Kochi: The government will not allow the plantation owners to go back on wage hike, labour minister Shibu Baby John told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Responding to the decision of the Association of Planters of Kerala that it would not implement the agreement reached in the Plantation Labour Committee meeting in October, Mr John said those interested in running the plantation will stick to the agreement.
"We would not allow them to go back on the pact under any circumstances," he said. "It was reached in the presence of Chief Minister and representatives of the people."
He said the decision on bonus based on Bonus Act cannot be rescinded, and if planters resorted to pressure tactics it would be a different matter.
Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan meanwhile asked the government to take over the estates if the plantation owners backtracked.
"The arrogance of the planters should be put to an end by taking over the estates. The government should go for new legislation in this regard," he told reporters in Delhi.
The Opposition leader also alleged that the planters and the government were acting in tandem and deny the rights of the workers. He also promised to extend all possible help to workers if they go for another round of agitation. Ponpulai Oruma, the women's collective of tea garden workers in Munnar that spearheaded the agitation that led to the agreement, said the government had betrayed them.
Government yet to name one-man panel
The state government continues to keep an indifferent attitude towards the issues plaguing the plantation industry by taking no measures to appoint a one-man committee as it was announced in the plantation committee (PLC) meeting held on October 14, 2015.
According to sources in the Association of Planters of Kerala (APK), the PLC had agreed on issues such as salary and other benefits but the larger issues pertaining to the industry was be considered on the basis of a report a one-man committee submits. “We have not been consulted on the issue as of now,” said the sources.
The industry has been demanding that the government ask the local self government bodies to extend the work they have been doing in communities to the estates where lakhs of workers live. It also demanded that the government give exemption in taxes, including land tax, for the industry as it was passing through a tough time.
“Without the government help, it is real tough for the industry to survive,” said APK sources. “Unless the government learns about the problems we face and take definitive steps based on a sound understanding of the sector, we will be on the verge of a closure.”
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