Guwahati: In Assam’s sprawling tea belt, the enduring image is that of women with wicker baskets, deftly plucking fresh green leaves. But at Dikom Tea Estate in Dibrugarh, the picture is strikingly different. Here, men form the backbone of the workforce, and with 51% of its permanent workers being male, Dikom is redefining how gender balance can drive social stability and long-term sustainability.
This is not a demographic accident but a conscious strategy. Estate managers say the presence of more men has produced tangible results: absenteeism is the lowest among Assam’s gardens, every worker has a bank account, all children attend school, domestic violence is rare, and illicit liquor is banned inside the estate.
“Active participation of male workers is crucial for the sustainability of tea gardens,” said Samar Jyoti Chaliha, Deputy General Manager at Dikom Tea Estate under Rossell Tea. “Their involvement fosters commitment, social bonding, and a sense of ownership, while reducing issues like domestic and alcohol-related violence. But this requires rigorous recruitment—something the industry often fails at.”
Why Men Matter
The tea industry once had near-equal participation from men and women. Over time, men left for jobs in towns, construction, or other industries, leaving women to dominate plucking. While women remain unmatched in plucking, Chaliha stresses that “tea is not only about plucking.” Spraying, pruning, drain maintenance, fertiliser application, and tree lopping all require male labour. Without it, gardens risk cutting corners, weakening long-term productivity.
A gender-balanced workforce also strengthens economic sustainability. Shortages of male labour push estates towards mechanisation, ill-suited to Assam’s terrain, or force compromises in upkeep, directly affecting financial viability. The loss of male workers also drains community life, disrupting households and eroding traditional knowledge in pruning, pest control, and estate upkeep.
Experts agree that sustainability hinges on complementarity: women’s precision in plucking matched with men’s strength in heavier, technical tasks. A near-equal workforce, 50:50 or close, ensures both efficiency and estate health. “Long-term viability would be best in estates which maintain a gender balance in deployment patterns,” said a senior industry official.
The Dikom Difference
Dikom’s example shows how retaining men in tea gardens stabilises entire families and strengthens community ties. “When a male worker, often the head of the household, is tied to the garden, his loyalty strengthens the whole family’s bond with the estate,” said Chaliha. This, he added, plays a “vital role in the long-term sustainability of the organised tea sector.”
Nabin Keot of Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha agreed: “A strong male workforce is indispensable. Female workers cannot do all tasks like spraying. But this can happen only when management convinces men to stay and not leave for outside work.”
In a state where the image of the woman tea plucker has long defined the industry, Dikom is quietly proving that sustainability depends not on one gender alone, but on balance.
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