We Are Just Mazdoors! A Decolonial Ethnographic Account of Health Inequalities, and Inequities Among Tea Garden Laborers in Assam, India

Abstract

This article investigates the lived experiences of health inequalities and inequities among tea garden laborers in Assam, India. By employing decolonial ethnographic research, this study explored long-standing health inequalities and inequities in the tea industry and workers’ illnesses and injuries due to inadequate occupational, environmental, and health care policies. Neither the state nor the management of the tea garden, according to the interviews, has taken the essential actions to safeguard the health and safety of the workers in tea gardens either during the pandemic or at any other time. Instead, hearing gaalis (verbal abuses) from babus (the tea garden managers) is a part of their everyday life. We argue that even after 7 decades of post-colonial rule, tea garden workers are subject to a ghettoized economy characterized by closure and control. Thus, we need to reexamine how the tea industry is structured in order to rectify existing health inequities.