Ganesh, a 53-year-old estate worker at the government-run Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation (TANTEA) estate in Cherangode, in The Nilgiris district, is a worried man. Recent reports in the media and statements from various political parties on the announcement that the Tamil Nadu government was planning to close down TANTEA estates in the Nilgiris and Valparai, have made him extremely nervous that he could soon be deprived of a livelihood.
The son of Sri Lankan repatriates, Mr. Ganesh stated that workers had been aware that TANTEA was haemorrhaging losses for quite a few years now.
“Though many of us had been aware that steps might be taken to close down some of the estates, many workers are worried that they may lose employment in the coming years,” he said.
A fall in the price of tea leaves, coupled with negative human-elephant interactions in the regions where the TANTEA estates are located, has, for many years, led to questions about the viability of maintaining these estates.
Since 2012, TANTEA, which had leased land from the T.N. Forest Department to set up the estates has returned around 4,059 hectares back to the Forest Department, said officials. Production still continues in the remaining land of around 2,400 acres.
A view of a TANTEA estate in Gudalur of The Nilgiris district. | Photo Credit: M. SATHYAMOORTHY
Managing Director of TANTEA (in-charge), and Conservator of Forests (Nilgiris), D. Venkatesh, said that TANTEA had been recording losses over the last 10 years, and that the government had only returned “unproductive” estate areas, where there was no cultivation happening, back to the Forest Department.
“TANTEA continues to function in productive areas and will continue to do so in future too,” said Mr. Venkatesh, who added that funds had been allocated for fertilisers and modernisation of factories in Pandiyar, Cherangode and Quinshola in The Nilgiris.
How TANTEA came to be
According to government records, TANTEA provided livelihoods for 4,082 people who returned to India as part of the Sirimavo-Shastri Pact, signed between the Sri Lankan and Indian Prime Ministers of the time, Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Lal Bahadur Shastri, in 1964 to repatriate people of Indian origin from Sri Lanka who were recruited by the British to work in tea, coffee and coconut plantations.
Mathiazhagan a retired TANTEA worker at his house in Amaikulam, Gudalur shows his passport. TANTEA originally provided livelihoods for 4,082 people who returned to India as part of the Sirimavo-Shastri Pact | Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
The government states that currently, a total of 3,569 permanent workers and 220 temporary workers are employed at its factories and estates.
After the passing of the Government Order handing over around 2,152 hectares of land back to the Forest Department, estate workers who were staying inside the estates were told to vacate the houses, prompting concerns that this was the first step as part of a concerted effort to permanently close down TANTEA, said R. Ramesh, former district secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).
One retired worker, S. Ilangovan, 66, is a Sri Lankan refugee who has lived at the TANTEA estate in Pandiyar since 1992. Like many of his fellow workers, Mr. Ilangovan has now received a notice to vacate his house at the estate.
The Pandiyar TANTEA tea factory at Gudalur tea estate | Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
“I was not repatriated as part of the Sirimavo-Shastri Pact, but was a refugee who was told at the Mandapam camp to go to Gudalur to find work,” said Mr. Ilangovan, who was a permanent worker employed by TANTEA till the age of 54.
“I have no idea what to do if I am evicted from the house I currently live in, but I hope that I get to move to one of the houses promised to us by the State government. Otherwise, I will have to live with my children,” said Mr. Ilangovan, who has taken up work as a painter but still continues to use the TANTEA housing.
Ramesh, the former district secretary of the CITU, said that most of the estate workers have been living in the same houses for around 20-30 years. “Their families have grown, and some people have children and their families too, living in the same houses. Evicting these people will cause tremendous hardships to these communities,” he said.
No profits, human-animal conflicts
State convenor of the Vivasayigal Thozilalargal Munnetra Sangam, M.S. Selvaraj, said the government had cited a lack of profitability in tea cultivation, human-animal conflict and labor shortages as being the primary reasons for cultivation being restricted at the TANTEA estates.
Workers who have been asked to leave their homes on the estate are concerned about the future | Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
“Over the years, around 2,500 temporary workers have been stopped from working due to losses sustained by TANTEA due to financial mismanagement,” alleged Mr. Selvaraj. He said that it was unfair that Sri Lankan repatriates, who were brought back and settled in the region by the State government, were once again being displaced from their homes.
