Guwahati, India – Monday January 28, 2019: Today, the World Bank’s independent watchdog, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), released a monitoring report finding that the World Bank has failed to deliver on commitments to address serious health and safety concerns facing the 155,000 people that live and work on tea plantations it owns in India’s Northeast. Tea workers across the state of Assam, including on the World Bank’s plantations, earn a daily cash wage of only 167 rupees and rely on their employers for housing, healthcare, education, and other basic services.
“Workers and their supporting organisations are counting on leadership from the World Bank and Tata Group to respond to the sustainability concerns found in the CAO’s monitoring report in a consultative manner,” says Stephen Ekka of PAJHRA, a local organisation that filed a complaint to the CAO. “The workers of APPL must be central in the design and formulation of solutions.”
In 2009, the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), joined forces with the Tata Group to create a worker-owned company called Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited (APPL). The rationale was to empower Adivasi (Indigenous) tea workers through better conditions and share ownership. The Tata Group – which owns the Tetley brand – is the majority shareholder, owning 65% of APPL, while the IFC owns a 16% equity stake. Employees and tea workers own the remainder of the company. Both Tata and IFC have written commitments to protect the health and safety of communities, enshrined in the Tata Sustainability Policy and IFC Environmental and Social Performance Standards. In November 2016, following a complaint about poor conditions by local organisations supporting tea workers in the state of Assam, the CAO released an investigation, finding numerous violations, and that hazardous living conditions on the plantations contributed to workers’ susceptibility to disease. In response, the IFC and Tata committed in an “Action Plan” to working closely with APPL to improve housing, water supply, toilets, hospitals, and pesticide use, on an urgent basis, in close consultation with workers.
The CAO’s monitoring report released today finds that in the last two years, the IFC and Tata have failed to keep their word on their promises and has not brought APPL on track to achieve compliance with the IFC’s environmental and social requirements. The report found serious lapses in IFC’s supervision of APPL, including no evidence the IFC followed up with APPL in relation to a series of serious incidents of death and injury documented by the complainants on three APPL plantations in Assam in 2018. The IFC is required under its procedures to conduct a root cause analysis of serious incidents to prevent their recurrence. The CAO warns that “if noncompliance with IFC requirements persist, IFC, as a part owner of APPL, risks perpetuating a system of employment with well documented negative impacts on workers and their families.”
“Investing resources and expertise in workers’ health and safety will increase worker productivity and move APPL towards profitability,” said Anirudha Nagar of Accountability Counsel, an organisation supporting the complainants. “After consulting workers, the IFC and Tata should mobilise its vast financial, intellectual, and managerial resources to support APPL to implement an action plan.”
Although APPL management initially reported progress in housing, sanitation, and phasing out highly hazardous pesticides, progress was hampered by financial losses the company has incurred since 2015. APPL management informed the CAO “that the Action Plan was approved by its board in October 2016 with a rider that the APPL would need assistance from shareholders to fund its implementation.” It appears IFC and Tata, as the main shareholders, have provided insufficient assistance to APPL, since the CAO concludes the IFC has not adequately remedied workers’ hazardous living conditions, and not ensured workers at APPL have the necessary training and equipment to prevent harmful exposure to pesticides.
With respect to consultation, the CAO finds the IFC has failed to ensure workers at APPL were continuously consulted upon matters at APPL, including the action plan and the shareholder program “in a manner accessible to workers and affected communities, considering the languages they speak and their levels of literacy.” It also finds the IFC failed to honour its commitment to commission with Tata “an independent third party to undertake an annual audit and worker perception survey with an appropriate large and representative sample size of workers across the client’s 25 estates.”
“The IFC and Tata should make good on their promise to consult workers on the path forward through a truly independent third party,” says Wilfred Topno of PAD, one of the complainant organisations. “The process should ensure workers can speak without fearing reprisals and have access to support organisations.”
Industry-wide reform
The CAO notes many of the issues raised in the CAO investigation are not peculiar to APPL but “150-year-old legacy issues plaguing the [tea] sector [in India], which require urgent action.”
“The IFC should use its convening power to initiate structural change in the Assam tea industry to address wage levels,” says Jayshree Satpute of Nazdeek, an organisation supporting the complainants. “Providing workers living wages is integral to lifting them from poverty.”
The CAO concludes that, “these are circumstances where IFC, in collaboration with government, the World Bank and other development partners, could play a positive role.”
