Memorandum on tea-worker’s issues.
Posted by
To,
Ms Nirmala Sitharaman
Honourable Minister of State
(Independent Charge)
Government of India, New Delhi.
Camp – The venue of Meeting
convened at her behest on tea issue in Guwahati.
Sub – Memorandum on
tea-worker’s issues.
..
Madam,
Most humbly and respectfully,
we would like to place before you the following points on the plight of the tea
workers of Assam through this Memorandum being submitted by us in the meeting
convened at your behest with a view to resolve the longstanding plight of the
workers.
This is for favour of your
kind perusal and needful action.
(1)
On the issue of Minimum
wage.
The minimum wage schedule officially announced by the
state government reveals that the plantation workers are also included in the
schedule which is effective up to 31st august, 2014 and
accordingly the minimum wage circular being issued by the labour commissioner bi-annually considering the VDA
component is also applicable for tea-workers of Assam. According to this
schedule, the minimum wage for unskilled tea-workers is Rs.169 up to 31st August, 2014
and Rs. 184 w.e.f 1st September, 2014. The current wage settled
through bipartite negotiation is of the tune of Rs. 94 for Brahmhaputra valley
garden and Rs. 75 for Barak valley gardens for wage in cash. Many gardens pay
less than this negotiated wage too. As per the information provided by the
Assam Branch of Indian Tea Association (ABITA) on the daily labour Cost in
Assam from 1st April 2011 to 30the June 2012, the wage component in cash is
Rs.74.50, wage component in kind is Rs. 22.40, Statutory expenditure under
Plantation Labour Act is Rs.23.79 and under common statutory expenditure like
Provident fund, Bonus, gratuity etc is Rs. 25.67 and total comes to Rs.146.36
per day per worker. ABITA calculation says that 16.25% of the total labour cost
of Rs.146.36 as on June 2012 is on account of meeting the statutory provisions
under the PLA (Plantation Labour Act) viz. housing facilities, medical
facilities, welfare facilities, national (festival) holidays, sickness
benefits, earned leave, educational facilities and maternity benefits. Wage
calculation in this way comes only under living wage which will be far more
than the minimum wage announced by the state government. While for
employers these are cost enhancing, for workers these are inadequate to raise
their standard of living. Actual wage (the cash plus money equivalent of
kind) the workers have been paid is of the amount of Rs 96.90 as per the above
ABITA’s calculation during the period of 1st April 2011 to 30th
June 2012.
It is worth-mentioning here
that our union was invited by the state labour department in the first round of
tripartite negotiation during the last wage settlement. But unfortunately,
pending this tripartite negotiation process, the wage was settled through
bipartite negotiation between the owners and INTUC affiliated union despite our
dissension. But after the declaration
of Minimum wage schedule by the state government, any bi-partite wage
settlement below the stipulated minimum wage needs to be treated as null and
void, and the minimum wage as announced in the minimum wage schedule by the
state government must be brought into force immediately.
(2)
On wage in kinds
Currently, tea gardens procure wheat and rice at
subsidized rates – Rs 8.36 per Kg and Rs. 6.10 per Kg respectively from
government quota. It is provided at 54 paise per Kg to workers. A garden
worker, as per official norms, gets 3.2 Kg, half of which is rice and other
half wheat, per week. An adult dependent and minor dependent get 2.44Kg and
1.22Kg of foodgrain respectively per week. But the women workers who constitute
the majority of the manual workers, get the ration of two minor
dependents only. The state government has been providing 7,600 tonnes of rice
and 5,000 tonnes of wheat each month to the tea garden at subsidized rates. Under
the food security act, a beneficiary (each member of the family) will get 5Kg
of rice per month at Rs 3 per Kg through the food and civil supply department,
which will supply the ration to fair-price shops across the state.
Contd. to page 2
(2)
To avail the benefit, a beneficiary’s
annual earnings will have to be below Rs 1 lakh and priority will be given to
daily-wage earners. So the tea worker’s family will be beneficial if the
whole amount of their entitled minimum wage is paid in cash, and as per the
above criteria, they all are brought under the net of FSA.
(3)
On PF deposit.
Many tea-estates have
defaulted in depositing both the contributions from employee and employer in PF
account. Moreover, most of the tea-garden authorities do not consider the money
equivalent of the wage component in kind under the PF schemes. These gross
violations of workers’ rights need to be adequately addressed and the
provisions of the Tea Act needs to be applied, wherever necessary, to eradicate
the anomalies.
(4)
On implementation of the
various provisions of PLA
The statutory rights under the
Plantation Labour Act are rampantly violated due to lack of proper inspection.
The inspectors have kept their inspections limited to specific complaints
instead of conducting regular inspections. A presentation by A K Malakar, the
previous Labour Commissioner of Assam notes that inspection in the tea estates
is done at the consent of the management, when the department is not in a
position to provide means of transportation, the management takes an
advantageous position in providing vehicles and therefore inspections cannot be
impartial. Therefore management escapes prosecution even for grave violations.
Penal provision of Rs 500 is ludicrous and is not a deterrent. So PLA, Assam
Scheme must be implemented effectively by giving necessary tooth for punitive
action for violations of its provisions.
(5)
On health-care facility
The condition of the workers even in the Tea-Estates
which have been receiving NRHM fund under PPP model is deplorable. For
delineating the pathetic condition of Assam tea-workers, suffice it to mention
the findings of the Medical research centres of Assam. The case study conducted
by the Medical Research Centre, N.E region(ICMR), Dibrugarh, Assam on nutritional
status of adolescents in tea-gardens workers reveals that the almost half of
the adolescent of tea workers are stunted and most of
them are thin. Another study conducted by
Medical research and community Medicine department, Assam Medical College,
reveals a high prevalence of malnutrition among the school age children in the
tea garden workers of Assam and the nature of malnutrition indicates that
causes of malnutrition are not only recent but also long term deprivation.
So, the health-care facility and other social security
measures need to be improved for the tea-
workers in Assam.
(6)
On ATC gardens
Finally, Most of the studies reveal that the decline in
productivity in Assam is due to the lack of re-investment by the planters for
replacement of old tea-plants or bushes most of which are more than 50 years
old. Despite increase of labour productivity, the planters are bent on
curtailing the rights of the labourers and deprive them of minimum wages.
Thanking
you, Yours Truly,
(REPRESENTATIVES
PRESENT IN THE MEETING)
ASSAM MOJURI SHRAMIK UNION
Affiliated to New Trade Union Initiative
Address for communication – NTUI and AMSU’s
Jorhat Office address.AKHARA GHAR,
Near
Jatiya Bhavan, Jatiya Abhidhan Path, Malow Ali,
Jorhat- 785001,ASSAM
Cell No. 09435351255, e-mail : mojurishramik@gmail.com
