Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour & Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar has said that the original Plantations Labour Act of 1951 lays the onus on plantations to provide workers with adequate healthcare facilities, lodging, education and also other basic facilities, such as access to clean water and electricity for workers’ households.
The Minister, who was in Udhagamandalam to discuss provisions of the Plantations Labour (Amendment) Bill, 2017 on Wednesday, told reporters after chairing the second tripartite meeting to discuss the amendment bill with plantation owners from Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu along with various stakeholders, as some of the plantations were making losses, they have not been able to provide workers with adequate facilities.
“The Central Government has lots of schemes aimed at benefiting plantation workers, while the Tea Board, Coffee Board and the Rubber Board were doing likewise and were working for the welfare of the workers as well,” he said, adding that the present law in place to regulate working conditions on plantations left very little room for other government agencies to intervene.
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Mr. Gangwar said that he had met plantation workers as well and had also inspected their working and living conditions.
He said that the objective of the meeting was to balance the interests of the workers with those of the plantation owners.
M. Sathiyavathy, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment,said that the amendment would be aimed at enabling the central and state governments as well as the local bodies to enact welfare measures aimed at the plantation workers. However, the ultimate responsibility to provide adequate infrastructure would still lie with the plantation owners, she said.