Initially it was said in the budget that the workers would be paid a salary of Rs. But then it is said that there is no other way to give a thousand. This thousand proposals have been around for a long time now. Can’t really afford this? What is its condition?
In fact, in terms of the cost of living in Sri Lanka, a thousand rupees is a reasonable amount. In terms of current commodity prices. When a government budget is presented, when a proposal is presented, all the necessary plans are made and the money is allocated. Then, as a real political promise, in the presidential election in November 2019, His Excellency the President went to the people in the plantation areas and said that he would give Rs. January 2020 said it would be given for the new year. But it was not given. However, the Hon. Prime Minister as the Minister of Finance when presenting the 2021 Budget in November said in his speech that from the first of January 2021 the people of the plantation areas will be given Rs. It received a standing ovation in Parliament. Having said that, the Minister of Labor discussed this with the trade unions. I went to it a few times too. We discussed that. Now the estate owners say we did not promise to give a thousand.
The current salary is 700 rupees. The price of tea is 50 rupees. Then 105 will receive EPF / ETF. The total salary is 855 rupees. That is the story. After paying Rs. 855, another Rs. 145. Giving this is not a big deal. There are about two hundred thousand workers. Then it is not impossible to allocate money for this. could. These decisions are made in consultation with companies. The people did not ask, the trade unions did not ask, the government said it would give a thousand rupees. We discussed this. The Estate Employers’ Association says no. We said the government would give a thousand rupees from the first day. There were about two or three rounds of this discussion. It did not work. Then the Hon. Minister of Labor said we discussed this. This did not work. The trade unions are asking for 1000. Then it was said that they were planning to leave this to the Wage Board and pay Rs. Rs. At the last discussion the Minister said that necessary steps would be taken to pay Rs. 900 as the initial payment and Rs. 100 as the cost of living. I asked there where the labor rights were then.
The rights of the workers who are currently suffering should not be curtailed. It is useless to cut it. They have some rights even if they are not 100%. To live as a normal human being, you have to work three hundred days a year to cut tea leaves, to get rubber milk and to get thorny coconuts. It has it all. The Estate Employers’ Association also said that they would not accept them.
Generally we know the weather in Sri Lanka, six months of rain. Sun for six months. There are rubber issues during the rainy season. Can’t get too much rubber. But the leaves are coming. In the sun the leaves shrink. Rubber can be bought. This is normal. Then we take all that and make a figure of working three hundred days a year. You have to pay all the ETFs. How old are you when you retire? It has it all. Otherwise, if they continue to do what they want, then the necks of those innocent workers will be squeezed. He says to bring 50 kilos a day. Go somewhere and pick up the leaves. It is said that you can work ten days a month. Problems arise in many ways. Then we have to go to the police in the morning. Nothing like that can be done. We love this country. We love this field. This field needs to be protected. Ceylon tea needs to be protected. It doesn’t matter if the surgery is successful and the patient dies. Surgery must be successful and the patient must live. Then both this country and Ceylon tea must be saved. Everything goes awry when those people go and threaten the people in the plantation areas to give a thousand to the companies that have just given a false impetus to that program.
Maybe say thirty days of work. It is said that if you work for thirty days you will get a thousand rupees. Mother, wife, daughter are all women. Can a woman work for thirty days? There are health issues. Homes are far away. After 5-6 miles the place where the leaves are cut is there. Is there a bathroom? Are there toilet facilities? No. Then you will not be able to go to work every day. Working mothers who have days to meet the baby, mothers who are waiting to breastfeed the baby. Lime houses are miles away. You have to think all this humanely, right? The ILO has all these rules and regulations. There are labor rights. We as human beings should think of all those labor rights, think of their welfare and work out a system to give this thousand rupees.
As a country we love this country. The people in the plantation areas have not supported the terrorists. The people in the plantation areas have never taken up arms and created racism. We work hand in hand with the people of the country every day. We guarantee it anywhere, anytime and we say it with great pride. We love and work for this country. Save this Ceylon tea. Then as a government we have a great responsibility and duty to look after these people.
We see a large number of politicians including the Thondaman family working for the people in the plantation areas. But if you look at the way those people have lived for a long time, there is no place to sleep. There is no water to drink. There are no toilet facilities. Do the plantation politicians have no plan to solve these problems?
You are right. The situation in the plantation sector is the same as it was when we went to school. But in recent history we have made a big difference to this. We brought individual houses. But it is not 100% formed yet. There is much more to do. I agree with what you said when it comes to infrastructure and their health. Those things have a lot more to do. That is why we say the budget should allocate money to the people in the plantation areas. You can’t do this by pulling like a rope. This is what any government would do if it came. Therefore, instead of doing such things, individual houses should be built for these innocent people. Need to see health facilities. Toilets need to be built completely separately.
In some estates the laborer also has to maintain the estate. He also needs to put some fertilizer. But the yield is 50% and 60%. On the other hand, there is no ownership of that land. Is this fair?
Really good question. This is how the new constitution is being drafted. These people have been living for five or six generations, more than two hundred years, when that constitution was made. They should be given this right. It is not the problems in the North and East that are in the plantation sector. There are people in the plantation sector who make very reasonable demands. Therefore, when this constitution is being drafted, this too should be included in the constitution. These people who have lived for five or six generations and are working for the economy of this country should be included in this constitution and a system should be devised to provide them with the deeds and housing they need. These are being implemented in other countries of the world. People who used to go to other countries from India are now enjoying that right. People in countries like Australia and Malaysia got the ownership of this land. In Sri Lanka these people can be small tea estate owners. This is not a problem. These are government things. If the government were to take all these and turn them into small tea estates and distribute two or three acres as the owners of small tea estates, the field could be saved.