Book Review...

T.B Subba and G.C. Ghosh (Eds), The Anthropology of North East India, Oriental Longman Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2003, Total pages- 380, Price: Rs. 145/-

Traditionally, the region lying in the northeastern part of the Indian Territory covers 7 sister states namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. More recently, the state of Sikkim has also been included in the council of North East India. Moreover, geographically, the northern part of West Bengal including the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar can be regarded as a part of Northeast India besides the above-mentioned states.

Northeast India, as a geographical region has been a unique entity in the Republic of India in terms of physical geography, social geography, economic geography, political geography and historical geography. Because of its geographical and social isolation from the mainstream Indian Territory the region has attracted scant attention from the planners, policy makers and development researchers from the mainland India over the years. Hence, this region is regarded as a backward track inhabited by the tribals by the mainstream Indians.

There has been very few research works done by the scholars with reference to the northeastern hill region of India. The mainstream researchers, cleanly, exclude the states of northeast in their research work in the pretext of non-availability of data. The fact is that they know nothing about the region and are moreover, not interested to explore the issues in development pertaining to the region. Therefore, whatever little work has been done with regard to northeast India it has either been done by the local scholars or the scholars from the foreign land. The mainstream Indian researchers have conducted very few or rather negligible works in this regard.

This book (The Anthropology of northeast India (eds) by T.B. Subba and G.C. Gosh) is one of the first of its kind once again brought by the local scholars of the region. The book covered with articles written mainly by the local anthropologists explores many facets of development dynamics and related issues and concerns pertaining to the northeastern hill region of India.

The book is divided into four major sections comprising of 15 valuable articles. Section I attempts to explore the prehistoric northeast India with the help of the archaeological evidences available so far and highlights the need to enhance archaeological studies in the region

Section II of the book highlights colonial northeast India by critically examining the contributions of J.H Hotton and J.P.Mills both as administrators and scholars (anthropologists). These two civil servants were among the first scholars who attempted to explore and highlight the Social Anthropology and Geography of northeast India.

Section III examines the biological anthropology of northeast India in terms of trends, human growth and development, genetic drift in natural population among others and brings out the related issues in development dynamics pertaining to the region.

The last section talks about the social Anthropology of northeast. This section in detail investigates aspects like tribal social organisation, agrarian relations, status of tribal women and indigenous knowledge in natural resources management in the northeastern hills of India.

This book besides catering to the needs of the students and researchers in Anthropology and allied disciplines like sociology and geography has the potential to influence the much wider audience including planners and policy makers as a standard reference book on the region. One of the major efforts of the book has been to raise curiosity in the minds of the readers about the environment, biology and people of northeast India. The book further attempts to expose the readers to various views and debates open in the hope that students and researchers might probe further into the research problems identified or indicated by various contributors to this book.

Centre For Himalayan Studies, North Bengal University, Darjeeling



The Centre for Himalayan Studies (CHS) is often regarded as the brainchild of Professor Amlan Datta, the then Vice Chancellor of North Bengal University, Darjeeling. The idea was to initiate a social research centre covering North Bengal and Sikkim and other adjoining territories on both sides of the border including Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim. The Registrar of the University in his letter to the UGC dated 20.2.76 subsequently elaborated the proposal:

“The proposed Centre for Himalayan studies will have the eastern sector of the Himalayas and more particularly the territory adjacent to Darjeeling and Sikkim for its area of research…The proposed Center can study the eastern sector of the Himalayas from the point of view of the social scientist and the historian for research in cultural anthropology, history, economics, political science and international relations.”

Finally, an inter-disciplinary research centre under the Area Studies Programme of University Grant Commission, India was established. It was established in December 1978 under the Area Studies Programme of the UGC and thus the centre completed twenty-five years in December 2003. The Centre for Himalayan Studies is treaded as a full-fledged department of the University of North Bengal under the P.G. Faculty Council of Arts, Commerce and Law.

Since its inception, the Center’s research strategy has been aimed mainly at studying the problems of development and change over time in the assigned region and it’s surrounding. People belonging to various ethnic groups and linguistic communities inhabit the region. Their culture and language form an important area of studies at the Centre. The geopolitics of the region provides the backdrop against which all such studies become relevant and meaningful points out the Dr. Karubaki Datta, Director of the Centre.

The centre pursues a number of academic activities, which includes; teaching, research, and documentation. The academic activities of the faculty members, which consist of the experts from various disciplines like Geography, Economics, History, Sociology, are basically- Research Projects, M.Phil teaching, PhD guidance, Publications and Seminars.

The faculty members take up regular research projects on the Eastern Himalayas and parts of it. So far the Center has completed over 23 major research projects since it started in the late 1970s. The reports are either published as occasional papers or in the Himalayan Miscellany-the in-house journal of the Centre or presented in the seminars organized by the Centre. The faculties of the Centre also undertake field trips or visit various libraries or offices outside the University for data collection as and when necessary.

The Centre started its M.Phil programme in 1991. The syllabus is designed for students with specialization in history, geography, economics, political science, sociology and social anthropology. So far 19 students have been awarded M.Phil degree by the Center. The Faculties of the Centre also supervise PhD works either independently or jointly with the faculties of other Departments. The Centre has awarded 14 PhD degrees to the students registered so far and some 11- dedicated research scholars are conducting research in various aspects of the region and it’s surrounding.

In the last 25 years the centre has organized 10 National and International seminars. The Centre also from time to time organizes Departmental seminars by the Center’s Research Scholars and Faculty members. Besides, special lectures by outside scholars are also organized and published by the Centre at regular intervals. The publications of the Centre include Journal, Occasional Papers, and Area Reports. The House Journal of the Centre is the Himalayan Miscellany. It contains research papers written by faculty members, research scholars and reports prepared by the Documentation staffs. Further, the Documentation Cell of the Centre brings out its publications at regular intervals under the different heads of Documentation list, Current Awareness list, and Bibliographies. The Documentation Cell of the Centre at present possesses 1300 books and 950 reprints of articles and seminar papers relevant to the area under study apart from the books purchased by the centre with UGC grants. The centre subscribes to and also receives various research journals and daily newspapers from and across the Himalayas. About 156 precious maps of the Eastern Himalayas and the North Eastern States of India has been preserved and maintained by the Centre. Research scholars frequently visit the Centre and its Documentation Cell from both within and outside the University Campus for consulting documents on the Himalayan region and the North Eastern States of India. The students and the faculties enjoy internet facilities for research purposes.

Source: Annual reports of the Centre and discussion with the Director.

Contact Address:
Centre For Himalayan Studies,
NBU, Raja Ram Mohanpur,
Distt. Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

Protecting what is ours: biodiversity and traditional knowledge of Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalaya




Diversity of biological organisms is a crucial component in the livelihood of poor as many of them depend on the diversified plants and animals to meet their nutritional, medicinal requirements.

The Eastern Indian Himalaya has been identified as one of the 25 global hotspots in terms of biodiversity. Darjeeling- Sikkim Himalaya, as a part of this system, has tremendous biological diversity. Its complex terrain system, high humidity, varied aspects and abruptness of altitudinal variation are a few important factors that contribute to the immense wealth of biological resources of more than 6000 species of flowering plants, 500 species of birds, about 400 species of butterflies, 350 species of ferns and allies, more than 238 species of bamboos, 450-500 species of orchids, 144 species of mammals, and many species of reptiles. Thus, Darjeeling and Sikkim’s biodiversity contributes significantly to the country’s ecological heritage and to the global and national ecological balance.



Over time the region has evolved various traditional knowledge pertaining to its rich bio resources and their practices. These practices have a strong base in the socio-religious system native to the region and have been evolved over 100s of years. However, we are still to document the traditional knowledge bases of Darjeeling and Sikkim. For instance, there are thousands of plants that the hill tribes in the region have been traditionally using for the medicinal purposes and such knowledge is the product of a long period of evolution in the area. Further, the spiritual aspect locally called Jhar Phuk has supported the traditional medicinal practices over the years and often have proved effective in many cases; there are ample examples when the snake bite, jaundice or fractured bones have been healed with the help of traditional medicinal plants supported by Jhar Phuk.

The hill people also have their own agricultural practices, crop varieties, and water harvesting practices. They have evolved rich knowledge with respect to their fauna; for instance a mammal locally called Dumsi is believed to have great medicinal value, there are many such animals with immense medicinal value that are confined to the knowledge of the handful of the locals. All these traditional knowledge bases have not been borrowed by the tribal of these hills from the other places but evolved by them through the experiences of several years; hence they are their original assets.

Mention should be made at this point that concerns are expressed in many quarters that the introduction of Intellectual Property Rights, under the aegis of World Trade Organisation, in the biological resources including agriculture may lead to erosion of biological diversity of many bio-resource zones. Further, since the Marrakech Agreement following the Uruguay Round (1994) there has been a mad rush from the large multinational firms to collect germ plasm of wild plants and animal varieties of rich bio- resource zones of the southern world. “The Uruguay Round (1994) of the GATT, which gave birth to WTO, talks of globalisation and privatisation of resources as well as maximum deregulation and de-bureaucratisation to motivate the private sector particularly MNCs. As a founder member of the GATT India is obliged to follow the rules and regulation as led down in World Trade Organisation. The provision of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in WTO has aggravated the bio-diversity of the third world. High bio-diversity regions in the tropics have been worst affected in this respect”.

