Srimangal/Moulvibazar/Representative/

A ‘media campaign’ was held with local journalists to improve safe water, sanitation and hygiene in Srimangal tea garden in Moulvibazar.

At 11 am on Tuesday (September 27) in the conference room of the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, the campaign organized by the non-governmental NGO Institute of Development Affairs (IDEA) highlighted the use of safe and clean water, sanitation and daily hygiene of the tea workers of Srimangal Upazila tea plantations.

Organizers said tea workers are still struggling for safe water. Even in modern society, tea workers remain far away from health and sanitation facilities amid various challenges in tea plantations. Tea workers do not get toilet facilities in the workplace. Long wait for drinking water after work. Many houses do not have toilets. The toilet has to be done in the tea garden or in the open. The poor people of this deprived tea community now want to get rid of it. There are many educated labor children living in tea estates. They seek employment opportunities outside the plantations, come up in the campaign for socio-economic development, improved work and livelihoods outside the tea plantations. Also presented various survey reports at different times during the campaign. Meanwhile, the journalists agreed with IDEA’s statement and the report of the survey and urged to work on government policies and various laws to overcome it. It is hoped that the NGO organization Idea will be more dedicated to these backward tea communities.
The campaign was chaired by Pankaj Ghosh Dostidar, project manager of Idea’s Wash for Tea project, and Chowdhury Nihar Ranjan Home, Srimangal representative of Dainik Janakantha. Srimangal Press Club President Biswajyoti Chowdhury and Vice President Dipankar Bhattacharya Liton along with local journalists participated in the event.