Plantation workers move to urban areas

By P. Krishnaswamy

President of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Muthu Sivalingam in an interview with the Sunday Observer, gave his views on the long-term sustainability of the tea industry, the Government's role towards the socio-economic improvement of the plantation community and the CWC's plans for their future welfare.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: Your recent remarks that the tea plantations on its present scale will last only another 10 years contradicts the views of prominent people in the industry, including Tea Board Chairperson Dr.(Mrs) Janaki Kuruppu, Member of the Board Jayantha Keragala and Planters’ Association Chairperson Roshan Rajadurai. Can you please explain?

A: They are only looking at one side of it such as the recent price increase in the world market and the increased productivity. But there is another side. It is about retaining the workforce for another 10 years.

I have my doubts whether the Tamils of Indian origin who are working on the estates will be there to work after 10 years. Already there is an acute shortage of labour in the estates because no replacement is available when workers retire and at least 10 percent of the workforce is quitting the estates on an annual basis seeking greener pastures in urban areas. They are not happy over their life in the estates on account of the prevailing living conditions.

Even after two centuries of toiling in the estates there has been no much change in their lives and they remain in a state of uncertainly over their future and are economically and socially far behind the other communities.

The tea production technology has changed much over the years but the approach towards the welfare of the plantation community has not changed. When the prices of the tea in the world market go up the wages of workers also should naturally go up proportionately. But instead the whole focus is only on promoting the industry and not on improving the living conditions of the workers.

The CWC negotiated under trying circumstances for wage increase to them under the biennial Collective Agreements. Even that came under criticism from many rival trade unions (TUs), many of which recently mushroomed. Unless there is a drastic change in the living conditions of the plantation workers, it is unlikely that they will be there to work after a number of years.

Q: What do you think should be done to bring about such a situation?

A: An atmosphere where they will have an abiding interest in the places of their domicile should be created. The other communities of this country, the North-East Tamils, the Sinhalese or the Muslims, have their permanent areas of domicile with houses, properties and an abiding interest. It is not so in the case of the Indian origin plantation community. The do not own the houses in which they live or the lands in which they do vegetable gardening or dairy farming. The general claim is that the lands either belong to the LRC or to the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) which have them on long lease. For instance when we tried to get a land released for a school building in Ratnapura, the local politicians protested saying that it was earmarked for another project.

We encounter similar problems while trying to acquire lands for the plantation workers. To change the situation, the plantations should be transformed as villages so that the workers will get all facilities enjoyed by villagers. Our people have lived in these lands for nearly 200 years and at least 25 percent of these lands are already with them by away of their living quarters, home garden plots, temples, schools and even boutiques. But they do not, legally, belong to them.

Although much is being said about the tea small holdings contributing a greater share towards tea production and export earnings, the fact that it is the Indian origin Tamils who work there and contribute to that is conveniently forgotten.

They do not get EPF, ETF or any other statutory benefits and they are scared to speak about it lest they will lose their jobs. The green leaf ( bought leaf) at present is sold in the range of about Rs. 70. Prices have been fluctuating over the years. If, for some reason or the other, the price comes down to Rs. 30 or so, it is unlikely that the small holders will continue with the tea industry. They will uproot the tea bushes and plant other more profitable crops. But the plantation workers will not do it because it has been their bread and butter all throughout. Even with a reduced price for the green leaf they will contribute to increase productivity.

An approach and procedural methods to gradually transform the plantation estates into villages is a dire need of the day. The CWC has held discussions on this with the Government and hope that this will materialise under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The plantation workers are in the background of Sri Lanka retaining the brand ‘Ceylon Tea' in the world market over the many decades.

They have a right to get on lease or even own estate lands to an extent as may be deemed fit so that they can continue their traditional profession. When they become owners/lessees of tea lands to an extent that they can manage by themselves, they will work hard on it , which in turn, will contribute towards increased productivity at lower costs. If it is ensured that the tea factories owned by plantation companies or private individuals are functional, the plantation people can sell their products.