“We are urging the government to not relocate these families, but to give pattas amounting to around three acres per family. For the estate workers, this will be a permanent solution to their problems. For over 200 years, these people have been landless and have worked as estate laborers and deserve to be settled fairly by the government,” he said.
The State government has maintained that there are no plans to shut down TANTEA, at least in the immediate future. State forest minister, K. Ramachandran, said in a press conference recently that the government has ordered a comprehensive study for recommendations that can be implemented to return TANTEA to profitability.
He also assured trade unions and workers that the workers were only being asked to vacate the houses to make room for new workers to move into the houses.
The Pandiyar TANTEA tea factory at the Gudalur tea estate. Opposition parties have asked the government to withdraw its move to hand over TANTEA land to the Forest Dept | Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin also announced recently the allocation of ₹13.46 crore to build houses for 677 retired TANTEA employees, with each house being built at a cost of ₹14 lakh. Retirement benefits amounting to ₹29.38 crore have also been promised to 1,093 workers, said officials.
The general secretary of the Nilgiri Estates Workers Union (CITU), Suresh M.R., said that the justifications of evicting residents would make sense if there was a shortage of housing in these estates. “However, that is not the case. Many houses are empty, with only around half the estate housing being occupied,” he said.
Return of land politicised
The plan to restructure TANTEA to “return it to becoming a profit-making enterprise,” as described by Nilgiris M.P. A. Raja, has turned into a highly politicised issue, with former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and BJP State President K. Annamalai criticising the move.
Mr. Palaniswami demanded that the government withdraw the order transferring estate lands to the State Forest Department, accusing the Forest Minister of “selfish motives.” He implied that the move was aimed at benefitting the interests of the Minister, who Mr. Palaniswami claimed also owned a number of tea estates in the region.
TANTEA workers at Gudalur tea estate. Human animal conflicts are one of the reasons the tea corporation is in trouble | Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
Meanwhile, the BJP’s K. Annamalai accused the government of treating Sri Lankan repatriates as “second-class citizens” and urged the State government to hand over TANTEA to the Union government, who he claimed would take over its functioning.
The CITU has also appealed to the government to issue pattas to the families of estate workers, and also work towards developing TANTEA.
“Whatever problems TANTEA is facing is due to financial mismanagement by the people in-charge of its functioning. We have consistently called for a committee to be formed to look into how it can be modernised and the quality improved. We also believe that there will be more demand for jobs at the estates if the wages are adequate,” added Suresh M.R. from the Nilgiri Estates Workers Union.
Environmental concerns
For years, TANTEA workers have been at the forefront of an increase in negative human-elephant interactions in the region, with a number of human deaths and injuries being reported. Many conservationists argue that the viability of TANTEA as a provider of job opportunities to the marginalised has diminished over the years, with the risks far outweighing the benefits.
TANTEA estate in Gudalur | Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
“Many of the children of these workers have also moved out and are pursuing careers in other districts and in other fields. The primary goal of TANTEA, to provide livelihoods for Sri Lankan repatriates till they could find their feet in a new country, has been fulfilled.
Efforts should now be geared towards ensuring that TANTEA workers are settled amicably, provided housing and other livelihoods closer to the major towns,” said a conservationist from The Nilgiris, who added that handing over the uncultivated areas to the Forest Department could help in minimising problematic human-elephant interactions in the area.
Tarsh Thekaekara, Founder of the Shola Trust, said that it was imperative that the handing over of the estates to the Forest Department not become a political issue, and that the welfare of the estate workers be taken seriously.
The Pandiyar TANTEA tea factory at Gudalur tea estate | Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
“They should be provided housing sites and access to development so that they can find livelihoods, without being impacted by the movement of elephants in the area,” said Mr. Thekaekara.
He also added that once the Forest Department takes possession of the estate lands, that they should have a systematic restoration plan in place to mitigate negative human-elephant interactions in the region.
“Restoring some of these lands into grasslands after the tea is removed and ensuring that the ‘vayals’ (swamplands) are protected could help in this regard,” he added.