The developed countries through their MNCs have at many times, exploited rich biological diversity and the wide genetic variability of bio zones in the south. Such process of transferring of biological wealth along with the traditional knowledge (evolved by the indigenous people of the area over centuries) without paying for it has come to be known as Biopiracy.



We need not go far to seek the example in this regard. India itself has a bitter experience with respect to Biopiracy. Piracy of Neem (neem oil is a well known pesticide in many parts of India developed and evolved through our own traditional knowledge over 100s of years), Basmati Rice (a rice with a global fame has been traditionally cultivated in India and Pakistan) and Turmeric locally called Haldi (with its traditional root in India) by the MNCs of USA and their subsequent spread in the global market is sufficient enough to make us understand the vulnerability of our rich bio-resources and traditional knowledge.

In this connection, India could not contest its claim on these bio resources, and tell the world that they are her traditional resources and that her ancestors evolved their uses experiencing over the thousands of years, as India had no documented proof for the same. India could, however, win the suit in case of patenting of wound healing properties of turmeric, as there was documented proof for this in India.

Much traditional knowledge in India including that of the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya is not documented and transmitted orally from generation to generation. This indigenous knowledge is of immense importance and the intellectual property rights (IPRs) need to be protected in the context of the globalisation and property rights particularly in the context of the standards and principals as laid down in the GATT/WTO. Not enough attention has been given to the importance of protecting the indigenous intellectual property rights by the decision makers of the region, whose traditional knowledge has often been the sources of products introduced into the international market. Globalization and privatisation of natural resources if throws before us economic opportunities it equally puts us into global intellectual property risks.

A case of Biopiracy in Sikkim was reported in July 2001. According to the department of information and public relation, government of Sikkim, two foreign nationals were arrested for trying to smuggle out moths and beetles from the Khanchendzonga National Park. They were caught red handed with more than 1000 specimens of these insects and tools used. They were booked under Section 35(6) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and kept in judicial custody for more than a month. Subsequently after a detailed investigation a complaint (charge sheet) was filed. The case was later transferred to Lok Adalat and subsequently compounded and all seized items confiscated.



Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas needs to identity both these opportunities and risks and proceed cautiously in the process of development. In this connection mention should be made that Sikkim Biodiversity Act, 2003 is on the anvil in consonance with the Central Act to ensure that the state derives maximum benefit from conserving its biodiversity while at the same time protecting the traditional knowledge of the people. The state government also assures of taking necessary legal measures to protect its biodiversity and natural resources under the Patent Regime and Intellectual Property Rights.

Important decision steps of the planners and policy makers in Darjeeling and Sikkim, in this regard, in the next few years should be:

·Formation of Biodiversity Conservation Committee consisting of interdisciplinary experts;
·Documentation and codification of all the medicinal plants with full description of their traditional practices across the Sikkim and Darjeeling Himalaya;
·Documentation of traditional medico-spiritual practices in the region along with the extent of their contribution in the health status, their advantages and disadvantages;
·Documentation of the traditional knowledge with respect to the fauna in the region in the context of their medicinal, economical and environmental values;

Proper documentation of the flora, fauna and their traditional practices although a difficult task is not impossible. Moreover, it will not only check the economic exploitations of our biological resources and traditional knowledge bases but also offer us to claim our ownership of the natural economically important germplasms.

**This article was published by The Statesman, North Bengal Extra, December 25, 2004

Bhutan: Nature of Development and Emerging Paradigm



A relatively small country located in South Asia, Bhutan has many distinctive features in its wake with respect to its geography, history, political-economy and socio-cultural milieu of the country. Bhutan is a mountainous terrain located in the Eastern Himalayan Region and hence the physical space available for economic activity is greatly limited. It is a landlocked country and has been isolated from other countries of the South, and Central Asian Regions, historically. The geo-environmental constraints and the resultant spatial isolation of the country have over the period of time impacted the overall development of the country negatively. The population in the country is distributed across remote settlements, to take the advantage of the limited suitable physical space, to carry on their basic economic activity. Further, Bhutan has a relatively smaller number of populations with the result that the supply of manpower has always been a major constraint.

It is interesting to learn that this country is one of the very few fortunate South Asian countries that did not come under the onslaught of direct colonalisation of the Western Powers. Further, Bhutan deliberately remained isolated from the outside world in the process of development in terms of political, economic and socio-cultural interactions until very recently. As a genuine Buddhist Kingdom Bhutan preferred to remain closed, inward looking and self reliant. Its small size as compared to her immediate giant neighbours like China and India was one of the pertinent forces that compelled her to remain closed and recessive in the region. In the process, however, this Himalayan Kingdom kept its socio-cultural features and her environmental parameters relatively intact as compared to her South Asian sisters who have been facing various onslaughts of development dynamics for quite some time now.

The Process of Change in Bhutan: march towards modernisation and development

The perception and attitude of the ruling elite of Bhutan underwent a fundamental change after 1952 when King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck assumed powers in October 1952 (Upreti 2004). In the early 1950s the third Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1952 –72), a farsighted emperor of Bhutan realised that the world was changing rapidly and if Bhutan kept on looking inward and remained isolated henceforth in the same intensity as hitherto, it would not be fruitful to the future development of the country. He is regarded as the architect of modern Bhutan. His rule has been dedicated to the reform and restructuring of the existing political and economic system to allow the kingdom, in the world that was rapidly changing outside, to adapt to new challenges (Mathou Thierry, 1999, 115).

This was the period when the whole of Asia was undergoing social and political transformations with the newly independent states eagerly aspiring for democracy, development and modernisation. India and China- two immediate giants- were also passing through socio-cultural, economic and political transformations. Besides, many other south Asian countries were also gradually moving upward on the path of modernisation and development. Change had, in fact, become basic policy issues in the whole of the South Asian region during the period. Hence, Bhutan although relatively isolated in many respect could not ignore such changing environment vehemently taking place in the region. Bhutan, however, followed a cautious approach while stepping on the path of development and modernisation. This was precisely because of the fact that the country was featured with numerous negative historico-socio-cultural and economic forces besides geo-environmental constraints. Hence, jumping madly into the open forum of development and the associated challenges would not be fruitful to this tiny inward looking and isolated Himalayan kingdom. Bhutan, thus, pursued the path of planned economic development and introduced its First Five Year Plan in 1961.



The fourth, that is the present, Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singhe Wangchuck followed the footpath left by his father since his accession to the throne in 1972. With result, the last three decades of the 20th century saw some dramatic changes in the economy, polity and socio-cultural attributes of Bhutan.

“During the past twenty seven years, the Bhutanese economy has undergone dramatic structural changes evinced by the export of electricity, one of the most significant natural resources of the country. The monetized sector has grown rapidly. Social indicators have improved significantly. The expansion of basic health services and primary health care throughout the kingdom has had a major impact on the overall health and well being of the population. Life expectancy has risen from 37 years in 1960 to 66 years in 1994. Achievements in education have also been impressive, with more than 80% of primary age children in school. At the same time, Bhutan has adopted a cautious but constructive policy of participation in international affairs and socio-economic co-operation with the outside world” (Mathou, Thierry, 1999).

Further, Bhutan in the last two decades or so has evolved an altogether different conceptual paradigm (framework) for development and modernisation of the country. The country has sought to envisage a system that would ensure development through self-reliance and the preservation of its tradition and religio-cultural values. The idea is to seek a balance between materialism and spiritual dynamics. It was King himself who proposed such innovative concept called Gross National Happiness (GNH) as against the popular Gross Domestic Product (GDP), specifically to capture the less quantifiable forces like emotional and spiritual well being of the people and thus has made explicit commitment to preserve Bhutan’s cultural heritage and natural environment.

Today the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGB) considers Gross National Happiness (GNH) as the cardinal concern of the Bhutanese strategy of development planning. By GNH the government meant that: 1) economic growth and development; 2) preservation and promotion of cultural heritage; 3) preservation and sustainable use of environment; and 4) good governance, are nodal points of the philosophy of national planning. This strategy of planning specifically views the development as a continuous process of balancing between the material and intangible needs of individual and society. It is pleaded that this should be seen against the universal concern for measuring the achievements of development in a country through statistics invariably forgetting the individual (Sinha, A.C. 2004).

Issues in Bhutan’s Development Dynamics

The paradigm of development followed by Bhutan over the years is not without criticism, however. Some of them may be listed below.


1.Although, the country has recently been talking of introduction of the written Constitution (draft constitution circulated in mid-2005) Bhutan is a still a hereditary monarchy. The King exercises strong, active, and direct power over the Government. The Government prohibits political parties, and none operate legally. The Government has over the year’s repeatedly restricted freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association. Freedom of religion is limited. NGOs and human rights organizations are illegal. Approximately three-fourths of population is composed of Buddhists with cultural traditions akin to those of Tibet. The remaining one-fourth of the population, ethnic Nepalese locally referred to as Lhotshampas, most of whom are Hindus, living primarily in the country's southern districts.

