since

6230-406: The plantation by recruiting from outside Assam through contracts. "Arakattis," or brokers, were appointed to recruit labour from outside the area. In 1870, the "Sardari System" was introduced to recruit labourers. Conditions of recruitment of labour from Bengal and Bihar were inhuman. Arakattis resorted to several fraudulent practices and physical force. From 15 December 1859 to 21 November 1861,

6319-631: The president. Seventeen regional offices of the Commissioner were established throughout the country. There was an initiative to replace the Commissioner with a committee in the 48th Amendment to the Constitution, changing Article 338. While the amendment was being debated, the Ministry of Welfare established the first committee for SCs and STs (with the functions of the Commissioner) in August 1978. These functions were modified in September 1987 to include advising

6408-494: The proportional population. A strange factor has emerged of extremely lowered fertility of scheduled castes in Kerala , due to land reform, migrating ( Kerala Gulf diaspora ) and democratization of education. In the original Constitution, Article 338 provided for a special officer (the Commissioner for SCs and STs) responsible for monitoring the implementation of constitutional and legislative safeguards for SCs and STs and reporting to

6497-489: The proposed reforms was the reservation of seats for representation of the Depressed Classes in provincial and central legislatures. In 1935, the UK Parliament passed the Government of India Act 1935 , designed to give Indian provinces greater self-rule and set up a national federal structure. The reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes was incorporated into the act, which came into force in 1937. The Act introduced

6586-556: The safeguards built into the Constitution and other legislation, the Constitution under Articles 338 and 338A provides for two constitutional commissions: the National Commission for Scheduled Castes , and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes . The chairpersons of both commissions sit ex officio on the National Human Rights Commission . The Constitution provides a three-pronged strategy to improve

6675-442: The same up to 1900. It was only by an Act of 1901 that wages increased to ₹5.5 for men and ₹4.5 for women. Children's wages remained the same. These rates of pay compared extremely unfavourably with other manual work available: in the early 1880s an unskilled railway construction labourer earned ₹12 to 16 per month (3 times more than tea garden labour). The tea garden labourers suffered under legal bondage. Their lives were governed by

6764-433: The scarcity of cheap labour to work in the expanding tea industry of Assam led the British authorities to recruit primarily Tribals and some backward-class Hindus as indentured labourers to work in Assam's tea gardens. Thousands of people recruited as labourers died of diseases during the journey to Assam, and hundreds who tried to flee were killed by the British authorities as punishment for breaching their contracts. In 1841

6853-401: The situation of SCs and STs: The Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) of 1979 mandated a planning process for the social, economic and educational development of Scheduled Castes and improvement in their working and living conditions. It was an umbrella strategy, ensuring the flow of targeted financial and physical benefits from the general sector of development to the Scheduled Castes. It entailed

6942-750: The state population. Apart from those prominent tribal groups, other notable communities were Bhuiya (83,383), Bhumij (72,003), Kamar (67,902), Bauri (62,430), Ahir (53,294), Chamar (51,733), Dom (39,037), Ghasi (32,703), Kurmi (31,794), Khadiyal (31,324), Napit (18,350), Odia (16,835), Telinga (15,927), Rajwar (15,213), Jalandha (13,535), Mahli (13,506), Kharwar (13,476), Musahar (13,317), Bhogta (12,058), Dosadh (11,703), Kahar (10,666), Bagdi (10,664), and Gowala (10,255). They are people of various ethno-linguistic origins from different regions of eastern India composed of dozens of tribes and castes with varying population demographics. The list of tribes and castes are: According to

7031-411: The tea cultivation, plucking and processing of tea leaves in the plantations is one of exploitation and untold hardships for the tea labourers. These labourers are still living with the basic facilities provided by the tea planters or companies. Poor standard of living and lack of education and health facilities are the main problems of tea labourers. Literacy level among the community is only 46%, one of

7120-419: The tea garden community are shifting to a lingua franca language, Sadri, while others are transitioning to Bengali and Assamese to varying degrees. Among the tribal groups, languages such as Ho, Gondi, Kui, Bhumij, and Korwa are experiencing significant decreases in the number of speakers from 1931 to 2011, with percentage changes ranging from -65.4% to -95.4%. In July 2021, Kudmali Sahitya Sabha of Assam opposed

7209-526: The term "Scheduled Castes", defining the group as "such castes, parts of groups within castes, which appear to His Majesty in Council to correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as the 'Depressed Classes', as His Majesty in Council may prefer". This discretionary definition was clarified in The Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1936 , which contained a list (or Schedule) of castes throughout

7298-453: The term Dalit over Gandhi 's term Harijan , meaning "people of Hari " ( lit.   ' Man of God ' ). Similarly, the Scheduled Tribes are often referred to as Adivasi (earliest inhabitants), Vanvasi (inhabitants of forest) and Vanyajati (people of forest). However, the Government of India refrains from using derogatory and anthropologically incorrect terms. Instead, it uses

7387-478: The term Tea-tribe by claiming it as self-created nomenclature. The majority of the population of the community follows Folk Hinduism and Sarnaism , while Christians account for about 15% of the population. Hindus worship different deities during different seasons of a year. Most (if not all) of the Hindus are animistic in nature and worship tribal and tantra-related gods. The influence of mainstream Vedic Hinduism

7476-565: The terms Anusuchit Jati (Scheduled Caste) and Anusuchit Janjati (Scheduled Tribe), as defined by the Constitution of India , for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In September 2018, the government "issued an advisory to all private satellite channels asking them to refrain from using the derogatory nomenclature 'Dalit', though rights groups and intellectuals have come out against any shift from 'Dalit' in popular usage". The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise about 16.6% and 8.6%, respectively, of India's population (according to

7565-619: The third most-spoken Austroasiatic language after Vietnamese and Khmer . Santali was a mainly oral language until developments were made by European missionaries to write it in Bengali , Odia and Roman scripts. Eventually, the Ol Chiki script was developed by Raghunath Murmu in 1925. Ol Chiki is alphabetic, sharing none of the syllabic properties of the other Indic scripts, and is now widely used to write Santali in India. According to linguist Paul Sidwell , Munda languages probably arrived on

7654-493: The traditional musical instruments used during the dance for music. Usually, the traditional dress of red-bordered white saris is adorned by female dancers along with jewellery and ornaments before performing the dance. Male dancers wear dhotis and kurtas with white turbans on their heads. They are one of the most backward and exploited communities in Assam due to decades of continuous exploitation by tea estate management and neglect on

7743-427: The tribes have started to demand ST status separately in order to fulfill the constitutional criteria designating "Scheduled Tribe". Scheduled Tribe The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India . The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of

7832-461: Was highly unhygienic. These conditions led to the spread of cholera among the labourers which led to the death of many among them in the journey. After the journey, their life in the tea gardens was also difficult. Planters made barracks known as the Coolie line for the labourers and these were overcrowded. "Coolie" was a term used by tea garden authorities to denote labourers, and is now considered to be

7921-431: Was incident through the appointment of B. R. Ambedkar as the chairman of the drafting committee for the Constitution. Ambedkar was a scheduled caste constitutional lawyer, a member of the low caste. After 15 years since the first amendment listing Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the government adopted updated criteria for inclusion and exclusion based on the Lokur committee report of 1965. To effectively implement

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