Do you relish a cup of tea when you wake up in the morning? Did you know that the tea you are drinking could be produced by workers who suffer exploitative conditions?
In Assam, the world’s largest tea growing region, there are nearly 1 million tea plantation workers and their families who depend on a meagre cash wage of 126 Rupees a day, that is less than 2 British pounds and lower than the minimum wage mandated by law. In addition, they live in appalling conditions with poor access to basic services like water, health and sanitation, which expose them to malnutrition, disease, and preventable deaths. These conditions are common across most tea plantations in Assam, and result in the region holding India’s highest maternal mortality rate and one of the highest rates of infant mortality.
Tea workers in Assam mostly belong to adivasi or indigenous communities forcibly brought from central India over 150 years ago under British rule. Ever since, workers have been entrapped in a cycle of servitude for generations, depending on their employer for almost every aspect of their lives.
You can help to break this cycle! Bring digniTEA to those who bring you tea!
2009 Good Intentions
The World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) invests in Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited (APPL), formerly owned by Tata Tea Limited (now Tata Global Beverages Limited), with a view to implementing a sustainable “worker-shareholder” model.
2010 The Violations
Report titled In Cold Blood: Death by Poison, Death by Bullets published on human rights violations on Tata/Tetley controlled tea estate in Assam, India. Click to Read
2013 First Action
Community organisations, PAJHRA, PAD, and DBSS file a complaint to the World Bank Group’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (“CAO”) on behalf of tea garden workers in Assam, India. Click to Read
2013 Following Up
The CAO visits Assam and meets with workers, NGOs, and APPL representatives. In November, 2013, the CAO completes their assessment report, and the case is transferred to the Compliance function. Click to Read
2014 Further Study
Columbia Law School Institute for Human Rights releases "The More Things Change…”: The World Bank, Tata and Enduring Abuses on India’s Tea Plantations," an extensive study of labor and human rights violations on APPL plantations. Responses from the IFC and APPL are available. Click to Read
2014 More Detail
Complainants submit a supplement to their original complaint, outlining APPL violations of IFC standards, domestic and international law to the CAO in advance of their investigation. Click to Read
2014 Investigations Begin
CAO releases their appraisal report and terms of reference, authorising a full investigation into IFC’s environmental and social performance with respect to the APPL investment. Click to Read
2015 First Step for Rights
The Government of Assam proposes to revise the minimum daily wage of tea workers to Rs.177, consisting of a cash wage of Rs.143 and other benefits, however tea plantation companies file litigation in the Guwahati High Court to prevent the State Government from doing so. Click to Read
2015 Field Work
CAO Compliance team conducts a field visit to APPL plantations, including meetings with workers and management.
2015 BBC Investigates
BBC News-Radio 4 joint investigation finds abysmal living and working conditions on certain tea plantations in Assam. Click to Read and Watch
2015 More Failures
Complainants submit additional information outlining the IFC’s failures to meet due diligence and supervisory obligations. The letter contains several enclosures, which are available here. Click to Read

2016 Final CAO Report
CAO releases its final investigation report and the IFC's response to its investigation.Click here to read the CAO report.
Click here to read the IFC's response.

2017 Petition Submission to IFC
A petition of more than 67,000 signatures collected by the Care2 social networking website was delivered to the IFC. This petition called for the IFC to urgently remedy the situation and ensure that APPL’s tea plantations meet the social and environmental standards required by the IFC Performance Standards.
2018 Letter to CAO
Complainants submits a letter to the CAO on the ninth anniversary of IFC's investment in APPL.
2019 CAO Monitoring Report
CAO releases its compliance monitoring report. This report documents actions taken by IFC in response to CAO’s non-compliance findings. The IFC issues a response letter to the CAO Monitoring Report.Click here to read the CAO Monitoring Report.

2019 IFC Response Letter
The IFC issues a response letter to the CAO Monitoring Report.Click here to read the IFC's response letter.

CAO Website
Tata Tea case page on the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman
2015 Additional Info Submission
Complainants submit additional information outlining the IFC’s failures to meet due diligence and supervisory obligations
2014 Complaint Supplement
Complainants submit a supplement to their original complaint, outlining APPL violations of IFC standards, domestic and international law to the CAO in advance of their investigation.
