Nan

CHAPTER XX.

tea garden manager was warned for carrying on propaganda in a recruiting
 district, not because he was guilty of any misrepresentation, but because
 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 twofold
 ; 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 endeavoured
 to work in harmony with the local Government and to render whatever
 assistance it can in bringing cases of illegal recruitment to the notice
of the district authorities who alone are empowered to start criminal proceedings.
 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 employed
 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 recruitment,
 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 imprisonment.
 Recruits need not be produced before any official in the recruiting
 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