It takes pluck to go by Ashok Ghosh 14 Dec 07 (http://thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=4&theme=&usrsess=1&id=180452)
India is the world's largest producer and consumer of tea. According to the Economic Survey 2006-07, tea production, after stagnating between 1997-98 and 2004-05 at around 830-850 million kg, increased by about 12 per cent in 2005-06 (930.9 million kg). Tea consumption in quantitative terms is growing steadily by three per cent a year.
The tea sector is one of the oldest and largest employment providers. More than a million people are directly and indirectly dependent on the tea industry for their survival. According to the Labour Bureau, GOI Occupational Wage Survey (Sixth Round, 2006), the total permanent workforce in tea plantations is 8.12 lakh with 54.24 per cent women workers. In the report, female employment reported the highest with 63.07 per cent in the tea plantations of Tamil Nadu.
Tea plantations in India were first set up by British colonisers in select climes for their vested interest. At present, tea is largely produced in Darjeeling, the Terai and Dooars region of West Bengal, Upper and Lower Assam, Peermade, Wayanad in Kerala and the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu. Types vary with the region.
Given the nature of an "enclave economy", where workers are dependent on tea estates for their income and survival, workers are thrown into situations of closure, abandonment, lockout and work suspension that deprive them of not just their daily income but also access to medical and other benefits such as maternity, drinking water and electricity.
In West Bengal and Kerala, the precarious situation has resulted in starvation deaths and suicides among tea workers' families. This has accentuated their vulnerability as a marginalised community. Historically, workers have merely shifted from a situation of "total deprivation" to a situation of "bare subsistence".
In Jalpaiguri, there are 13 abandoned and closed tea gardens. In Idukki district of Kerala, seven tea estates and six factories are abandoned, in Thiruvananthapuram district, one tea estate and two tea factories are abandoned. In Tamil Nadu, there are four closed tea gardens. In many of the tea gardens, owners do not declare the tea gardens as closed. They abandon them. The company has to apply for closure to close a garden. These companies owe huge dues not just to the workers in terms of Provident Fund and gratuity but also to the respective state governments and banks concerned.
Though certain pockets of tea growing states are in a crisis situation, the overall performance of tea as an economic product is improving. The annual average domestic price for tea was Rs 63.62 a kg last year and has been categorised as "Normal Year For Tea". This sector is dominated markedly by big multinational companies that have amassed huge profits. For example, Tata Tea recorded an increase in profit of 40.8 per cent between the years 2003-04 and 2004-05.
The plantation sector is being restructured. Various stakeholders have analysed the crisis in West Bengal and Kerala but a comprehensive understanding is yet to be reached. There are various factors responsible for the crisis that include poor quality of tea bushes or their neglect, change in the ownership pattern, monopoly and cartelisation of a few buyers, retailers and blenders. These factors influence prices at tea auction centres, contribution of the small tea growers' sector to production, absence of value-addition to tea and other structural reasons that are tea-garden specific. Violation of labour and basic livelihood rights is a reality.
Efforts are on by the Central and state governments to address the issues of closure and abandonment. The Centre appointed the Ferguson Committee to give details of the problems and causes of closures/abandonments.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared a Special Purpose Tea Fund in January under the 2006-07 Budget. The amount is estimated to be Rs 4,716 crore over a 15-year period. A process of setting up a plantation department by the Union commerce and industry minister Mr Kamal Nath is in the pipeline.
It was recently announced by his ministry that nine tea estates had reopened in Kerala and one in West Bengal after the government declared its rehabilitation package. It provides for the restructuring of outstanding bank dues, provision for fresh working capital, waiver of outstanding dues to the Tea Board and settlement of Provident fund dues in installments.
It is not clear, however, how the government will ensure proper utilisation of funds without a transparent monitoring mechanism of the Special Purpose Tea Fund in places where trade unions are involved.
A monitoring committee represented by both state and Central governments and the Tea Board has been formed but has excluded workers' representation from trade unions.
Every year, 15 December is observed as International Tea Day with the objective of affirming the rights of tea plantation workers. With the involvement of key labour research organisations in India and other tea-producing countries, International Tea Day has emerged as a global activity of workers and small-grower representatives. The countries include Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The first International Tea Day was held in New Delhi in 2005 and the second in Sri Lanka, last year.
International Tea Day observations and deliberations have contributed towards an international alliance and attracted the attention of the governments of India and Sri Lanka to address issues in the tea sector.
There is need for further collaboration and action, besides addressing larger concerns vis-a-vis multilateral institutions such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN and the International Labour Organisation.
The International Tea Day network affirms the principle of a living wage. It states that the living wage should not be less than the minimum wage and de-linked from tea prices. Wage increment should be in congruence with the cost of living across countries. A campaign for an international commodity agreement for tea would ensure price stabilisation of raw and manufactured tea. The International Tea Day is attempting to address the inequities in the global tea trade. Trade unions have historically played a vital role in implementing labour legislation in the plantation sector. There is the need for all workers and trade unions to take a united position and International Tea Day is an important occasion to affirm workers' rights.
It is relevant to observe International Tea Day across all tea-producing areas in India as it would provide a common platform to discuss issues common to tea workers. Indian tea trade unions demand the immediate reopening of closed and abandoned tea gardens in Kerala and West Bengal. More than 30,000 workers have been affected.
(The author is general secretary, United Trades Union Congress, West Bengal state committee.)
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