Planters have revived their plea for sharing of social costs by the governments at the centre and states. “This issue figured at our 127th Annual General Meeting,” R Rajkumar, Chairman, The Nilgiri Planters’ Association (NPA) told BusinessLine .

“The tea industry is in deep crisis crunched under the high cost of production and unremunerative realisations, coupled with the whims of nature. Plantation is the only industry which bears the entire social cost in the form of housing, water supply, medical facilities and the like extended to the workers and this accounts for a sizeable percentage of the cost of production,” he said.

“The inter-ministerial committee formed to study the impact of the social cost on plantations has acknowledged the burden cast on plantations by these costs and had recommended the extension of support to the industry by both the Central and the State governments. However, this report has not received the serious consideration of the governments,” he lamented.

“Various Government schemes like the National Health Protection Scheme, Swachh Bharat and AMRUT should be so structured as to include plantation labour in them,” he suggested.

Referring to the orthodox tea production subsidy scheme, the NPA chief said that this was construed to establish India’s pre-eminence in the world tea market. “But, there is enormous delay in the disbursement of the subsidy amounts affecting the development works in the plantations. Reduced allocation of funds to the Commodity Boards is said to be the reason for such a situation. We urge the Tea Board to take up the matter with the Commerce Ministry and facilitate the early disbursal of long-pending amounts,” Rajkumar observed.

Likewise, he urged the Tea Board to expedite the issue of ‘No Objection Certificate’ to estates for claiming fiscal assistance for replanting and rejuvenation under the Tea Development and Promotion Scheme. He also urged the Centre not to alter the existing labour laws while creating the new labour codes.

The United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI) has called for higher productivity from labour in the plantation industry.

“Most tea estates in The Nilgiris produce orthodox variety of teas but their prices till August had fallen about ₹3 a kg over the last year. Our cost of production is directly linked to wages and it is constantly increasing. It is, indeed, a big challenge to make both ends meet,” UPASI President T Jayaraman said at the 127th AGM of Nilgiri Planters’ Association (NPA).

“The only way forward is to increase the productivity of workers without impacting quality,” he said.

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