We enjoy the sight of green tea plants on either side of the road even a few kilometres ahead of Valparai. But the wage that the thousands of women and men plucking tea leaves is unimaginably low and their demand for better wage continues to be a demand even after several years.
A sip of tea brings cheer for many consumers but the lives of the plantation workers continued to be in tears.
Most tea-leaf pluckers refuse to talk to outsiders fearing victimisation. “Those who raise our voice to the management or inform anything to outsiders are targeted and are even fired,” a woman said and moved without talking anymore. Their wage is Rs. 237 a day, against Rs. 300 earned by their counterparts in Kerala who work for the same management.
Work starts at 8 in the morning and goes on till 5 in the evening. The labourers work 26 days a month and are supposed to get a little more than Rs. 6,000. But, they don’t get more than Rs. 4,300 a month.
“Most of us get only around Rs. 3,500,” a labourer said. On condition of anonymity labourers, said their managements deduced the rest under various heads, including insurance and provident fund. Sadly, Rs. 800 to Rs. 1,000 is deducted for electricity.
Work gets tougher for those working in organic tea plantations. “During the rainy season we are bitten by leeches. Organic tea attracts insects and we get hundreds of insect bites everyday, unlike other tea-leaf pluckers working in tea grown using chemical fertilizers,” they said.
In a couple of minutes came their supervisor warning the women not to talk to any outsiders and to continue working. The supervisor also asked the reporter not to talk to the women. “Enjoy the scenery, take pictures and leave the place. Don’t talk to them,” she said.
Sitting MLA M. Arumugam in his election assurance in 2011 assured to get them Rs. 300 a day. During the ongoing campaign, cutting across party affiliations what tops the promises of all the candidates is better wage for tea workers. While AIADMK candidate V. Kasturi Vasu has assured to get them Rs. 300 a day, DMK candidate T. Palpandi has gone a step further by assuring them Rs. 350 a day.
Tea-leaf pluckers are not expecting much. They want Rs. 350 a day and it should reach their pockets without any deduction. As they used to, plantation workers pin hopes on this election too looking forward to their new MLA and the Government to get them higher wages.
