Citation:

Sandeep Sundas, Subrata Saha. "Tea Plantation Worker's Access to Sanitation Services and Their Health Condition: A Case of Tea Plantation Workers of Kurseong Tea Estates, Darjeeling, West Bengal" International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 422-429, 2023.

Abstract:

Sanitation and health are interrelated. Life expectancy, one of the important indicators of human development, is directly related to access to sanitation services, which thereby augments the health condition and increases the life span of the people. Among many such essential conditions of transition of the nation is the transition from high birth and death rates to lowered birth and death rates. Life expectancy depends on factors like improved food grains, better medical facilities, and access to basic sanitation services. Proper sanitation not only increases the environmental conditions but also increases productivity as people are less prone to diseases. The tea plantation workers' households are oblivious to keeping clean and accessible sanitation services and deprived of easily accessible drinking water and other basic life amenities, which affects their health condition, lowering their life expectancy and welfare. The spread of chronic diseases is the root cause of the inaccessibility of drinking water among tea plantation workers. This paper attempts to study the sanitation services available to tea plantation workers' households and investigate their health conditions. The random selection of 3 tea gardens from the Kurseong sub-division district of Darjeeling was considered for the study, and attempts were made to analyze the effect of bad sanitation practices by the household, if any, and the direct consequences on their health.

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Keywords:

Tea Garden Workers, Drinking Water, Sanitation, Health, Vulnerability, Chronic Diseases.