Government policies in the late 1980s and early 1990s caused approximately 100,000 ethnic Nepalese to leave, sometimes forcibly. Many went to refugee camps in Nepal, where they remained. A significant refugee problem still persists. Bhutan turned out to be a theater of ethnic strife during 1980s and 1990s when the Lhotshampa issue became the most important political question for the country. In addition, democratic aspirations of the Lhotshampas have led the Drukpa establishments to further withdraw to their ethnic particularism. The whole process of ethnic Nepalese, both in the refugee camps across the Indo-Nepal boarder and those loyal Lhotshampas who are still residing in the Drukpa Kingdom and who are often harassed, is handicapped by the lack of appropriate forum for dissenting voices and seek debates and discourses at various levels. Hence, it goes without saying that structural reforms in the styles of representation are badly needed.

2.The loyal Lhotshampas (i.e. those ethnic Nepalese still living in Bhutan who are not against the royal establishment) continue to be the victims of various types of harassments both within the establishment and through the forces outside the Bhutanese establishment. The Royal Government of Bhutan has not been able to address this pertinent issue as yet. Although Bhutan is a Buddhist Drukpa Monarchy by tradition, it is also a country inhabited by the ethnic Nepalese immigrants for over a century now, constituting a major chunk of the subsistence farmers in the southern foothills of the country. They have actively contributed to the economic development of Bhutan turning the negative southern area into a vibrant zone of prosperity (Sinha, A.C. 2004). They have also brought in the majorly homogenous Himalayan country socio-cultural and political diversity.

Earlier the government had sought for the policy of ethnic assimilation in which cash grants of Nu 5000/-, which was further, increased to Nu 10000/-, were given by the government to encourage inter-ethnic marriage. The provision, however, was withdrawn subsequently. Instead, aware of the possible threat to Monarchy, religion and the traditional laws of Bhutan; the royal government compelled the immigrants to accept the national traditions and be incorporated into the system. Such political card of the government resulted in an ethnic flare up leading to the flight of thousands of Lhotshampas to refugee camps across the border of India and Nepal. The regime tends to forget that such aggressive ethnic policy and false sense of absorptive capacity is bound to affect the pace of economic and social transformation.

One interesting argument in this context is that, Bhutanese feel the immigrants must accept the national tradition and be a part of Bhutan, which they did not, to begin with. Once they do not accept the system and withdraw from it they cease to have any claim for the Bhutanese indulgence. The Drukpa cultural door, which was kept ajar, is being closed for the Nepalese and an aggressive policy of Bhutanisaton is being pursued. This may be seen in the discontinuation of Nepali and Sanskrit teaching in the schools, stoppage of cash incentives to the inter-ethnic marriage and a move to change the names of Nepalese places into Dzongkha: Samchi- Samtse, Sarbhang- Sarpang, Tashigong-Tashiyangtse etc (Sinha, A.C. 2004).

3.The economy of Bhutan is predominantly government-controlled. Further, Bhutan’s economy is majorly dependent on India. As a least developed country Bhutan depends on foreign aids for financing its developmental programmes and establishment costs. India has been the largest donor of external aid to Bhutan and its main development partner. Bhutan’s first Five Year Economic Development Plan (1962-67) was totally funded by India. India committed Nu/Rs.9000 million (US $ 215 million) for the Eighth Plan (1997-2002). Once totally dependent on India for its development assistance and government’s establishment expenses, Bhutan has been increasingly turning to various bilateral, multilateral, and international finances. The United Nations, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Australia, Austria, Finland, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom and the United States provide foreign aid to Bhutan.

The crux of the problem here has been while the royal government of Bhutan on the one hand still talks of self-reliance and taking the middle path of development apparently to conserve its tradition, religion, social structure and environmental resources, on the other hand recent capitalistic development ventures in the Himalayan kingdom like massive Hydel projects, infrastructures development, foreign funding/aid etc contradict its very idea of self reliance and Gross National Happiness.

4.Critics have, moreover, seen the Bhutanese efforts towards the concept of Gross National happiness (GNH) as a uniquely indigenous Buddhist tradition of concern for all forms of life. They see the royal approach as a camouflage for its poor showing as a developing country. The country is counted among the least developed countries (LDCs) of the world. Further, it is argued that “Bhutan seeks the concept of GNH for the Drukpas and they maintain a different yardstick for the leftover Lhotshampas. And thus one could look at the plight of the Lhotshampas in Bhutan, who continue to remain on the margin of the existence, beyond the scope of the GNH (Sinha A.C. 2004)”

5.Further, the controversial claim the Bhutan has about 600,000 bonafide subjects raised some pertinent questions in the late 1990s. The human development report issued by the UNDP had listed Bhutan among the least developed if its 186 member counties. However, by adjusting the above claimed population figure, per capita income, literacy and life expectancy, Bhutan’s ranking went up from 162 to somewhere around 130. Scholars argue, however, that Bhutan is one of the few countries in the world whose statistics do tell lie.

6.There are several other modern challenges of development faced by the country in recent times that deserve a systematic research and plausible policy options.


References

Mathou, Thierry 1999. Bhutan Political Reform in a Buddhist Monarchy. The Journal of Bhutan Studies. Vol 1 No 1. Autumn.

Sinha, A.C. 2004. Himalayan Kingdom: Bhutan- Tradition, Transition and Transformation. Indus Publishing Company (second edition), New Delhi.

Upreti, B.C. 2004. Bhutan’s Strategy for Development and Self-reliance: The Objectives and Operationalisation of Gross National Happiness. Asian Profile. Vol 32 No 6. December. Pp 558-569.

Important Links:

1.http://www.towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/802/65/
2.http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts/hutt_3151.jsp
3.http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2101/stories/20040116006400400.htm
4. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2101/stories/20040116004401200.htm
5. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2101/stories/20040116005101500.htm
6.http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2101/stories/20040116003801700.htm

Development of Education in Sikkim: Himalayan Example



It is often argued that education is one of the most important indicators of socio-cultural and economic development. Prior to the advent of the skills of reading and writing the society could be classified as being in the pre-literate stage. The change from preliterate to literate society is said to have begun somewhere during the fourth millennium BC through a gradual transition from pictography to the use of an alphabet. After the advent of the dual skills of reading and writing the relevance of literacy and education to the cultural advancement enhanced significantly.

Today education is the single most important means of judging the levels of human development in a particular region or at an individual level. Education is essential for eradicating poverty, free play of demographic process, and overall human development. On the other hand, lack of education, wisdom and illiteracy leads to low dignity, ignorance and poverty, mental isolation and hampers socio-economic and political maturity. Moreover, education influences other important attributes of human development like fertility, mortality, mobility, occupancy etc. More importantly, it is a critical instrument for bringing about social, economic and political inclusion and a durable integration of people, particularly those excluded from the mainstream of any society (NHDR: 2001, 2002). The process of educational attainment hence has an impact on all aspects of life and is the best social investment in view of the synergies and the positive externalities that it generates for the people in their well being.

Education in Sikkim in the Context of Geo-Environmental and historical Constraints

Sikkim, a small Himalayan kingdom till 1975, land locked by Nepal in the west, Tibet in the north, Bhutan in the northeast and Darjeeling in the south had been a relatively close entity within the Indian subcontinent. The geographical location and the environmental set up in the region further have accentuated the problem in this regard. The scattered tribal settlements across the uneven geography of the region, climatic constraints and limited amount of horizontal interaction historically hindered the penetration of formal education system in the region. Even during the first half of the 20th century when education was the single most important aspect of development paradigm formal education did not make any remarkable headway in the state.

Further, the earlier Sikkimese rulers could hardly think of the importance of the formal and scientific education system and majorly engaged in the traditional political activities. As a consequence, while the neighbouring hills of Darjeeling, which was historically, a part of the Kingdom of Sikkim, was steadily advancing as a result of the introduction of various formal English education institutions under British India Sikkim silently lagged behind educationally and for that matter economically, socially and politically. The inability of the monarch to recognize the role of scientific education in the advancement of human development cost the region dearly at the later period of time.

History of Education and Educational Institutions in Sikkim

Although we have noted the geographical and historical constraints that prevented the advent of formal education system in Sikkim it would, however, be wrong to maintain that there wasn’t any education system in Sikkim per se. There were various modes of traditional education patterns prevalent at different periods in the history of Sikkim.

Traditional education systems of Sikkim were very life centered, practical and experience based. Lama (2001), in this connection, rightly invokes the famous traditional Nepali saying ‘ pari guni ke kam, haolo joti khayo mam’ meaning thereby, what is the use of reading and writing as ultimately you have to plough the field for your sustenance. Such folk saying among the Nepalis in Darjeeling and Sikkim hills reflect their levels of thinking and degree of wisdom during good old days. Growing children, till attainment of adolescence obtained hands on knowledge of things, ceremonies and functions. The family was the focal point of nearly all-educational endeavors with a key role being played by women.

Education in Sikkim for most of the nineteenth century was of the monastic type. Buddhist literature was read both at home and in the monastic schools. They imparted religious education for the preparation of young monks to priesthood. The schools in Tashiding, Thulung, Pemayongtse and Sangnachaling monastries were famous as centres of monastic education in those days (Jangira, 1977 as quoted in Lama, 2001).