2013 Community Complaint
Community organisations, PAJHRA, PAD, and DBSS file a complaint to the World Bank Group’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (“CAO”) on behalf of tea garden workers in Assam, India.
2016 Management Response
IFC Management Response to the CAO Compliance Investigation Report on IFC's Investment in APPL
2016 CAO Report
CAO Investigation of IFC Environmental and Social Performance in relation to APPL
2016 COMMUNIQUÉ
Communique from the Office of CAO on the release of it's investigation report into IFC investments in APPL
2015 Complaint Enclosures
Complainants full letter including all enclosures
2014 CAO Appraisal Report
CAO releases their appraisal report and terms of reference, authorising a full investigation into IFC’s environmental and social performance with respect to the APPL investment.
2014 CAO Terms of Reference
CAO releases their appraisal report and terms of reference, authorising a full investigation into IFC’s environmental and social performance with respect to the APPL investment.
2016
CAO Report
2014 CAO Terms of Reference
CAO releases their appraisal report and terms of reference, authorising a full investigation into IFC’s environmental and social performance with respect to the APPL investment.
2010 In Cold Blood
Report titled In Cold Blood: Death by Poison, Death by Bullets published on human rights violations on Tata/Tetley controlled tea estate in Assam, India.
2014 CAO Appraisal Report
CAO releases their appraisal report and terms of reference, authorising a full investigation into IFC’s environmental and social performance with respect to the APPL investment.
2014 Columbia Law School Report
Columbia Law School Institute for Human Rights releases “The More Things Change…”: The World Bank, Tata and Enduring Abuses on India’s Tea Plantations,” an extensive study of labor and human rights violations on APPL plantations.
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2015 BBC Investigation
BBC News-Radio 4 joint investigation finds abysmal living and working conditions on certain tea plantations in Assam.
Struggle for Life: Malnutrition
Because of poor living conditions and poverty-level wages, tea workers and their families are severely malnourished. Anemia, a condition resulting from malnutrition, is the leading cause of maternal mortality in India. Malnutrition also inhibits children’s growth and significantly endangers their lives. 95% of women working in the tea gardens are anemic and only 2 of out 14 meals consumed in a week by Adivasi women workers are nutritional.
Honoring the Women Who Labour
A triptych film on the Adivasi mothers of yesterday and today
2013 The Guardian
How poverty wages for tea pickers fuel India's trade in child slavery
NAZDEEK: Bringing Justice Close to Assam's Tea Garden workers
For the last two years, Nazdeek has been working in Assam along with grassroots organisations to bring justice to the tea garden workers. Watch this overview on our efforts and achievements. For more info: www.nazdeek.org
Struggle for Life: Isolation
Plantations were designed as isolated enclaves, secluded from Assam’s mainstream in a system designed to maintain control and breed profit. A near unbreakable cycle of birth and death persists today, with generations of workers beginning and ending their lives within the plantation’s four walls.
Struggle for Life: Maternal Health
India has one of the highest number of preventable maternal deaths in the world. Systemic discrimination against women, particularly those from indigenous and dalit communities, drive India’s high maternal mortality rate. Assam leads the country with the highest Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR). 77 percent of maternal deaths in Assam are in the tea gardens. Social isolation in the tea gardens leave many women unable to access rural maternal health and nutrition resources. Under-equipped and unhygienic healthcare facilities place the lives of every mother and newborn at risk during pregnancy and childbirth.
Struggle for Life: Poor Working Conditions
Despite laws protecting the labour rights of female workers, women are paid below the minimum wage (earn Rs 126 v minimum wage of Rs 240) and lack access to latrines, safe drinking water and crèches to care for their children during work hours. Female labourers work under strenuous conditions, required to pluck 24 kgs of tea a day with little or no breaks. If they don’t meet their daily targets, their wage is reduced.
