Doomdooma, Nov. 14 -- When the day's last baskets of green tea leaves are emptied and the labour lines of Doomdooma's sprawling tea estates begin to settle into darkness, a different kind of activity takes hold in parts of the gardens in upper Assam's Tinsukia district.

Makeshift cinema screens light up open spaces, gambling circles attract young crowds, and fighting cocks are brought into arenas where money changes hands alongside blood.

For many families, these are no longer occasional distractions during festivals. They represent a growing social crisis that threatens to rob an entire generation of its education, childhood and future.

The seriousness of the situation has now reached the administrative authorities through a memorandu...