LABOUR-Poor Deal for Tea Workers

(20,780); Mikir (4,610); Miri (3,348); Garo (610); Rabha (10); Khasi (45); Mizo/Lushai (15). Not a single native speaker of Assamese returned any language of the Naga people as a second language in the 1971 Census, unless of course this has been included in languages classed under 'Others' (4,355). This does contrast with the fact that a very large number of the Naga people speak Assamese and indeed use it as a lingua franca for inter-tribal communication even now, especially the older generation.