A Study on Health Status of Scheduled Caste Women Workers of Tea Plantation at Valparai Taluk, Coimbatore District

Abstract

Health plays a vital role in the well-being of human life and country’s economic growth. The health of women, in particular can be analyzed in terms of various indicators that vary geographically, socio-economically and culturally. At present, Indian women are facing many health problems, which lead to disturbance in the output level of the company. The tea industry has been playing a very important role in the development of the Indian economy. Women make an immense contribution in the productivity of tea plantation. Most of the labor force in tea plantation includes migrants from various districts of Tamil Nadu. The study adopted simple random sampling technique in selecting the sample and primary data were collected from 100 respondents. The study has been undertaken to analyze the health status of scheduled caste women working in tea plantation at Valparai Taluk, Coimbatore District. The study indicated that the health awareness among the scheduled caste women workers was very poor. The findings showed that variables such as age of the worker, level of formal education of the worker, length of service and annual medical expenditure had significantly influenced the health status of the women workers. It was suggested that the Government, NGOs as well as the management of the tea plantations should take immediate measures to improve the health of the workers to have drastic change in economic and social aspects.