PLANTATION LABOUR ACT 1951 AND SOCIAL COST – THE CASE OF TEA INDUSTRY

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.