14 
CHAPTER XXII. 
known, specialists in this class of material (who already exist) would 
doubtless make every effort to meet it, and in time circulating libraries 
of suitable slides and films could be built up. 
Welfare Centres. 
Many planters and their wives devote considerable time and 
energy to the welfare of the resident women and children, but the lack 
of women doctors, health visitors and trained midwives has made it 
difficult to organise forms of welfare work particularly applicable to these 
sections of the plantation communities. The experiment of employing 
2» trained health visitor has been made successfully in one of the Assam 
gardens, and we consider that great soope exists for a wide extension 
of work of this kind. The work of a health visitor, if it is to give the 
best results, should always be supervised by the garden medical officer 
and, where a group medical organisation exists, the woman doctor 
with two or three health visitors should be able to organise welfare 
centres on each garden of the group. Each centre should be open at 
least one day a week and regular visits by the woman doctor give 
the health visitor opportunities of bringing to her early notice cases 
requiring medical attention. The welfare centres should be situated 
near the house lines, and in many cases accommodation could probably 
be found in a vacant room in the lines themselves. - The necessary fur- 
niture and equipment need be neither elaborate nor expensive and, with 
small additions to the latter, the same building could if necessary be used 
as a creche. Experience goes to prove that the women workers quickly 
learn to appreciate the advantages to themselves and their children of 
attendance at such a centre. We believe that extension of this form 
of welfare work would prove of value to all concerned. 
Orphans. 
Normally in the case of young children who become orphaned 
and have no relations settled on the estate, arrangements are made by 
the manager for their adoption by other estate workers, the cost of their 
maintenance falling on the plantation. It is seldom that any steps are 
taken to communicate with the villages of their origin with a view to 
ascertaining whether near relations exist who might be desirous of claim- 
ing them. Werecommend that in all such cases some suitable authority, 
such as the district magistrate, should invariably be approached to get 
into touch with any existing relations. Where a desire for the return 
of the child is expressed, arrangements should be made for repatriation. 
Employment of Children. 
We now come to the age at which it should be permissible for a 
child to be employed as a worker on a plantation. It is significant 
that the Central Government have seen fit to protect Indian children who 
emigrate to the plantations of Ceylon and Malaya by securing that the 
starting age for employment shall be 10 years. The practice throughout 
Indian plantations varies considerably. At least one association admitted