Q: You had also mentioned that only education will guarantee a good future for the community. In what manner has the CWC contributed towards their educational improvement?

A: In 1977 our founder leader Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman told Parliament that he was the only elected member representing the plantation community although there should have been 14 members according to their population ratio.

His request to the then Head of the State, President J.R. Jayewardena , for larger budget allocations for the educational uplift of the plantation community was heeded.

Since then our significant role towards the educational progress of our community has been continuing. We have seen much progress in the educational field . Many new school buildings were constructed in the plantation areas. Even today there is a shortage of teachers in schools where the plantation children are studying. Our leader, Minister Arumugan Thondaman, recently got Rs.195 Million released for introducing improvements to the plantation education sector. When I was Minister of Nation Building and Estate Infrastructure Development, I was able to appoint over 3000 teachers exclusively from among the eligible plantation youth. We recently held discussions with Education Minister Hon. Bandula Gunawardana on the question of shortage of teachers and the Ministry consequently obtained cabinet approval to appoint more teachers to the schools in the plantation areas. Therefore, we as the oldest party representing the community are very much concerned over the educational uplift of the community and are working towards that as our main focus. All estate schools were taken over by the Government and they have been brought in par with other urban schools.

Q: President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reiterated on his commitment towards the socio-economic welfare of the plantation community and on doing away with the line-room quarters system. Your comments please ?

A: The picture with regard to the housing problem of the community is now changing. Houses with modern facilities are being built for them in place of the centuries-old line-room quarters. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has repeatedly reiterated on his commitment towards changing the line-room system. He spoke on it even in some the CWC's recent public meetings. He has insisted on the fact that eliminating the line-room system will pave the way for an improved socio-economic life of the workers. It is only during his rule that an amount of Rs.60,000/- was disbursed to the workers for construction of houses. Today the Government is giving them Rs.440,000/- for construction of houses. Of this amount Rs.200,000 is an out right grant. Over 26,000 houses have already been built under this scheme. The process of constructing houses is moving at a slow pace because sections of the workers are not showing a keen interest in building their own houses. They are reluctant to come out of the line-room life although the President wants to see the change very fast. Under the last budget the President provided for construction of another 50,000 houses for them. Then again the rival unions, without comprehending the significance of the decision , protested and made adverse remarks saying they should be given independent houses and not flat type of houses. The President's idea behind providing such flat-type of houses is that they live on the estates , in the hills, secluded and away from the towns , under adverse weather conditions. Therefore the joint family system will be to their advantage. The President only spoke of eliminating the line-room system and building two-storey housing complexes. The ancestors of the workers lived as joint families in India and even the ancestors of the Sinhalese lived as joint families. So the flat-house system was proposed with all good intentions but the protesting TUs want independent houses for the workers. When our party leader Arumugan Thondaman was Minister of Housing some such two-stortey houses were built in Vanarajah Estate, Caldonia Estate, Mt.Vernon Estate and many other estates in the Dickoya area.

Those are very convenient houses reflecting a much more civilised way of living. The protesting TUs should go and see those houses to understand as to what the President has meant. In any case, we have informed the President on the need for convening a meeting of all TUs and the concerned government authorities to discuss and sort out this issue in the best interests of the workers.

Q: What is being done to empower the younger generation of the community in IT and other technological aspects?

A: The CWC's Prajasakthi organisation, under the Thondaman Foundation, has done much towards that. They never knew about the computer some years ago. Even students of leading schools in the plantation areas were not computer literate. Now it is different altogether.

The Prajasakthi centers in the plantation towns and even in some estates are imparting computer training and have distributed computers to some children. Ranging from a kindergarten child to a GCE(AL) student, everyone has the facility to receive free training at the many number of Praja Sakthi institutes in every nook and corner of the plantation areas.

There are plans in the pipeline to start 10 more institutes this year too. Even small children in the plantations are now computer literate. That is an achievement.