The Planters Association (PA) has yet again expressed their inability to raise the daily wage of an estate worker to Rs. 1700, claiming that this could only be done if the Government provides it with financial support. PA spokesman Dr. Roshan Rajadurai told the media that if the Government allocated financial support in the way it does for the State Plantation Companies, the wage hike could be possible, noting that the Government had set aside Rs. 5 billion as payments to State Plantation Companies. “If the Government can also fund the Regional Plantation Companies, we too can afford the increase,” he said. To raise the daily wage to Rs. 1700, the RPCs need an additional income of over Rs. 5 billion.
As the RPC spokesmen noted, the move to grant a daily wage rise to Rs. 1700 could be political. However, the RPCs, which provide a steady income to the estate workers, run the risk of folding up in that scenario. This will defeat the whole purpose of those aiming for political gain since, in such an eventuality, the estate workers will be deprived of even the paltry wage they presently receive. Hence, the whole issue of the daily wage increase should be viewed in realistic terms. The Government will not want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. One should also not forget that the RPCs are only just recovering financially following the blows dealt to them by the corona pandemic, which lost them a sizable volume of exports through loss of production and also as a result of the chronic economic downturn. As the RPC spokesman noted, they (RPCs) would need an additional Rs. 5 billion to cover the wage increase. Under such circumstances, it is only common sense that the RPCs would be extremely hard-pressed to meet the wage hike demand, leading to drastic consequences not just for the estate workers but for the plantation community as a whole. In addition to employing tea pluckers, the RPCs also provide housing and other facilities to segments of the plantation community. Hence, as can be seen, any politically motivated move to force the RPCs to increase estate wages would affect the plantation community across the board.
Hence, a Rs. 1700 daily wage increase to a whole army of estate workers is out of the question. All stakeholders, therefore, should come together to compromise on middle ground. The Government also should take a step back and look at things from the right perspective. It would not want the RPCs to go broke and fold up in a heap. If that happened, the estate community, leave alone the Rs. 1700, would have absolutely nothing to live on. Even with the daily wage, life for the estate worker is an uphill battle. With EPF and trade union fees deducted, he or she is hardly left with Rs. 800 in the kitty. Estate families, as is common knowledge, are large ones, most often counting a dozen members. With a loaf of bread priced at Rs. 150, how they survive at all is left to one’s imagination. There is also rampant alcoholism among estate workers, including among women. Perhaps they are collectively seeking solace to their misery through the medium of the devil’s brew. This tendency for escapism could also have other psychological repercussions.
This year marked 200 years since the arrival of South Indian labour in the country to work in the tea plantations. Needless to say, not much has changed in their lives or living standards ever since. If at all, they are worse off than before. Generation after generation continues to remain as tea pluckers. Their children know no other life other than life among the tea bushes. Education has been an elusive dream for estate youth, thus being cut off from the outside world – a fact that has been to the liking of crafty estate politicians, which makes it that much easier for exploiting them for their own selfish interests. However, the Government has promised to build a university for the Hill Country plantation areas. The estate community continues to live in line rooms with large families closeted together in cramped spaces. This situation ought to change and the estate worker made to live a life of dignity free from exploitation. Recently, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing the plantation community, pledged to integrate them with the general society, which will provide them with equal opportunities to expand their horizons rather than live in isolation forever. He also said that the interests of the plantation community will henceforth be looked into by a national leader who does not differentiate between segments of society. This, no doubt, will release the estate community from the grip of plantation politicians who hitherto used the votes of their community to reach giddy heights in national politics that enabled them to amass riches for themselves. At least now, the mindset of the estate community should be turned away from the drudgery of their existence and shown the way to advance in life in spheres outside the ones they are familiar with.
Sri Lanka celebrated International Tea Day on May 21, with attention primarily focused on the crop’s export potential in an extremely competitive arena. But the onus should also be on the plantation workers who make it all possible.
