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The indentured system in tea gardens of Assam was abolished in
Explanation
The indentured labor system in the tea gardens of Assam was governed by various penal-contract laws, most notably the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, which restricted workers' freedom of movement. This system, often described as a 'new form of slavery,' relied on coercive recruitment and penal sanctions for desertion. While the international Indian indenture system for overseas colonies was officially abolished in 1917 and finally banned in the early 1920s [1], the specific internal indentured system in Assam's tea plantations persisted longer. Following years of labor unrest, including the mass exodus during the Non-Cooperation Movement, and legislative pressure from leaders like Omeo Kumar Das, the system was formally abolished in 1926. This marked the end of the legal penal-contract framework that had bound laborers to the plantations for decades.
Sources
- [1] India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: Nationalism in India > 2.3 Swaraj in the Plantations > p. 36