82 percent of tea workers in Sylhet are deprived of clean water

82 percent of tea workers in Sylhet are deprived of clean drinking water. This information was shared at a roundtable meeting titled 'Leadership Development of Tea Labour Women Workers on Their Rights' organized by the Ethnic Community Development Organization (ECDO) with funding from the European Union and Oxfam on Monday (January 13).

The meeting said that out of the 169 tea gardens in the country, 135 are in Sylhet. However, 82 percent of the workers in these tea gardens in Sylhet are deprived of clean water facilities.

Sylhet Sadar Upazila Executive Officer Khosnur Robayet was the chief guest at the roundtable meeting held to develop the leadership of women tea workers on their rights. The meeting was moderated by Advocate Emad Ullah Shahidul Islam, chaired by ECDO Executive Director Laxmikant Singh.

He said that ECDO conducted a survey in Daldali, Kewachhara and Hiluachhara tea gardens of Sylhet. The survey showed that there are 890 families in these three gardens. The population is 5,600. Out of these, 1,509 are female workers. 42 percent of the children in these three gardens do not go to school. 33 percent of the students have completed primary education and 3 percent of the students have completed secondary education. 82 percent of the tea garden workers do not have access to clean water. Several tea workers present at the meeting confirmed the veracity of the survey.

The special guests were Shahina Akhtar, Deputy Director of the Women's Department, Sylhet, Ikramul Kabir, President of the Sylhet Press Club, and Nur Mohammad Farooqui Siam, Assistant Manager of Lakkatura Tea Garden. At the beginning of the meeting, ECDO's Project Coordinator Momtahinur Rahman Chowdhury presented the picture of the tea gardens of Sylhet.