The 99-year lease granted to Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (BBTCL) in respect of 3,388.78 hectares by Singampatti Zamindar will all expire in 2028.
Since most of the land used was declared as reserve forest and tiger habitat between 2007 and 2018, the company has already started the process of completing its work in the Manjolai tea estates. It accepted the voluntary retirement applications of 536 employees and gave them ex-gratia ranging from Rs 2.12 lakh to Rs 3.68 lakh each depending on their age.
After the uproar, a number of nine petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, five of them, including the one filed by the president of Puthiya Tamilagam, K. Krishnasamy, fighting for the continuation of tea plantations through a cooperative organization to be established by the existing workers and all four other petitions insisting on reforestation by completely stopping tea and other commercial plantation activities in the forest reserve area to protect flora and fauna.
A special Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy began hearing the final arguments in the series of cases on October 23. Leading the arguments on behalf of those in favor of tea plantation work, Mr. Krishnasamy, who appears as a lawyer. he said that Manjolai village, which is under Manimuthar Special Grade Town Panchayat, has five villages called Manjolai, Kakkaachi, Nalumukku, Oothu and Kuthiraivetti and tea estates were spread all over the place.
Complaining that tea estate workers will fall under the definition of ‘traditional forest dwellers’ as defined under the Schedules Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) of 2006, he said, their number was more than 10,000 before the year 2000 but has decreased over the years. it reached only 2,500 at present due to alleged human rights violations and poverty. He accused the BBTC of treating tea plantation workers like slaves and recalled the massive labor unrest that took place in 1998-99.
He said the government had declared 22,972.90 hectares, including tea estates, as reserve forest in 2018 without considering the impact it would have on the health of the farm workers. He said the workers of the tea estates were not given a fair opportunity to be heard by the Forest Settlement Officer before they declared those areas as reserve forests, therefore, they are entitled to the benefits of the 2006 Act enacted to rectify the historical injustice. done to the forest dwellers.
Allegations that BBTCL voluntarily received requests for retirement by force and by threatening employees that they will lose the opportunity to receive ex-gratia if they do not sign the papers, Mr. Krishnasamy said, people living in the mountains for generations will not be able to. taken out at night. If this is approved, it will be replicated in the tea estates of Valparai, Coonoor, Gudalur, Highwavy, Yercaud and other places thus evicting 15 lakh people from their place, he said.
He asked for a direction to the Deputy Labor Commissioner of Tirunelveli district to cancel the voluntary retirement applications filed by the estate workers at BBTCL and another direction to the State government to allot four hectares of land each to the tea farm workers. He said that the laborers had spent their blood and sweat to grow the tea plantations over several decades on the hilly slopes and that it would be a great injustice and an economic mistake to destroy them overnight.
While we went with the speeches suggested by Mr. Krishnasamy, advocate G. Prabhu Rajadurai, representing the other petitioner, said, the Division Bench of Justices Kumar and Chakravarthy in August 2023 ordered compensation of Rs 15 lakh to 495 families. will be moved from Thegumarhada village, which is within the eastern boundary of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, to make way for the free movement of tigers and other animals in the forest area.
Therefore, even if the Bench was not willing to allow the tea plantations to continue in Manjolai, it should at least order a fair amount of compensation to be paid to the families for their removal, he prayed.
On the other hand, the lawyers, who represented the cause of the environment, insisted that no business plantations should be allowed in the area of ​​the conservation forests and that the State government should be directed to restore the forests after uprooting the tea plantations.
Responding to the court’s question, the Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation (Tantea) said that it would not be legal for them to take over the lands of BBTCL as the areas are already considered as reserve forests and tiger habitat under BBTCL. Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve area.
Even otherwise, highlighting its dire financial situation, Tantea said, it has been losing money for the past three decades due to a sluggish tea market and rising labor costs.
“The cumulative loss of Tantea at the end of the financial year 2022-23 is Rs 293.31 crore. It is facing a serious financial crisis and is unable to meet its daily expenses. It has received loans of ₹116 crore from the State government, ₹58.40 crore from Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation Limited and ₹15 crore from UCO bank to pay salaries and retirement benefits. “Due to continuous losses over the past thirty years, Tantea also does not have the power to take these Manjolai lands,” reads its report.
On its part, the Forest Department filed a status report which asserted that the areas are declared as reserved forests after following the due process of law laid down under the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882. He said, BBTCL will be legally responsible to take all steps for rehabilitation. to its employees and pay their dues according to the relevant laws and that most of the complaints presented by the petitioners now listed before the court are not related to the forestry department.
Explaining that tea plantation workers cannot be considered ‘traditional forest dwellers’ as they have migrated to the mountains from other areas, the department asserted that forest lands cannot be allotted to any individual. It also fears that the workers of Arasu Rubber Corporation, Tantea and so on may file similar claims if there is permission shown to the workers of Manjolai. “It will create permanent habitats and stop the tunneling of forests and wildlife,” said the department.
Sons of tea workers
After taking submissions from the file and hearing almost all the lawyers representing the nine plaintiffs in the court, the Justice Kumar-led Court adjourned the case to November 11 for the continuation of the case with Advocate General PS Raman for the state government and senior advocate Srinath. Sridevan of BBTCL.
Brothers of lawyer I. Robert Chandrakumar and I. The Pinaygash, who run the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, are the sons of tea estate workers in Manjolai. Their maternal grandmother Susai Ammal and maternal grandfather Anthonimuthu migrated from Villiseri village in Tirunelveli district to Manjolai.
The couple gave birth to the siblings Lourdhu Ammal in Manjolai in 1933. She also grew up to be a domestic worker and gave birth to the mother of the siblings Irudhaya Mary in 1955. Miss Mary also became a tea worker. In 1977, she married her lawyer father Immanuel who moved to Manjolai as a child in 1953 to help her father in the area, became caretaker for a short time due to her love for elephants in Upper Kodayar and then joined the organization. tea estate.
Unlike her and the generations before her, Ms. Mary did not want her children to be workers in the tea plantation. Therefore, she and her husband sent both their sons and two daughters to government-aided boarding schools in the plains and educated them well. However, the couple did not know that one day their sons would grow up to fight in the Supreme Court to protect the lives of the workers of Manjolai.
Published – October 28, 2024 12:03 am IST
Source link