ABSTRACT
The plantation sector in Assam has evolved through different phases of regulation and government intervention. As discussed in the previous chapter, historically, the development of the plantation sector under colonialism had a profound impact on its production organisation. The two basic requirements of the plantation sector — large areas of land and a large labour force — were rarely available at the same time and at the same place. Coercion, low wages and immigrant labour were initially the three inseparable components of the plantation system and the colonial state particularly played an important role in backing the planters in their pursuit of higher profits through use of brute force. The Workmen’s Breach of Contract Act, 1859, and the Inland Immigration Act, 1863, for example, virtually legalised the use of force against the indenture labourers by the planters.
