The paper entitled “Role of ICT in Development: A study of Tea Garden Communities of Southern Assam in India“ is a part of research outcome of an IMPRESS project sponsored by  ICSSR and ministry of Education, New Delhi. Since ICTs are playing a very important role, now-a-days, in development of rural areas as well as the application of ICT is also improving the quality of lifeby building their capacity among of the backward communities in India. As such, the tea industry in Barak Valley in Southern Assam of India provides employment to about 30% of the working population, a study was conducted in the three tea gardens of Barak Valley to identify the needs and role of ICTs in capacity building of the Tea Garden Community. In the study, the data was collected through the participants’ observation as well as interview schedule. The respondents were union leaders, executives and workers selected purposefully on first-met-first response basis. Further, the paper analyses the relationship between ICT and development in the tea garden community. ICT offers communication facilities that support various activities in their livelihood. The main discussion of this paper is primarily to assist the tea garden community of the Barak Valley of Assam as well as to improve their productivity and the standard of living through the implementation of ICT.      

Keywords: ICT, Community, Development, Tea Garden, Barak Valley.