The
precarious pluck
Shuchi
Srivastava confronts the labour crisis that threatens to cripple the
tea industry, in conversation with G Sanjeeva Reddy, President, Indian
National Trade Union Congress
What
do you attribute as the reason behind the mounting labour problem in
the tea gardens all over the country?
We
must understand that the industry per se is not as strong as it used
to be. The tea gardens are increasingly loosing international markets
in face of stiff competition from African, Japanese, Chinese and Sri
Lankan teas. This kind of a crisis assumes a pattern where it surfaces
whenever the global markets start to slump.
The
domestic market too is not really encouraging it is in fact very depressed?
That
is a result of our wholehearted acceptance of cheap quality tea from
Sri Lanka due to the Free Trade Agreement that has been forged between
the two countries, which is especially adversely affecting the southern
tea gardens. The same holds true for tea imports from African countries
like Kenya. In turn such high levels of competition first affects the
profitability of the business and then consequently the role of labour
is questioned. The management cadre does not really suffer due to their
engagement in other businesses and their ability to divert funds into
other organisations.
The
domestic industry has been lamenting that they are unable to meet their
overheads let alone incur profits due to the hugely depressed local
prices, which makes the maintenance of large labour forces inviable?
What do you think?
I
attribute this eventuality to stiff competition that Indian tea faces
from other tea growing nations especially because the stakes are in
their favour from the word go, because our teas are extremely expensive
and do not justify its claim of being of superior quality. This is a
crucial area where the management in charge of making such decisions
is not being able to rationalise its price to make it competitive. The
only argument put forward in face of escalating prices is that Indian
tea is of superior quality like Assam and Darjeeling tea, which are
costlier even when compared to the teas from the southern tea estates.
A fact, that is not palatable to the highly volatile market, which requires
competitive pricing.
Representatives
from the industry have been repeatedly reiterating that unlike the earlier
days where prices were peaking, the condition has taken a turn for the
worst and labour costs only add to their woes?
This
is not a new complaint and, we must not loose sight of the fact that
an experienced labour force is an asset when it comes to intelligent
and concentrated plucking. The tea industry was traditionally considered
a seasonal industry where the labour was employed as and when the need
arose. But eventually the garden owners realised the benefits of an
experienced labour force and wanted to employ one permanently. Thus
the currently prevalent provisions were made to facilitate the needs
of the industry and not due to any undue sympathy towards the workers.
But
the industry holds that they have to incur extra costs of maintaining
the labour by providing them with housing, medical and educational facilities.
How fair do you think this is?
I
don’t really think that all the labour employed in tea gardens across
the country are privy to such privileges. Tea gardens are...
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