The Hindu Business Line : Sick tea plantations leave Valparai ill

VALPARAI, once considered Tamil Nadu's richest town panchayat, seems to have lost its sheen, with the corporate tea plantations that dominate this hamlet in the Anamalai Hills turning sick.

The economy of this town panchayat has been dependent on tax collections from the tea estates in that belt.

Revenue collections, by way of agricultural income tax (AIT) and sales tax, have not been less than Rs 5 crore a year until three years ago. With most gardens in the Anamalai Plantation belt booking losses for over three years in a row, the AIT collection has zeroed down. The revenue fall has hit not just the Government kitty, Even private establishments are fighting for survival. According to retail merchants, a number of traders have wound up business as there is a tight squeeze in cash flow.

These gardens, incidentally, had been paying its workers hefty bonus when the industry was doing reasonably well. After the Government decided to allow import of the produce, and with quality tea coming from non-traditional pockets such as Taiwan, Indonesia, China and Korea at competitive rates, the South Indian tea plantations have taken a beating.

Planters now see no light at the end of the tunnel, as the then Government, which had promised to shoulder a certain percentage of social costs, such as provision of schooling facility for the workers' children, hospital, crèches and workmen's quarters, had failed to keep its word.

According to industry sources, such social costs tend to increase the overhead costs, and the amount expended on each worker was almost equal to his daily rate. At this juncture, the industry finds it unviable to bear such expenses as these amenities are being borne by the government in other competing countries.

Apart from the high costs, severe drought has also affected yield levels. The industry sources state that man-days fell by 25 to 30 per cent last year in the Valparai belt. The fall in earnings and recurring losses booked by the estates had left little for the plantation labourer to expend on. Lack of opportunities and declining pay have compelled a number of workers to move out. Industry insiders say that nearly 5 per cent of the labour force left over the past year.

The sources believe that the situation would improve if the government reviewed the Land Reforms Act and permitted plantations to diversify into alternative crops, such as vanilla, aromatic timber, spices or herbal plant species, in at least 25 per cent of the area to provide continuous employment to its workforce and improve its returns.

Meanwhile, the residents and traders contend that there is enough scope to tap the belt's tourism potential. But they are concerned over the lack of initiatives taken by the State government to improve infrastructure and promoting the town as the `ideal' tourism destination.