Abstract:
The tea plantations were among the first industrial establishments
in India, but owned and managed by colonial planters, the product of
which was mainly for international consumption. The PLA gives certain
social and economic rights to unskilled / manual workers in these
plantations, who are descendants of millions of indentured workers
transported to these plantation areas from far off places. The PLA gave
the onus of the delivery of these rights to the employers. ‘Social cost’ of
tea production has been an issue of intense debate in recent years. Present
paper examines the source and rationale of the argument that a legislation
intended to address the welfare needs of workers in effect leads to
increased cost of production and reduced competitiveness. Assuming
the validity of this statement, the paper further examines whether the
PLA has empowered tea workers and how far it is inclusive in its outreach.
The economic and social implications of a piece of law has been
differentially understood and interpreted by the planters and the workers,
the former as empowering and the latter as cost enhancing. This paper
examines the reasons for this differential interpretation by delving into
the historical context that brought PLA into existence and its practice
by various actors. The paper locates itself in three hypothesis - whether
PLA is cost enhancing, whether it is labour empowering and whether it
is exclusionary - and seeking the answers within the context of the
history of the tea plantation industry in India. The evolution of the PLA,
it implementation, its reach and its assimilation by the workers is
discussed.
