How to read English newspaper (part-2)

The Daily Star, 1 May 2020

May day today: Large number of children work in tea estates( AvR ‡g w`em: wkky‡`i GKwU eo Ask Pv evMv‡b KvR K‡i)

Unicef study(Rwic/ M‡elYv) finds(cvIqv) almost (cÖvq)30pc(pc=percent) in Habiganj are kids(wkï)

After her mother passed away(gviv hvIqv), her father remarried(cybivq we‡q Kiv) and moved (P‡j hvIqv)elsewhere(Ab¨Î), and so (Avi ZvB)attending school(¯‹y‡j hvIqv) became (n‡q hvIqv) a luxury (wejvwmZv)for 12-year-old Sheuly Munda.

‡bvU: Verb ¸‡jvi ïay g~j A_© †`Iqv n‡q‡Q|

Along with(m‡•M K‡i) her grandmother(`vw`/bvwb) Belmoni, a registered(wbewÜZ) tea-garden worker, Sheuly now plucks(‡Zvjv) leaves(leaf=cvZv, Gi Plural--leaves) at a tea garden in Moulvibazar district's Srimongol upazila.

"I wanted(‡P‡qwQjvg) to continue (Ae¨vnZ ivL‡Z)my study(cov‡jLv), but my grandmother said she could not bear(enb Kiv) my education expenses(LiP). Instead(Zvi cwie‡Z©), it would be better(fvj n‡e) for the family if I could earn(DcvR©b Kiv) something," she said, while helping(mvnvh¨ Kivi mg‡q) Belmoni achieve(AR©b Kiv) her daily(‰`wbK) leaf plucking target (cvZv ‡Zvjvi Uv‡M©U)of 20-25 kg to earn the day's wage(gRywi) of Tk 102.

In the same garden, 16-year-old Sakhina Munda started plucking leaves two years ago after dropping out of school(¯‹zj Qvovi c‡i) at grade VII.

"My mother, a registered worker in this garden, has tuberculosis(ms‡ÿ‡c TB ejv nq| h²v‡ivM) and my father died a few years ago. So, I have to(eva¨evaKZv eySv‡Z have to e¨envi Kiv nq) work here to feed(Lv`¨ ‡hvMv‡bv) our family of four," she said. Like(gZ) other tea workers, she works at least seven to eight hours a day.

A 2018 baseline survey(fwg‡iLv Rwic) by BBS(Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics –evsjv‡`k cwimsL¨vb ey¨‡iv), funded by (A_v©q‡b)Unicef, found (‡c‡qwQj)that 18.8 percent of all children between the ages of five and 17 in tea gardens of Moulvibazar, Habiganj and Sylhet districts are engaged(m¤ú„³) in child labour(wkïkÖg).

The percentage(kZKiv nvi) of tea-garden children aged 5-17 and involved (RwoZ) in child labour in Habiganj is 29.8 percent, in Moulvibazar 15.6 percent and in Sylhet 19.3 percent.

The study(Rwic/ M‡elYv), the first of its kind on the country's tea gardens, was conducted(cwiPvwjZ n‡qwQj)  under Unicef's Global Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) programme.

Another MICS report from 2019 shows(‡`Lv‡bv) the total child labour in the country for children aged 5-17 is 6.8 percent.

The findings(djvdj) from the tea gardens(Pv evMv‡bi Rwic ‡_‡K) show(‡`Lv‡bv)  that low wages(wb¤œ gRywi), malnutrition(Acywó), inadequate(Achv©ß) maternity(gvZ…Z¡) and health services(¯^v¯’ ‡mev) lead(wb‡q hvq/ cwiPvwjZ K‡i) children to work in tea gardens.

Tea-garden children mostly(cÖavbZ) work as(wn‡m‡e) a substitute of(cwie‡Z©) or in addition to(AwZwi³ ‡jvK wn‡m‡e) a family member, mentioned(D‡jøL Kiv) yet another study(Rwic/ M‡elYv).

Faisal Ahmmed and Ismail Hossain, professors of the Department of Social Work, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, conducted(cwiPvjbv Kiv),  a study(Rwic/ M‡elYv),  titled(hvi wk‡ivbvg wQj) "A Study Report on Working Conditions of Tea Plantation Workers in Bangladesh" and published(cÖKvk n‡qwQj) in 2016 and funded by(A_v©qb K‡iwQj) the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Some children work as a replacement of a parent(wcZvgvZv cwie‡Z©) who(‡hB wcZvgvZv) is unable(Aÿg) to work, so that(hv‡Z K‡i) they do not lose(bv nvivq) their residence (evm¯’vb)in the workers' colony. Living quarters (evm¯’vb)are given(‡`Iqv nq) only(ïay) to active workers(Kv‡R wbhy³ mwµqKgx©), the study said.

During(mg‡q) peak season(cvZv †Zvjv ‡gŠmy‡g), the tea-garden authorities(KZ…©cÿ) welcome(¯^vMZ Rvbvq) children to work alongside(cvkvcvwk) their parents to finish the plucking(cvZv †Zvjv) within (g‡a¨)the stipulated timeframes(wbav©wiZ mgq). Workers also take their children to work to meet targets(Uv‡M©U c~iY Ki‡Z) or secure(wbwðZ Kiv) more income, stated(eY©bv Kiv) the findings(Rwi‡ci djvdj).

"We do not want our children to work. We want to send them to school. But how can we afford(mÿg nIqv) that when we cannot even afford three meals a day(w`‡b wZb‡ejv Lvevi)?" Ajit Banerjee, a tea worker in Barlekha upazila of Moulvibazar, asked.

Pankaj Kondo, vice president of Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union, told this correspondent(mvsevw`K) that, according to(Abyhvqx) national law(‡`‡ki AvBb), children under 18 are not allowed(Abygw`Z bq) to work in tea gardens, but they still(GL‡bv) do.

Generally(mvaviYZ), male child workers dig(Lbb Kiv) canals(Lvj), repair(wVK Kiv) broken roads(fv½v iv¯Ív) in the tea gardens and take care of(hZœ ‡bIqv) the tea plants(Pv MvQ). Female child workers pluck tea leaves(Pv cvZv †Zvjv) and sometimes put(ivLv) tea into sacks(e¯Ív) in the factories, he said.

GM Shiblee, chairman of the Sylhet branch of Bangladesh Cha Sangsad, the tea garden owners' association, said they rejected(cÖZ¨vLvb Kiv) the MICS survey findings (Rwi‡ci djvdj).

"They conducted(Zviv cwiPvwjZ K‡iwQj) the survey (Rwic)without contacting(‡hvMv‡hvM Qvov) us," he complained(Awf‡hvM Kiv), adding that some people take jobs in the tea gardens with fake documents(bKj KvMRcÎ).

Shah Alam, chairman of Bangladesh Cha Sangsad, told this correspondent, "We do not employ(wb‡qvM †`Iqv) any child."

When asked (Rvb‡Z PvIqv n‡j)about the findings of studies(Rwi‡ci djvdj), he said action(c`‡ÿc) will be taken(‡bIqv n‡e) against(weiæ‡×) those who(hviv) employ (wb‡qvM †`Iqv)children in tea gardens.