In this podcast, Stephen Ekka talks to IHRB's Salil Tripathi about his work fighting to improve pay, and working and living conditions of workers in the tea plantations of Assam.
The tea workers are currently paid up to half the national minimum wage, and are exposed to chemicals in the course of their work; rates of tuberculosis are high, and education for dependants minimal. Stephen describes a complaint filed through the World Bank Ombudsman for better wages. The case was ultimately challenged by the employers in the High Court and dismissed.