The genesis of the monastic schools could be traced back to the arrival of Buddhism in Sikkim sometimes in the 16th Century AD. Famous scholars like Shanta Rakshita and Guru Padma, who consecrated the first ruler of Sikkim in Yuksum and also got the support of temporal power as well. Even today the Ecclesiastical Department in the Government of Sikkim has recorded 163 monastries and temples all over Sikkim excluding the small shrine (Lama, 2001). Monastries and temples have made a significant contribution to the education in Sikkim. Buddhist literature, especially the Mahayana and Tantric texts were available in Tibetan and had been the medium of instruction. The fundamental Buddhist teaching and chanting of some important prayers included in religious books formed the curriculum of monastic education. The curriculum also included the study of diversified subjects such as painting, sculpture, astrology, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, literature, tantra and so on (Lama, 2001). The Shedas (Monastic Colleges for Higher Studies in Buddhist Literature) at Deorali and Rumtek are primarily aimed at reviving the formal educational role of the monastries.

By the late nineteenth century, there was the gradual advent of the Christian Missionary Education in Sikkim with some support from the landlords/Kazis. The Maharaja of Sikkim did not, however, favour the Christian Missionary activity. The missionaries were not allowed to live in Gangtok. In 1924, Mary Scott was for the first time allowed to open a school for girls in Gangtok, the first matriculation class of which passed out the examination (with four candidates) in 1945. The school continued to grow and became a recognized higher secondary school in 1961. One of the main features of the Missionary schools for girls was the industrial teaching mainly sewing and knitting. Besides, vocational training was also a part of the curriculum. In fact, for many years until the beginning of the twentieth century primary schools set up by the church offered the only means of basic education (Lama, 2001).

The first government school to be established in Sikkim was the Bhutia Boarding School (1906). In 1907, the second government school namely, Nepali Boarding School was started in the present day Lal Bazar area. The government amalgamated the Bhutia and Nepali Boarding Schools into what it is known today as the Sir Tashi Namgyal Academy in the year 1924. Sikkim as of 1920 had only 21 schools out of which 6 were government schools, 13 missionary schools and 2 of the schools were under the landlords. The number of schools continued to increase over the years and by 1961 i.e. by the end of the First Five Year Plan period the number of schools in Sikkim had risen to 182 registering an increase of 107 percent as the number in 1954 when there were only 88 schools.



Following the merger of Sikkim in the Indian Union in year 1975 the state got tremendous momentum in its educational status in terms of the total number of schools, number of teachers and quality of education. Hence, as of 2002 Sikkim had under its fold about 2000 schools, over 10000 teachers and almost had attained 70 percent of literacy rate. Thus, there is no doubt that the state of Sikkim has done tremendous job in the last 30 years and it is hoped similar momentum would be followed by the state in the future.

Teacher Recruitment Policy in Sikkim: Issues of Son of the Soil Policy

Sikkim follows a son of the soil policy in recruiting the servants for the service of the state in all the departments of the state including education. Such precedence has found place in the state following massive in migration of the outsiders and perceived threat to the loss of the sources of livelihoods of the ethnic communities in the state.

For the recruitment of the teachers advertisements are brought out in the state gazetteer from time to time. Only the Sikkimese subjects are recruited in the educational institutes on a regular basis. Under the exceptional cases in that if the subjects of Sikkim do not possess the required qualification for a particular posts, like post graduate teachers particularly in science stream, faculties in colleges or technical institutes, outsiders are considers but mainly under contract basis.

Such policy in the state has impacted the society and economy both positively and negatively. On the positive side, the state through its son of the soil policy has been, to some extent, successful in reserving jobs to the ethnic Sikkimese and check the in migration and subsequent piracy of the jobs in the state. On the other hand, however, the son of the soil policy of the state has led to the retardation of the Sikkimese economy and society. 100 per cent reservation of jobs to the state subjects has impacted the efficiency and effectiveness on the part of the servants in all the sectors of the economy including education. In the era when we are talking of global network, unhindered horizontal exchange of goods and knowledge, dynamic and vibrant economy Sikkim cannot afford to check the horizontal mobility across its boarder. If Sikkim can invite and encourage the global investments why can’t it promote and support global talents- in the form of dynamic development managers, efficient and quality teachers, trained development professionals and development planners, engineers and architects- in a controlled manner. The time has come to open up and encourage the global talents to make Sikkimese economy vibrant and Sikkimese society dynamic.

Teachers Training

Of late the state of Sikkim has been strongly committed to quality education. Efforts are being made for improving the quality of teachers through various teachers training programmes.

In this connection, the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Gangtok, has been playing pioneering role. It has been promoting in service training programme of one year to primary teachers and headmasters of primary teachers for both government and private schools. In addition DIET in collaboration with the education department of the state has been conducting training and orientation programmes to the language teachers including Nepali, Bhutia, Lepcha and limbo with the latest techniques in handling the language curriculum.

Further, the department of education has sought training programme for primary and secondary level teachers with the help of IGNOU in a phased manner. While primary level teachers undergo IGNOU’s specially designed six months course called Certificate in Primary Education (CPE), secondary level teachers undergo the university’s normal tow years B.Ed course. For the smooth running of the programme 10 study centres all over the state for CPE and three centres for B.Ed programmes has been activated.

Besides, there are three private TTIs located in south and east districts that impart training to the qualified persons both in service and out side service. These institutes are also open to the candidates from outside the Sikkim.

Higher and Technical/Professional Education in Sikkim

The state of Sikkim does not have its own academic University as of now. The colleges of Sikkim are affiliated to the North Bengal University (NBU) located in the district of Darjeeling, West Bengal. However, in this connection the task force, constituted by the Government of Sikkim, has submitted a report on the subject in January 2003. The Sikkim University Bill 2003 was introduced and passed unanimously in Sikkim Legislative Assembly on 26th of February 2003 so as to establish academic and research intensive University in the state of Sikkim. The Governor of Sikkim has already given assent to the bill. The Sikkim University Act is now presently being published by Law Department of the state. The two colleges in the state are Namchi College, located in Namchi, South District and Tadong Gangtok College, located in Tadong, East District. They are the conventional colleges and impart education at undergraduate level in social sciences, natural sciences, commerce and language & literature both at honours and pass levels. For the post graduation in the above streams the nearest university that Sikkimese students have to go to is the NBU located in siliguri of Darjeeling district, West Bengal.

The state of Sikkim, realizing the importance of modern technology and the advent of computer age has been striving to equip the Sikkimese students with adequate knowledge and exposure in the area. In this regard the state has been taking initiative to meet the technical and information challenges and has been giving high priority in its policy statements on industry and information technology and education.

As early as in 1998 Sikkim Manipal University was established in the state with two technical colleges under it. Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) located in Majhitar imparts diploma, under graduate and postgraduate courses in various fields of engineering and information technology. The Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) located in Tadong, Gangtok offers various medical courses including MBBS. Besides, it also serves as a referral hospital to the people of Sikkim.

It is also that the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at Singtam established in 1976 has been training Sikkimese on various technical courses like draughtsman, electronics mechanical, electrician, fitter, mechanic (motor vehicle), welder, and plumber at the diploma level. However, the department of education is not happy with the response of the Sikkimese. In spite of the very nominal fees for the courses in the ITI the Sikkimese prefer to go for the conventional degree colleges rather than acquiring technical skills from this institute. As a result majority of the trainees in the ITI has been the non-Sikkimese over the years. The growing unemployment in the state makes it imperative that the Sikkimese youth need to take the training in technical skills of the type provided in the ITIs and Polytechnics. For that Sikkimese students and parents need to change their mindset and the government need to encourage the locals to take up such courses.

Further, there are two polytechnics established under World Bank funded Third Technician Education Project. Two institutes namely, Advanced Technical Training Institute located at Bardang (ATTC) and Centre for Computer and Communication at Chisopani (CCCT) offer diploma and post diploma courses in various technical fields (Box). The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has approved the courses offered by these institutes.

The state government intends these World Bank funded Institutes to be model institutes and ‘Centre of Excellence’ with the latest technologies and facilities. Their establishment is designed to address the need for employable skills to be imbibed among the youth of the state. It is hoped this noble venture of the state would address the development constraints of the state and also aid the technically qualified youths to seek potential employment outside the state.

Computer Education in Govt. Schools of Sikkim

The state government of Sikkim has taken a conscious decision to embark on a computer literacy programme in the schools of the state. The ultimate objective is the computerization of all schools in the state at secondary and senior secondary levels. The programme has been taken in three phases. In the first phase the state has set a target of introducing computer education in 29 senior secondary schools (which was already achieved in 2002-03) and there after in the second phase and the third phase all the remaining 7 senior secondary and 80 secondary schools are proposed to be covered under the programme.

Smart School Concept



To create the prospective labour forces of Sikkim suitable, useful and in consonance with the new age, the state has decided to start ‘Smart Schools’ in the state. The concept of smart school is based on modern curriculum including science and technology, computer and environmental subjects. It would change the conventional educational pattern and bring about a more holistic educational approach in the state.

Investment in Education and employment prospects

Mention should be made at this point that Sikkim has a comparative advantage with regard to its climatic set up, geographical location and overall environmental quality. This is to say; Sikkim offers good opportunities for opening up residential public schools- private, semi-private and government with strong emphasis on the quality of education and modern innovations. This was exactly the situation in the hills of Darjeeling which used to provide the best quality schools, private and those run by the christen missionaries, in the entire Eastern Himalayan Region. Thousands of students from the whole of South Asia and other places used to study in the various schools of Darjeeling hills. However, due to the ethnic riot and the subsequent political disturbances in the region the quality of education in the schools have been disrupted and their appeal declined in the last two decades.