NAZDEEK: Modern day feudalism in Assam
Modern day feudalism persists today in Assam's tea gardens, where workers face labor and human rights violations at the hands of tea companies. To learn more and support our work visit: www.nazdeek.org For more info: www.nazdeek.org
2018
2017
29 November 2017
International Labor Rights Forum: Nimble Fingers, Stifled Voices
27 November 2017
Open Democracy: From Geneva to Guwahati: Demanding fair wages for Assam’s tea workers
06 November 2017
The aPolitical: World Bank urged to improve lives of Assam’s tea workers
14 September 2017
Time8: World Bank Group dismisses allegations of mistreatment of tea pickers in Assam
13 September 2017
Easter Eye: Bank Denies Tea Pickers’ Claim
01 September 2017
01 September 2017
Reuters: World Bank defends treatment of India tea pickers amid fears of exploitation
30 August 2017
Human right activists want more workers to participate in meeting
02 May 2017
Non Profit Chronicles: Natalie Bridgeman Fields: Holding the Powerful Accountable
25 April 2017
The Assam Tribune: Practice what you preach, AASAA tells Tata Tea
24 April 2017
Live Mint: Activism is for activists, not advertisers
12 April 2017
The Wire: Activism and Tokenism: When Corporates Use Ad Campaigns to Mask Their Infractions
3 April 2017
JSTOR: International Union Rights: The World Bank, the Tata Conglomerate and Tea Workers in India
08 March 2017
Chicago Policy Review: Reading The Tea Leaves: Labor Rights Violations On India’s Tea Plantations
31 January 2017
Brettonwoods Project: World Bank continues colonial legacy on Assam’s tea plantations
16 January 2017
Ethical Trading Initiative: A life of dignity long overdue for Assam’s tea workers
06 January 2017
2016
05 December 2016
ESCER-NET: Nazdeek and Accountability Council demand accountability for Assam tea workers
12 November 2016
BBC News – Indian tea workers’ conditions remain very poor
11 November 2016
Hindustan Times – Tata Tea project failed to protect Indian staff
11 November 2016
The Irrawaddy – Tata Tea Project Fails to Protect Indian Workers
11 November 2016
Economic Times – IFC, Tata Global Beverages face World Bank Heat over rule breach
10 November 2016
Reuters: World Bank probe into Tata tea project finds it failed to protect Indian workers
10 November 2016
Economic Times – World Bank probe into Tata Tea project finds it failed to protect workers
09 November 2016
Times of India – Assam tea company denying benefits to workers
08 November 2016
08 November 2016
Human Rights Watch: World Bank Group: India Tea Investment Tramples Rights
08 November 2016
Live Mint – IFC didn’t follow due process while investing in APPL: World Bank
07 November 2016
Huffpost: World Bank Finds Evidence Of Labour Abuse On Assam Tea Plantations It Owns With The Tatas
07 November 2016
The Assam Tribune – World Bank, Tata group come under scanner
25 October 2016
Dublin Inquirer – Where do Barry’s Tea and Lyons Get Their Tea From?
04 October 2016
Open Democracy – World Bank investment on Assam’s tea plantations: hearing the voices of workers?
11 August 2016
Nikkei Asian Review – World Bank unit’s wage scandal at Tata tea estates a lesson in due diligence
23 July 2016
Scroll – Young mothers are dying in Assam’s tea gardens at a rate higher than anywhere in India
15 July 2016
BBC – The dark history behind India and the UK’s favourite drink
18 May 2016
Open Democracy – From colonials to corporates: maternal mortality in Assam’s tea gardens
05 April 2016
The BMJ – Assam: India’s state with the highest maternal mortality
04 April 2016
Hindustan Times – Assam polls: Plight of tea garden workers continues despite promises
29 March 2016
First Post – Assam polls 2016: BJP must win trust before votes to overthrow Congress in tea gardens
27 March 2016
NDTV – PM Modi ‘Bulldozed’ Rights Of Tea Garden Workers In Assam
18 February 2016
Eco-Business: World Bank probes Tata tea project over worker abuse in India
07 February 2016
NDTV – Assam Tea Workers Await Tribal Status As Congress, BJP Fight For Their Vote
22 January 2016
Live Mint – Brewing change in Indian tea
14 January 2016
The Guardian – Supply chain audits fail to detect abuses, says report
14 January 2016
BBC – UK tea brands drop Indian supplier over work conditions
2015
18 September 2015
NDTV – Assam’s Tea Workers Pick The Right Time For a Big Wish
09 September 2015
Time Magazine – Shocking Conditions for Workers on India’s Tea Plantations Revealed
08 September 2015
BBC – The bitter story behind the UK’s national drink
08 September 2015
BBC – The Cost of a Cuppa – (transcript)
24 August 2015
The Guardian – Meet the women fighting corruption and saving mothers’ lives in India
14 August 2015
Time Magazine – Where Childbirth Can Mean Death
13 August 2015
Al Jazeera: Assam’s dying mothers
08 August 2015
Times of India – Govt move to hike wages annoys tea planters
04 August 2015
