Four-day NHRC inquiry begins at Manjolai

MADURAI: The prevailing grim situation at Manjolai and surrounding estate areas rendering workers jobless, a team from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday met with estate workers at Manjolai tea estate in Ambasamudram Taluk of Tirunelveli district.

The two-member NHRC team, comprising Deputy Superintendent of Police Ravi Singh and Inspector Yogendra Kumar Tripathi, reached out to the workers at their dwellings and studied their conditions.

The four-day NHRC inquiry began based on a petition filed by K Krishnasamy, president of Puthiya Tamilzhagam, who sought protection and job security for the Manjolai estate workers as they were asked to go on voluntary retirement by the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (BBTC) as they decided to wind up operations and asked the workers to leave under VRS. BBTC’s lease period ends in 2028.

Krishnasamy also accompanied the NHRC team during the inquiry. The workers, who want the government to take over the tea estate in Manjolai, raised concerns after the electricity and water supply was suspended.

Krishnasamy, in his petition, said the workers solely relied on the tea estate in Manjolai, which became their ancestral homeland, and had been living there for generations. The workers had no source of income after being rendered jobless, which was against their livelihood rights.

Citing these, he sought protection for these workers under the SC, ST and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act.

Earlier, a meeting was convened at Tirunelveli Collectorate, and the district administration submitted a 1,125-page report on actions taken regarding the workers to the NHRC team, sources said.