Sikkim can grasp this opportunity under its fold as it has similar pristine locations and climatic setup for the boarding schools. Already, missionary schools like St Xavier in Pakyong and Holy Cross in Gangtok have been contributing vehemently in this regard and have made their marks in the state’s education. The state can encourage the private sectors to invest in the state in this regard. This will not only improve the standards of Sikkimese students but also contribute to the employment generations, which is so essential in the state of Sikkim in present times.

The farsighted leadership in the state of Sikkim in the last few years particularly in the last decade of the last century has resulted in the establishment of many professional education centres including engineering, medicine, and information technology. Further, the global outlook of the state in recent years has attracted the attention of the international agencies like World Bank, UNDP, Aus-Aid etc who have already started investing for the cause of sustainable development, in various development sectors including education, of this emerging state.

The need of the hour is to sustain the pace at which the state is moving ahead in the field of education. Private schools need to be encouraged strongly without discouraging the government schools. The state needs to update the quality of education and teachers in government schools through periodic monitoring and training. The Non Governmental Organizations would be of utmost help in this regard. The professional education like engineering, medicines and information technology need to be brought in the line of IITs and AIIMS. Further, other important prospective development subjects like rural, urban and regional development planning & management, hotel and tourism management, business management, architecture etc should found places in the state of Sikkim with massive private investments in the next couple of years. And the conventional academic subjects like chemistry, physics, mathematics, accountancy and social sciences disciplines need to be strengthened. The need for efficient development and business managers will increase with the growing complexity and size of Sikkimese economy and society, industrial establishments and other tertiary sector activities like tourism and trade.

Education Goals of the Sikkim Government

In compliance with the state government policy and in consonance with the national objectives as enshrined in the New Education Policy of 1986 (NEP) and Programme of action 1992 (POA), the Government of Sikkim’s Education Goals may be mentioned as follows-

·100 percent enrolment of children at the primary level by 2007,
·100 percent completion of primary teachers training,
·Increase of literacy rates to 75 percent by 2007 and 80 percent by 2012,
·Universalisation of education at all levels,
·Implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in a time bound manner,
·Launching of non formal education programmes such as Education Guarantee Schemes (EGS) and Alternative Innovation Education (AIE) under the aegis of SSA,
·Achieving retention of students in the Education System and maximizing levels of learning,
·Consolidation of Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW), Work Experience, Moral Science and Value Education,
·Diversion of a minimum of 20 percent student at the secondary level towards vocational streams as per the recommendations of the Kothari Commission,
·Implementation of a Comprehensive Technical Education Programme,
·Consolidation of Craftsmen Training in the state,
·Reduction in the rate of school dropouts.



**Note: This write up has been extracted from the draft chapter on Education,“Sikkim Development Report 2004”, prepared by this writer under the guidance of Prof. Mahendra P. Lama. The project was funded by the Planning commission of India and coordinated by NIPFP, New Delhi.

Water Regime and Associated Dynamics in the Himalayas

Water has always been an essential resource for survival. The importance of a water-secure future is fully recognised in the millennium development goals and by all countries of the world. With nearly half of the globe, especially in North Africa, Middle East and South Asia, facing acute water crisis, water is increasingly becoming a security issue. In several areas, water demands are fast approaching the natural limits. As a result of the increasing pressure, future water security in many countries stand threatened.




Himalayan Water Ecosystem

The Himalayan system is the youngest ecosystem in the world that was formed during the tertiary geological period. Some of the tallest landforms of the world are found in this system. This ecosystem is one of the richest in the world in terms of biodiversity and bio-resources. It is regarded as the abode of god by the South Asians and hence revered intensely. Some of the great river systems of the world like Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra are the integral part of the Himalayan Ecosystem. These apart, there are numerous smaller river systems that feature this loftiest landform of the world. It is of utmost interest to learn that majority of the rivers falling under the above river systems are antecedent in nature, meaning, the streams existed there before the mountain began to be uplifted. Most of the rivers have their sources in the trans-Himalayan locations well to the north of the Himalayan mountain system and flow parallel to the main range in the Tibetan highlands before entering Indian sub-continent through the Himalayas.

The Himalayan region stores one-fifth of the world’s fresh water. It is the fountainhead of water that sustains some 1.5 billion people. Hence the Himalayan River Ecosystem occupies a very significant position among the major biomes in South Asian Region and the World at large. However, we should realise that this system is also the youngest mountain system in the world and hence the most unstable. This system is still not free from the active tectonic disturbances and is the most complicated systems in the world in that a little deviation in its environmental components may lead to host of environmental hazards like landslide, soil seep, and other forms of mass wasting.




The importance of the Himalayan River System lies in the fact that major parts of the South Asian region (large part of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh) rely on the water supplied from this system for drinking, agriculture, industry, power generation, transportation and other domestic activities. However, when they burst their banks Himalayan Rivers can make millions destitute. One fifth of Bangladesh is submerged every year, and during bad years like 1986 nearly 70 percent of the country goes underwater. Water makes life possible, but it also takes away lives. The rains bring the annual curse of landslides and erosion, which adds sediments to already, choked rivers. Roads, bridges, and railway tracks are washed away. Numerous glacial lakes located at the head of these rivers can bring destructive flashfloods when they burst. Global warming is gorging many Himalayan glacial lakes with snowmelt, which could push through their loose moraine dams at any time with cataclysmic floods downstream. Nevertheless, the same floods that destroy also bring valuable silt, replenishing nutrients in the soil.



Issues and Concerns

The recent development in this strategic northern frontier in terms of increasing human habitation, construction of roads, reckless tourism, overgrazing of livestock, unscientific agriculture expansion, depletion and degradation of forest resource to name only the important few have inflicted severe pressure on the carrying capacity of this fragile ecosystem. Recent studies, conducted by geographers, geologists and other scientists, clearly highlight that the temperature is rising, glaciers are melting and in some areas streams are drying up impacting the river regimes in the region posing a direct challenge to the planners and policy makers. If the decision makers do not take heed of the situation the time is not far to seek when the whole of the Himalaya will turn in to a cold desert.

The Himalayan river systems have sustained civilizations along its course that evolved over millennia. Today, the same rivers have come under the jurisdiction of different governments with conflicting interests. It is argued that ideally, transnational water resources planning must respect a river’s will and let it flow according to the parameters of a watershed and not national boundaries. The rivers make a mockery of artificial lines on the map. Worse, sharing the water of common rivers has now become an issue for conflict between and within nations. Our inability to prepare comprehensive river basin management plan has resulted in half the population of the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra belt living below the poverty line even as precious water is wasted.



Water is a subject that touches everyone, but it is little understood. Everyone has an opinion on water, and when water is concerned it seems emotion and passion sideline rational and scientific thinking. Further, what makes it murkier is that politics, populism and geopolitics get mixed up with the science. This is a pity, because Himalayan Rivers play a vital role in the people’s battle against hunger, providing water to hundreds of millions of farmers in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Pakistan. But these countries have yet to develop ways to use this gift for the general good of their people. Mixing water with politics is a disservice to the people who is supposed to benefit from this precious fluid.

The other important fact which we need to take note at this point is that while water is getting scarcer in the Himalayas more valuable farmlands in the plains are turning flood-prone, or waterlogged. Embankments, which were initially designed to reduce floods made things worse. India has constructed more than 15,000 km of expensive levees after independence, with Bihar alone having more than 3,400 km. But floods are worse than ever before. Even so, governments in the region still spend millions on conventional and discredited methods of flood and erosion control.

Further, along with the embankments, proponents of the big dams, still view them as long-term solutions to meet power, irrigation and flood control requirements of the future. However, some ecologists and economists who see them as unsustainable due to high environmental, economic, and social costs are increasingly challenging big dams. In case of Hydel projects built thus far siltation has been a major problem, with projected capacities decreasing at alarming rates, often before the entire project is completed. Evaporation from the reservoirs and seepage of water from canals deprived the marginal land of the command area from the water that it was assured during the planning of the project. The dams that were designed to moderate floods have created floods by releasing excess water at the peak of the monsoon. In this connection it is important to note that more recently the government of India has been busy extending its gigantic development ventures, particularly the Hydel projects, in the Eastern Indian Himalayan region and the north eastern hills including Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya through its development agents mainly the NHPC (National Hydel Power Corporation). Some 168 high dams are being constructed in the fragile Construction of geomorphic unit of the Indian Himalayan System.



Such ventures of the government have raised several pertinent questions with respect to their objectives vis-à-vis the complex socio-cultural and ecological setup in the region. Three important attributes that need serious examination in this regard are-

First, the entire Himalaya is one of the youngest mountain systems in the world and hence tectonically and seismically still unstable. The massive construction works and the reservoirs created would increase the risk of seimicity.

Second, the Eastern Indian Himalaya including the Northeastern Hills is identified as one of the 25 global hotspots in terms of bio-diversity. Hence, the region is endowed with rich biodiversity and is a botanical wonderland. Any initiative like a massive Hydel dams in the region would therefore seriously impair the environmental health of the region.

Third, the region is inhabited, majorly, by the indigenous and tribal groups with unique social and cultural life styles different from the mainstream India. They regard their land and forest as the abode of god and therefore, any intrusion into their land and forest would invite serious socio-cultural tensions and may even lead to violent conflicts in this (already ethnically) vulnerable zone.