Reuters – India tea plantation workers denied fair wages and working conditions
06 April 2015
2014/13
20 July 2013
The Guardian – How poverty wages for tea pickers fuel India’s trade in child slavery
04 March 2014
Livemint: Tata Global Beverages to commission audit of Nahorani tea estate
02 March 2014
The Guardian – The tea pickers sold into slavery
27 February 2014
The Bretton Wood’s Project: IFC’s bitter tea
17 February 2014
World TV News: World Bank Investigates Plantation Practices in Assam
14 February 2014
Reuters: World Bank probes Tata tea project over worker abuse
14 February 2014
Zee News: World Bank to audit tea plantation project in Assam
13 February 2014
New York Times: Hopes, and Homes, Crumbling on Indian Tea Plantations
13 February 2014
The Wall Street Journal: Inquiry into Tata Tea over labour issues
13 February 2014
Thomson Reuters Foundation: World Bank probes Tata tea project over worker abuse in India
12 February 2014
The Telegraph: Abused workers toil for Tetley tea
12 February 2014
Financial Times: World Bank to investigate its investment in Tea Group
20 March 2013
Business Standard: Labour trouble brewing at Tata Tea plantations
LOCAL NEWS
ASSAM TRIBUNE
17 May 2016
Workers launch stir against tea company
03 February 2016
AASAA hails wage hike in ATCL gardens
06 November 2015
Ghatowar on minimum wages for tea workers
30 September 2015
Spend wisely, ACMS urges workers
03 August 2015
Rs 177 proposed as daily minimum wage for plantation workers
06 April 2015
AASAA demands fair wage for tea workers
18 March 2015
Centre likely to amend Plantations Labour Act
01 March 2015
Move to challenge CCPA-ACMS wage agreement
26 February 2015
TE workers’ daily wage agreement finalised
22 February 2015
Bengal tea workers’ wages hiked
28 June 2014
In November 2017, a petition was delivered to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) with more than 67,000 signatures collected by the Care2 social networking website. The petition calls on the IFC to act on the ongoing mistreatment of the tea workers and begin a consultation with workers to improve their working and housing conditions, increase wages, and give workers a voice in the management of plantations. Some of the signatories to the petition share why they became a part of the movement to demand AccountabiliTEA for tea workers in Assam.
Tea workers in Assam depend on the tea industry as their sole source of livelihood. Don’t abandon them by boycotting Assam tea. Instead, continue to proudly drink Assam tea but use your voice to demand change. Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited (APPL) is owned by the Tata Group and the World Bank. We urge you to reach out to them to demand living wages, decent housing, adequate health care and better education for workers.
You can also join the movement to demand AccountabiliTEA and show your support to tea workers in Assam. Use your twitter handle and other social media tools to reach out to the IFC (you can use the suggested tweets below).!
Nazdeek is a legal empowerment organization dedicated to bringing access to justice closer to marginalized communities in India. Nazdeek’s model fuses grassroots legal education, community monitoring of service delivery, use of legal remedies, and strategic advocacy to advance socio-economic rights with a focus on maternal health, nutrition, housing and labor in Delhi and Assam.
Promotion and Advancement of Justice, Harmony and Rights of Adivasis (PAJHRA) is an initiative of Adivasis of Assam from all walks of life. In the Adivasia (Sadri) language, PAJHRA, means ‘Life Spring’. As an organisation, PAJHRA tries to steer Adivasis towards self development by networking and collaborating with Adivasi community members and organizations including student organizations, women’s organizations, literary bodies and different Adivasi NGOs. PAJHRA also relates and partners with non-Adivasi NGOs, church development agencies, human rights bodies and many regional and national development agencies.
Accountability Counsel amplifies the voices of local communities around the world to help protect their human rights and environment. As advocates for people harmed by internationally-financed projects, Accountability Counsel assists communities to use little-known international complaint offices tied to projects that cause harm. Accountability Counsel’s work in South Asia has included supporting community-led complaints in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
People’s Action for Development (PAD) is an Assam-based Adivasi-led organisation that seeks to empower marginalized Adivasis and tribal people by organizing them into self help groups, building their capacity, and enabling them to utilize available resources. PAD focusses on issues relating to rights, livelihood, disaster management, governance, education, health, children, youth and women.