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CHAPTER XX.—RECRUITMENT FOR ASSAM. 
Scarcity of Labour. 
From the point of view of the employer, the outstanding preb- 
lem during the whole history of tea planting in Assam has been the scar- 
city of labour. Where the bulk of the tea gardens stand to-day was, 
seventy years ago, uncultivated and nearly uninhabited jungle, and for the 
expansion of the industry it has been necessary continuously to import 
fresh labour. The Surma valley was able to secure a certain amount of la- 
bour either locally or from adjoining districts in Bengal. But in the Assam 
valley the supply of local labour was negligible, and it was found impos- 
sible to obtain supplies from areas nearer than Chota Nagpur and Bihar. 
When it is remembered that, for many years, the only way of reaching 
the tea districts of this valley was by a steamer journey of several days 
up the Brahmaputra and an emigrant had to undertake a long railway 
journey in addition, the difficulties confronting the early planters will 
be realised. Even to-day, when it is possible to go by rail from any pro- 
vince right up to the head of the valley, most emigrants spend at least a 
week, and some spend much more, on the journey. At present the most 
important recruiting area for both valleys is Chota Nagpur and the 
Santal Parganas, whose aboriginal population is preferred for work 
on the tea gardens, but substantial numbers are brought from Bihar and 
Orissa, the United Provinces, the northern districts of Madras and the 
eastern and northern districts of the Central Provinces, while recruit- 
ing has been carried on as far away as Bombay. 
This factor of distance and inaccessibility has made recruiting 
expensive, and it is this expense that has been responsible for many 
of the troubles associated with the supply of labour to Assam. Prior 
to the war there were few periods when a labourer could be imported at 
a cost of less than Rs. 200 ; at times Rs. 500 and even higher sums 
were paid to secure a single labourer. To-day the cost, as deduced 
from statements made to us by witnesses, may be estimated as varying 
normally between Rs. 120 and Rs. 200, and as being generally in the 
neighbourhood of Rs. 150%. As we shall show later, these sums are 
inflated by factors other than the mere cost of travel. These factors 
owe their existence indirectly to the fact that, even without them, re- 
cruiting could not be carried on cheaply. For this fact made it of the 
utmost importance that an employer recruiting a labourer should ac- 
tually secure labour from him. An employer who was willing to spend 
even Rs. 100 in importing a labourer could not afford to do so if that 
labourer, shortly after reaching the garden, was to pass on to the garden 
of a neighbour in return for a small consideration or for other reasons. 
The efforts of the planters were therefore directed, almost from the first, 
towards ensuring that, if a man was recruited to work on'a particular 
garden, he actually worked there and not elsewhere. 
q *Labourers recruited for one year or shorter terms can be recruited at a lower 
oure.