Manjolai tea estate workers forced to vacate, says Krishnasamy

MADURAI: Several workers from tea estate in Manjolai, Tirunelveli district, were forced by a private company to vacate from their dwellings within a period of 45 days, Puthiya Tamilagam president K Krishnasamy said in Tirunelveli on Wednesday.

It was unlawful for the company authorities to collect signatures from the tea estate workers against their wishes and claim that they voluntarily signed to leave the company. Moreover, the workers were compelled not to go to court and the Labour Welfare Board before obtaining their signatures. It was certainly against the Labour Law and therefore a case should be filed against the tea estate company, Krishnasamy said on Wednesday.

When the aggrieved workers approached Tirunelveli Collectorate to draw attention to their grievances, the Collector ignored them. Chief Minister MK Stalin could not intervene in each and every issue of the people. Citing these, Krishnasamy appealed to the state government to transfer the Tirunelveli Collector, if he could not solve the problems concerning the estate workers.

The company’s 99-year lease period is set to expire on February 11, 2028 and it made exports of plantation crops such as tea, coffee and cardamom raised on the hilly areas to an extent of 8,323 acres in Manjolai.

He sought the government to ensure that the tea estate workers, who remain there for long, were accustomed to weather in the hilly region, would not be displaced. He also sought the intervention of the Labour Welfare Department to scrap the voluntary retirement of the workers, who protected the forest habitats and its wealth.

Talks were held with the workers in Manjolai, but their fears were not allayed. Many were working without wages and if any famine death occurred, the Tirunelveli Collector should be held responsible. Further, Krishnasamy said his party would lodge a protest at Tirunelveli junction on July 6 against the move to evict the workers.