The State government has not made any serious effort to settle the agitation by plantation workers demanding to increase the daily wages to Rs.500.
Though Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that Labour Minister Shibu Baby John has been designated to hold discussions with the trade unions and plantation owners, the government has not worked out any formula to address the key issue raised by the labourers.
No official meeting has been held so far to work out a settlement. In the absence of a clear formula, it remains to be seen whether the talks scheduled for Monday will have the desired result, sources said. While the trade unions are insisting on a wage hike, the plantation owners have refused to accept the demand, citing a series of reasons for refusing to comply with the demand. The government has not yet accepted the recommendations submitted by the Plantation Study Committee in 2010.
The committee, which conducted field studies in the plantation sector in the other States, had recommended rationalising of the land lease norms and doing away with the agriculture income tax.
