The conditions of work in tea gardens are regulated by the respective State Governments under the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 and the rules framed thereunder. This Act has now been subsumed under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code on Social Security, 2020, both of which have come into force from 21.11.2025.

These Codes contain comprehensive provisions requiring employers to provide workers with housing, medical care, sickness and maternity benefits, and other social security measures. They also mandate facilities such as educational support for workers’ children, drinking water, conservancy arrangements, canteens, crèches, and recreational amenities for the welfare of tea plantation workers and their families in and around the estates.

The Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 have all been brought into force with effect from 21st November, 2025. These Codes, taken together, provide an integrated framework for wage protection, social security, workplace safety, and labour welfare, thereby strengthening the regulatory and oversight mechanisms applicable to sectors including tea plantations.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment Sushri Shobha Karandlaje in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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Rini Choudhury/Anjelina Alexander

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