Hence, some of the pertinent questions that needs to be answered while building dams in this fragile resource zone are -

1.In the context of geo-environmental fragility

·Is the project economically viable in the region given the regions geographical and geo-environmental set up? What is the environmental cost of such projects?
·Will the tectonically/seismically sensitive area like Himalaya be able to support massive structures and the reservoirs they create?
·What will be the effects on the region’s intricate bio-relations and the biodiversity?

2.In the context of unique socio-cultural behaviour

·Development for whom! - Is it for the indigenous and tribal communities of the region or the mainstream fatties? /Or is it for some other people in the neighbouring countries?
·Is the government of India planning to venture into the power trading game at the cost of the eco-livelihood and the very existence of the indigenous and tribal community in the Himalaya?
·Are the people in the region happy with such capitalist ventures of the government / or Do the local people want such development at the first place?
·What is the degree and intensity of participation of the local people in the region who are directly and indirectly impacted by the project?
·How would, the displaced or rather ‘forcibly evicted’ people in such ventures be compensated- are the cash compensation enough to sustain and support their livelihood in the long run - what about the loss of traditional eco-cultural milieu of the indigenous and tribal in the region?
·What would be the fate of those living in the forest villages that do not have formal claim over their land – will they be compensated adequately?



Mention should be made that there has already been tremendous oppositions in the Eastern Himalayan Region with respect to these ambitious projects of the Government of India. Questions have been raised on many fronts by various voluntary organizations in and around the region, academia, and activists with respect to the socio-economic viability of the projects in the context of the geo-environmental fragility of the region.

Conclusion

There is a need to understand that there are symbiotic and intimate relationships between the natural resources. Destruction and degradation of one resource may directly or indirectly affect the existence of other valuable resources too. Water as resource among the resources is the life of mountain systems. Rivers as the base to all the resources help sustain other resources like natural vegetation, land and ultimately human being. Change in the river regime in uplands also negatively impact the resource base down stream, as there is again intimate relation between hills and plains. Managing the rivers and water sources holds promise for the future, but only if they are properly managed for the common good. Appropriate projects, carefully chosen and affordably built, cooperation between countries in the region alone can sustain the livelihood, healthy agriculture and robust industry to ensure better quality of life for one of the poorest and most-densely populated regions of the world, the Himalaya.

References

Bandyopadhyay, Mallik, Mandal and Perveen (2002), Dams and Development, Report on a policy dialogue, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Khawas, V. (2003), Various Postings on Indian Himalayas to North American Mountain Forum on the auspices of the e-discussion series “Mountains as Water Towers”, July 2003, www.mtnforum.org.

Madhukar, Upadhya (2001), Liquid assets -Two recent books on Himalayan water demystify and demythify this precious resource, A Review, Nepali Times, www.Nepalnews.com, July.

Rudra, K. (2003), Large Dams in North East India-Rivers, Forests, People and Power, Ecologist Asia, vol. 11, No. 1, January-February.

Autonomous Development Councils across Indian Himalayas

The last two decades of the 20th century witnessed the creation of three Autonomous Development Councils (ADCs) within Indian Federation. They are Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (1988), Ladakh Autonomous Development Council (1995) and Bodo Autonomous Development Council (1993). It restructured and decentralized our conventional system of federation, which normally consists of the Union and the Federated Units (states). ADCs are basically district level councils created within a district and under the presence of traditional district level administration. They are mainly responsible for taking care of development activities within their functional jurisdiction while the district administration, as a representative of the state, looks after the general administration of the district. ADCs in India have been formed taking into account the factors like geographical isolation, distinct regional identity and some special problems different from that of mainstream India. They are to be more precise, the result of long ethnic struggle to regain a measure of political autonomy from the ruling state. The premise on which they have been created lies in the fact that decentralization of power would give a boost to the developmental activities and meet the aspiration of the people. The focal aim behind the creation of ADCs is, thus, the socio-economic and cultural advancement of the local people within the established council.

Ladakh Autonomous Development Council




Ladakh is a region located in the Trans-Himalayas and is geographically isolated from rest of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Consequently, the people of the area have had a distinct regional identity in terms of ethnic composition, religion and linguistics from those of the other areas of the state. The people of Ladakh have for a long time demanded effective local institutional arrangement that can help promote and accelerate the pace of development and equitable all round growth and development having regard to its unique geo-climatic and locational conditions and stimulate fullest participation of the local community in the decision making process. The demand was to regain a measure of autonomy from the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The history of the struggle can be traced to the loss of independence of Ladakh in the 1830s and more immediately to the 1930s and particularly after the accession of the state to newly independent India. Initially, the struggle had been intermittent and thus failed to make much progress. It was however, resumed in 1989 when the Ladakh Buddhist Association launched a violent communal agitation. Finally, negotiations with the central and state government were followed and a compromise was reached upon in 1995 based on the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council model. To this effect Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act, 1995 was enacted and thus LAHDC was formed.

The creation of LAHDC has not been able to address the aspirations and needs of the Ladakhis over the years. Buddhists, as they are called in Ladakh, still feel that they suffer discrimination in every field of development and are thus treated as second-class citizens. There are voices to resume an agitation for total secession from the state, which was the original demand: ‘Free Ladakh from Kashmir’.

Bodo Autonomous Development Council

The Bodo problem is multidimensional in nature. Bodo, basically, refers to a tribal group residing in the state of Assam and often regarded as autochthonous in the region. The movement initially started with a cry for identity supposed to be endangered by the myopic outlook of the then chauvinistic groups ruling Assam. Subsequently the question of ascertaining political rights and constitutional safeguards came up. Moreover, there arose protests against the exploitation and deprivation of the common man by the ruling clique and the upper class. Later, the need for protection and preservation of language, literature, culture and tradition of the Bodos emerged which became the most emotional issue for the community in the 1960s. The illegal immigration in the state from the surrounding regions amplified the situation.



Today, the right of self-determination has been a single agenda among the Bodos – with various interpretations, from a mere political autonomy to complete freedom, that is, a separate nation. However, the common goal of all Bodo Organizations is the creation of a separate state of Bodoland. The Bodo movement took violent turn since 1980 when a vigorous mass movement started in the region. The movement came to an end in 1993 with the signing of the Bodo Accord. This treaty led to the creation of the Bodoland Autonomous Council. The Bodo Accord and Bodo Council could not keep pace with the aspirations and requirements of the Bodos. Today the Bodo movement has been revived.

Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council

Darjeeling Himalaya, presently northernmost district of West Bengal, passed through abnormal history. An integral part of the Kingdom of Sikkim till 1706, it was ruled by Bhutan, Nepal and British India in the subsequent years before it was permanently taken over by the Government of India after 1947. As a result, the region evolved as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual area.



The social groups with diverse history and corresponding needs and demands were not satisfied with the mainstream development framework and started struggling for the separate politico-administrative identity. Evidences available in this context highlight that people living in the region had to pass through difficult phases in the process of development and importantly never formed the part of the mainstream development process. The district saw ethnic insurgencies with diverse characteristics and demands for a long period of time starting since 1907. Ultimately, Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was formed under the State Act in July 1988.

The decade of 1990s saw radical changes on the political scenario of Darjeeling. The DGHC consisted of councilors elected by the people of Darjeeling. This body was granted autonomy to function as an independent body. However, with the passage of time, over-confidence set in among the councilors of Darjeeling. Easy win in elections ensured the councillors' lethargy to work. There was frequent funds mismanagement. Funds earmarked for development projects were diverted to pay for overheads. Over the years, the situation gained momentum. It is alleged, in spite of the formation of DGHC, Darjeeling is still a neglected region. Development work has failed to yield desired results.

More recently, there had been voices like including the whole of Darjeeling Hills under Sixth Schedule or Article 371 of the Indian Constitution. Local political forces were also talking of including the left over Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district and the Gorkha/Nepali dominated Dooars region of Jalpaiguri district within the preview of DGHC. Consequently, a new chapter to the history of Darjeeling hills was added on December 6, 2005 following a tripartite agreement between the DGHC, the West Bengal government, and the Government of India. It was formally agreed upon to include Darjeeling hills in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution with two more mauzas to be the part of the updated Council. The objective of this agreement is to replace the existing Darjeeling Gorkha Hills Council to be known as Gorkha Hill Council, Darjeeling, and to fulfill economic, educational and linguistic aspirations and the preservation of land rights, socio-cultural and ethnic identity of the hill people and to speed up the infrastructure development in the hill areas.

The extension of Sixth Schedule to Darjeeling Hills is not without controversies. There is hardly any difference between what the Council was before and what it is now except that it got constitutional recognition. The council already had a considerable amount of autonomy with respect to administrative and development matters. There will only be some minor changes here and there and revision of electoral representation in the updated Council. Further, as earlier, the offices of the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police will be outside the control and direction of the new Council.

Questioning the relevance of ADCs

The complexities in the functioning of ADCs and prevailing socio-economic and political situations therein compel us to question the very existence of Autonomous Development Councils (ADCs) in the country. Some of the pertinent queries that we would like to be clarified in this connection can be listed as:

·What is the political status of ADCs?
·Are ADCs appropriate development units?
·What is the planning and development status of ADC areas within the Indian Federation?
·Are ADCs suitable answers to the geographical, historical, socio-cultural and political constraints of the people?
·Who is being empowered here, on what basis and to what extent?

