The tea industry began in India in 1851. Most of the tea gardens were situated in Assam. Since Assam was sparsely populated and the tea plantations were often located on uninhabited hillsides, the bulk of the sorely needed labour had to be imported from other provinces. But to bring thousands of people every year from their far-off homes into strange lands, possessing an unhealthy climate required the provision of financial and other incentives which the tea planters were unwilling to offer. Instead they took recourse to fraud coercion and persuaded the government to pass regressive penal laws. Thus the recruitment of labourers for tea gardens of Assam was carried on by contractor under the provisions of transport of Native Labourers Act (No 111) of 1863 of Bengal as amended in 1865, 1870 and 1873.

Read the passage given above and answer the questions:

Transport of Native Labourers Act (No 111) of 1863 was not helpful for:

Labourers

The correct answer is Labourers.

The passage specifically states that the Transport of Native Labourers Act (No 111) of 1863 was passed to facilitate the recruitment of laborers for tea gardens in Assam by contractors. This suggests that the Act was primarily designed to benefit the tea plantation owners and the contractors.

The Act was not helpful for laborers because it allowed for the use of fraud and coercion to recruit them. It also allowed contractors to exert a great deal of control over the laborers, who were often transported to Assam under harsh conditions and subjected to exploitative labor practices.

The other options are all groups that benefited from the Act:

• Tea plantation owners: The Act made it easier for tea plantation owners to recruit and retain laborers, which helped to reduce labor costs and increase profits.

• Contractors: The Act granted contractors a great deal of power over the laborers, which allowed them to exploit them for their own personal gain.

• Colonial government: The Act helped to ensure that the tea industry in Assam had a steady supply of labor, which was important for the colonial economy.