Nan 
CHAPTER XX. 
tea garden manager was warned for carrying on propaganda in a recruit- 
ing district, not because he was guilty of any misrepresentation, but be- 
cause he was acting contrary to the strict letter of the law. Believing 
as we do that the emigration of labour to Assam is of advantage to the 
recruiting districts, we consider it undesirable that honest propaganda 
by the industry should be ruled out. Another anomaly of the existing 
Act is that it renders illegal any assistance to emigrants, except through 
a garden sardar who may not always be available. A local agent would be 
guilty of a punishable offence, if he attempted to forward recruits who 
offered themselves voluntarily for service in the Assam plantations. In 
consequence, intending emigrants who are badly in need of relief have 
nceasionally to be kept waiting till a garden sardar arrives before they can 
be given the required assistance to proceed to Assam. These restrictions 
cause unnecessary irritation and check the flow of labour to Assam. 
Control over Recruitment. 
The control which is exercised over recruitment for Assam is two- 
fold ; in the first place, it is exercised by the district authorities in the 
recruiting districts, and secondly, it is entrusted to a central agency known 
as the Assam Labour Board which was created in 1915 at the request of the 
industry. The dual control is overlapping, but, in practice, no difficulty 
has been experienced owing to the fact that the Board has always endea- 
voured to work in harmony with the local Government and to render what- 
ever assistance it can in bringing cases of illegal recruitment to the notice 
of the district authorities who alone are empowered to start criminal pro- 
ceedings. The Act requires a garden sardar, before he can commence his 
activities, to obtain from his employer a certificate which formerly had 
to be countersigned by the magistrates of the district in which he is em- 
ployed and of the recruiting district. The latter countersignature has been 
dispensed with by local Governments by notification, but a condition has 
been imposed requiring garden sardars to work under the control of duly 
licensed local agents. The provincial Governments concerned have also 
framed rules under the Act relating generally to the supervision of re- 
cruitment, provision of accommodation and maintenance of registers by 
tocal agents, the production on demand of emigrants before magistrates or 
police officers, and the reporting of cases in which objections have been 
raised to the emigration of a recruit by the husband or wife, parent or lawful 
guardian. The penalty for failure to comply with the effective provisions 
of the Act or the rules framed thereunder and for inadequate supervision 
is the cancellation of the license of the local agent. A garden sardar can 
also be prosecuted and imprisoned, if he recruits emigrants without a 
proper certificate or independently of a local agent. Further, any person 
taking part in recruiting in contravention of the Act is liable to imprison- 
ment. Recruits need not be produced before any official in the recruit- 
ing district ; the agency utilised for the registration of recruits is the locai 
agent who is an employee of the industry but is also under the control of 
the district authorities. The local agent has thus two masters to serve, 
but in practice no difficulty has been experienced as the industry is 
anxious to co-operate with the local Governments in the maintenance of