It is important to understand that mere institutional and legal empowerment of the local communities does not address in itself issues of social justice and inequality and certainly does not lead naturally or necessarily to better policies. At the same time we also need to know that devolution and decentralization are an indispensable component of any attempt to move towards social justice and sustainability. The challenge ahead is to re-conceptualize the very concept of community representation and the institutional arrangements that we often envision in the context of their relevance to the regions and the people therein so that inter-regional as well as intra-regional disparities/conflicts are reduced and sustainable development is attained. Besides, scientific allocations of resources and the respective functions in this regard need also to be worked out systematically.


**Shorter version of this article was published in The Statesman, April 5, 2006.

Tiger Skins Traded across the Himalayas




Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) recently released video footage in New Delhi putting much light on the ongoing controversies of tiger extinction from the spaces of India. It made public in detail the manner in which wild tiger and leopard skins from India are being openly traded across the markets of China and Tibet Autonomous Region.

The footage demonstrated at length the skin smuggled across the porous borders of the country and how it is used in Tibet and China for ceremonial costumes and events. Investigators who attended horse festivals across the Tibetan plateau found out that many people, including the organisers and officials, were wearing costumes decorated with tiger and leopard skins. As per the conversations with the organisers and the officials the costumes were a recent acquisition. Talk with the traders highlighted that the skins had come from India.

The WPSI-EIA team reported that in the 46 shops surveyed in Lhasa, 54 leopard and 24 tiger skin chubas were openly displayed and seven whole fresh leopard and three tiger skins were presented for sale to investigators posing as potential buyers within the time of 24 hours.

This problem, although has been there for a long time, is exposed for the first time in such scale and seriousness. It is a thriving, uncontrolled market, which may explain the increase in the number of poached tigers in India. Huge criminal gangs manage the whole network under which the skins are sent to Tibet and China through Nepal is what the video footage highlights.

Among the solutions provided by the experts in this connection, blockage of illegal poaching and smuggling of tiger and leopard skin, deployment of additional security forces in protected areas and forests, sealing of all smuggling points along the borders, and setting up of a Wildlife Tribunal with urgent effect deserve special mention.

Fall of Water from ‘Roof of the World’



A new report entitled ‘The Fall of Water’ was launched on September 5, 2005 in Nairobi/Bangkok by IUCN and UNEP. It has been compiled and supported by a range of researchers from organisations including UNEP, IUCN, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

The study is based on a new way of assessing the direct and cumulative impacts of infrastructure development called Global methodology for mapping human impacts on the Biosphere or GLOBIO. It has been developed by UNEP’s GRID Arendal centre in southern Norway, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre in United Kingdom and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.



The report warns that the mountains of Asia, including the mighty Himalayas, are facing accelerating threats from a rapid rise in roads, settlements, overgrazing and deforestation. There is concern that the region’s water supplies, fed by glaciers and the monsoons and vital for around half the world’s population, may be harmed alongside the area’s abundant and rich wildlife.

The report points to a critical gap in the security of the water to billions of people in Asia and the crucial role of sound environmental management for sustainable development. It claims that unchecked and piecemeal development are likely to increase rates of forest loss triggering increased levels of erosion, pollution and other potentially harmful effects. Conversion of pristine areas into farm and grazing land is aggravating the situation.

By combining a range of local studies with satellite images from 1960 up to today, the scientists have been able to reveal for the first time the scale of land-use changes in the region. Satellite images used in the report reveal that deforestation and unsustainable land use practices may explain why the region’s rivers now have the largest sediment loads in the world and why dissolved nutrients in the water are increasing more than in any other region. This is one of the primary causes for the increasing human drought and flood-related disasters in the region, including the latest floods and resultant high number of casualties in China and India.



The report was released in advance of the 2005 World Summit in New York that took place in mid September. Here heads of state assessed the status of implementation of the Millennium Development Goals including the target of reducing by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.

Locating the Tragedy of Darjeeling Tea



Among the teas cultivated in India, the most celebrated one comes from Darjeeling Hills. The best of India's prize Darjeeling Tea is considered the world's finest tea. The region has been cultivating, growing and producing tea for the last 150 years. The complex and unique combination of geo-environmental and agro-climatic conditions characterising the region lends to the tea grown in the area a distinct quality and flavour that has won the patronage and recognition all over the world for the last 1.5 century. The tea produced in the region and having special characteristics has for long been known across the globe as ‘Darjeeling Tea’.

The then superintendent of Darjeeling, Dr. Campbell and Major Crommelin are said to have first introduced tea in Darjeeling during 1840-50 on experimental basis out of the seeds imported from China. According to records, the first commercial tea gardens were planted in 1852. Darjeeling was then a very sparsely populated region and was only used as a hill resort. Tea being a labour intensive industry needed sufficient number of workers to plant, tend, pluck and finally manufacture the produce. Hence, the people from the neighbouring regions mainly Nepal were encouraged to immigrate and engage as labourers in the tea gardens. It appears that by the year 1866, Darjeeling had 39 gardens producing a total crop of 21,000 kilograms of tea. In 1870, the number of gardens increased to 56 to produce about 71,000 kgs of tea harvested from 4,400 hectares. By 1874, tea cultivation in Darjeeling was found to be a profitable venture and there were 113 gardens with approximately 6000 hectares. Today there are 87 registered gardens sprawled across the geographical area of 20,200 hectares.

Darjeeling Tea Industry in Crisis

In the context of the widespread crisis in tea gardens located across the geographies of the country Darjeeling Hills has not been an exception. There has been frequent reporting on the leading news dailies mainly that tea gardens in Darjeeling Hills suffer from more than one problem. Sickness, closure/lock up, abandonment of the tea gardens; wage, education, health and livelihood issues of the workers, issues with respect to the crop productivity, frequent violence and strikes across tea gardens, issues of intellectual property rights under WTO regime, falling value of Darjeeling Tea in the global market and competition from the teas coming from Nepal, Sri Lanka, African countries etc. are some of the major problems faced by Darjeeling Tea Industry in recent times.

The total production of tea in Darjeeling hills has varied between 8-11 million kilograms in the last one decade or so. A major part of the annual production of Darjeeling tea is exported. The key buyers of Darjeeling tea are Germany, Japan, UK, USA, and other EU countries. In the year 2000 about 8.5 million kgs of Darjeeling tea was exported, amounting to a total value of USD 30 million. There has been a continuous decline in the total production of tea and per hectare yield of Darjeeling Tea in the last 50 years. There was a time during 1960s and 1970s when Darjeeling Himalaya used to produce over 15 million kgs of tea. This figure went down during the 1990s. The decline has been drastic since the mid 1990s. Today the region produces less than 9 million kgs of tea. One of the main reasons of the falling production is attributed to the declining yield of tea leaves in the area. The Darjeeling tea industry roughly generates about Rs. 150-200 crores annually. However, none of the tea estates in Darjeeling has made public the exact figure of its annual earning so far. Tea companies have always remained silent in this connection and thus have kept the workers in dark over the years. There have been plenty of rumours that the price of Darjeeling Tea has been falling down in the global market in recent times due to competitions from the countries like Kenya, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan and South East Asian Countries.






Factors responsible for the present status of Darjeeling Tea

The over all health of the tea gardens in Darjeeling Hills and the associated socio-economic conditions of the resident tea garden labourers therein cannot be attributed to a single factor. A series of factors and counter factors have played their interlinked roles over the years in this connection. Some of the major contributing factors that have acted and reacted and ultimately paved the way to the present situation of Darjeeling tea, tea gardens and the garden labourers may be briefly listed below. There is a need to debate, discuss and conduct a more systematic research on these factors often historic in nature in order to understand the crux of the problems characterising Darjeeling tea and the garden workers and address the same in the near future.

Globalisation and Liberalisation

In a liberalised world market almost 40 million kg is sold as ‘Darjeeling Tea’ although the total production of Darjeeling tea is less than 10 million kg. Most of these teas come from Sri Lanka and Kenya. Some of the fake tea is called Lanka Darjeeling or Hamburg Darjeeling but most of the time it is called Pure Darjeeling. Further, Japan, a largely orthodox-tea growing area, has already discovered the chemical constituents present in the Darjeeling variety, although industry watchers say that this will not enable them to grow the true Darjeeling variety. Such situation has led to the degradation of international reputation of Darjeeling Tea in recent times. There have been cases when pure Darjeeling Tea has not found its place in the international market for fear of fake supply. This has surely impacted the Tea Gardens and Tea Garden Workers in the region.

In an effort to stop this market and sustain it Intellectual Property Rights the Darjeeling logo was created as early as in 1986 and registered in U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Japan, Egypt and under Madrid, covering eight countries. Further a Certification Trade Mark Scheme for Darjeeling Tea was launched in 2000 in view of several complaints coming from across the world with regard to fake Darjeeling Tea supplied in the international market and its long term impact back home. However, Darjeeling tea is still not recognised by WTO as a Geographical Indicator. Article 23 of TRIPS gives protection to Wines and Spirits currently but not for other products .

In the mean time we have no other options but to protect Darjeeling tea through Darjeeling logo and Certification Mark. We, however, need to keep on debating on the protection of Darjeeling Tea in the liberalised global market and seek to negotiate its place in the WTO meetings. The point is not only to protect Darjeeling tea but the workers that are engaged in its production as well.

Age of the Tea Bushes

One of the prime concerns of Darjeeling tea is that majority of the tea bushes in Darjeeling hills have well passed their prime age. About 66 percent of the total tea bushes are over 50 years of age while more that 50% have been there for over 100 years now. Over 16 percent of the bushes are between 20-50 years of age while only about 20 percent are under the age of 20 years. Further, there are tea bushes that are over 140 years old. According to the recent study conducted by the Tea Board of India, only 8 percent of the old tea bushes have been uprooted and replanted. This has seriously impacted the productivity of the tea gardens and the annual production has gone down from over 14 million kilogram in the 1960s to less than 10 million kilograms in recent times. The yield of Darjeeling Tea, in recent times, is below 550 kg per hectare far below the national average of over 1750 kg per hectare.

Consultation with the labourers, tea experts and trade union leaders bring forth the following measures that the Tea Companies/Governments need to take in the near future to save Darjeeling Tea and the socio-economic health of garden workers.

· All the old tea bushes need to be uprooted in the phased manner and re-plantation needs to be carried out accordingly,
· All the tea gardens need to practice bio-organic farming in the long run so as to attract the buyers with a healthy, chemical free Darjeeling tea. This is also important in view of safe guarding the health of the workers, their family members, regional environment and the prevailing sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards under WTO.
· Promote and encourage the ‘Small Organic Tea Growers’ across the villages in order to supplement the falling production of tea and generate sustainable income among the garden workers.

Mention should be made that there have been repeated suggestions from the trade unions, researchers, tea experts, Tea Board of India and others to replant the old tea bushes in Darjeeling Hill. However, tea companies have over the years turned deaf ear to this grave issue for fear of losing their profit. Re-plantation of tea bushes is a tedious job. Further, once an old tea bush is replanted it takes at least 5 years to reach a stage when green tea leaves can be plucked. It is this gap of 5 years that the tea companies fear most, as they do not get money for a period of five years but have to pay their workers and invest huge amount in the re-plantation venture.

The Issue of multiplication

The problem of ‘multiplication’ is observed to be a serious concern across all the tea gardens located in Darjeeling Hills. The term multiplication refers to the ever increasing number of population in tea gardens. As noted earlier, workers across the tea gardens are majorly migrant labourers from Nepal. Initially, they were encouraged by the British to come over to the area in order to bring to term the virgin forested lands often steep in nature and physically challenging. However, at later years there were lots of push factors from Nepal and pull factors from their Indian counter parts. Hence, over the years the population across the tea estates grew geometrically. One of the major concerns with respect to increasing chaos across the tea gardens is that there has been no provision to send back the retired labourers from the gardens and those households that are not working in the garden. On the other hand, the area under tea gardens has, however, remained constant or increased very gradually over the years. The management has little or no interest to provide alternative livelihood strategies to over 60 percent of the population who do not work in the tea gardens but only reside there. The growing population across the tea gardens in Darjeeling Hills has inflicted a tremendous pressure on the society, economy and rural ecology in the region.

Monoculture and Exhaustion of Soil Nutrients

Another important issue that has directly affected the production and yield of tea leaves and has a bearing in one or the way on the overall socio-economic health of the workers of the gardens has been the monoculture and the subsequent exhaustion of soil nutrients. Tea experts believe the soils in plantation areas are depleted of nutrients and we cannot have healthy tea bushes on sick soil. This is the result of the monoculture of tea plantations over a considerably longer period of time of over 100 years. Monoculture has also seriously affected the bio-diversity of Darjeeling Hills. It has progressively weakened the genetic strength of tea bushes and other associated plants. The complexity of raising yield essentially lies in the soil. All plantation soils are depleted of minerals and nutrients. Re-mineralisation is not easy or very expensive either but it requires scientific approach.

Impact of Gorkhaland Agitation

The historic movement unleashed by the Nepali speaking inhabitants of Darjeeling Hills under the leadership of Subash Ghising for the separate state of Gorkhaland shook the state of West Bengal in the 1980s. The present socio-economic situations across the tea plantations and other spaces of Darjeeling have many bearings of Gorkhaland Agitation. The impact of Gorkhaland Agitation in the context of the tea gardens and the socio-economic health of the garden labourers can be debated at two levels. First, all the tea gardens hitherto functioning normally were negatively impacted by the agitation often violent in nature. There were copious instances when the top management officials, managers of the garden/estate, owners of the tea gardens fled away from the place never to return back. As a result, management of the tea gardens in Darjeeling severely suffered, so much so that, it could never achieve its pre-agitation level. Worse was the case with gardens owned by the state or central government agencies.

Secondly, the impact of agitation on work culture of the garden labourers has been tremendous. Although this part of the story has never been brought to book it becomes pertinent to debate on this issue in order to understand the crux of the present socio-economic conditions of the garden labourers in the region. Traditionally, garden labourers have been known for their hard work, punctuality, sincerity, work efficiency and respect for the management principles. The Gorkha Land Agitation severely eroded such culture and gave way to the culture of violence and disrespect to the management among the labourers. There are ample instances when the labourers have sought violence, thrashed the managers, and not adhered to the principle of the management in the region in post agitation period. Today a typical garden labour would not hesitate to enter the manager’s chamber and thrash him black and blue if he is dissatisfied with the workings of management instead of settling his grievance through legal channel.

Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council has been the director and guardian of development initiatives in Darjeeling Hills since its establishment in July 1988. Ironically, however, out of the three important Ts , for which Darjeeling is famous for, Tea and Timber (forest) are not under the direct control of DGHC thus leaving only Tourism under its fold. In case of forest, management of protected forests and un-classed forests are within the executive power of DGHC while reserved forest is under the direct control of the forest department of the state. With regard to tea, tea estates are majorly controlled by private companies under the umbrella of the government and few are under the direct control of the state and central government agencies. Such situation leaves DGHC with very little or no scope to play role in monitoring and directing the functioning and management of the tea gardens.

The plantation Labour Act, 1951

The Plantation Labour Act, 1951 is a Central Government Act. It was formulated with a view to improve the living and working conditions of the workers and the associated people across the gardens. The preamble to this Act aims at providing for the welfare of labour and regulating the conditions of work in plantations. The Government of West Bengal framed rules in 1956 to implement the provisions of this Act. This Act, however, is featured with several pitfalls. Empirical evidences highlight the fact that most of the provisions under the act are virtually violated and flouted by the management and there is no room to punish the culprit. For instance, only the permanent workers (that constitute less than 30 percent of the population of the garden) are privileged to avail the benefits like housing, drinking water, children’s education, health facilities, subsidised ration, clothing, PF and such other benefits as per the Plantation Act. However, the gardens have very little or no provisions for drinking water facilities, housing, latrines, medical provisions, electricity and education even to the permanent workers not to talk of the casuals. Further, as per the Act the management must built a permanent house for 8 percent of the permanent workers every year and gradually sort out the housing problem. Most of the tea gardens are still, however, faced with severe housing problem where labourers live in kutcha and semi-pucca houses with zero sanitary facilities. The Act, moreover, needs a through revision in the context of new market complexities and emerging socio-political behaviour. According to the labour commissioner, Darjeeling, this act has become outdated and does not do any needful to the welfare of garden labourers. There are many temporal issues that the Act carries with it and that have not been corrected across the spectrum of time.

The colonial set up

Tea Gardens, and for that matter all the plantations, still operate in the context of old colonial relationship of masters and the slaves. The basic philosophy is to control the market and totally squeeze the primary producer. As indicated earlier, a feature of the early development of tea plantation system of Darjeeling was the importation of the labour force from outside the region. This imported labour force was settled on plantation lands and permanency of employment was almost by definition. The spaces in the plantation were meticulously charted by a hierarchy of master – subject personages. Such set up ensured that the socio-economic needs of the resident garden society were the responsibility of the plantation systems. Moreover, 80 percent of the garden managers are constituted by the outsiders and all the garden owners are outsiders. Such process strengthened the master slave relationship over the years. The master–slave relationship with the passage of time developed a dependent mind-set into the psyche of the resident garden labourers. Workers across the tea gardens began to increasingly depend on the management for everything. They would get their salary every Friday irrespective of how they performed. Moreover, tea managements on their part never introduced any alternative livelihood strategies to the garden labourers in order to cope with the possible livelihood threats inflicted by various internal and external forces in future times. As a result, with the gradual onset of globalisation & liberalisation and the accompanying market challenges and other associated forces, garden labourers were the major sufferers while the owners of tea companies and their top officials secretly by-passed the negative impacts on labourers through manipulations. Hence, tea gardens closed/abandoned, companies abandoned and the socio-economic situations of the garden labourers went down from bad to worse but the owners and upper level officials never suffered; they were rich and are still rich.






With the consequent sickness and closure/abandonment of the gardens the dependency cushion that the plantation system provided them all these years was suddenly withdrawn. For the first time in their lives, the resident garden workers were left to fend for themselves. They were ill prepared to face the new situation in with they were thrown into. It demanded an independent decision making mind-set and newer skills that would allow them to take control of their destiny. Unfortunately their mind-set were still in a dependency mode and this created havoc with their way of life, creating massive socio-economic problems in all walks of life and famine swept through many of the tea garden societies .

**Shorter version of this article was published in The Statesman, March 11, 2006