NHRC team meets Tirunelveli Collector, Manjolai tea estate workers 

NHRC team investigates complaints of power and water supply cuts to Manjolai tea estate workers by BBTC.

A two-member National Human Rights Commission team met former Manjolai tea estate workers on Wednesday following complaints of cutting of power and drinking water supply to their houses after they were asked to go on voluntary retirement by their employer, Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (BBTC), in the wake of the company’s decision to wind-up operations.

 As the BBTC’s lease period ends in 2028, the company had apparently decided to wind-up operations much ahead of this deadline and hence has asked the workers to go on voluntary retirement even though a section of the workers were not willing to accept this offer. The workers want Tamil Nadu Government to continue to operate the tea estates through TANTEA after taking over the hilly terrain in the Western Ghats from the BBTC or give each family 10 acres of tea estates on lease and buy tea from the workers.

 Even as a section of the workers accepted the voluntary retirement scheme and moved out of Manjolai though they had been living there for decades, cases were filed in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on behalf of other workers to press this demand. When the legal battle started, there were complaints from the workers saying that power and drinking water supply to their houses were snapped in a bid to compel them to leave their houses. Besides raising this issue in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, complaints were filed with National Human Rights Commission, which has sent a two-member team to probe the allegations.

 As the NHRC members – Deputy Superintendent of Police Ravi Singh and Inspector Yogendra Kumar Tripati - reached Tirunelveli on Wednesday, they first met District Collector K.P. Karthikeyan at the Collectorate.

 Superintendent of Police N. Silambarasan, Deputy Director of Kalakkad – Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve’s Ambasamudram Division Ilaiyaraja and Joint Commissioner of Labour Welfare, Sumathi also participated in the meeting to explain the issue in the past and the present situation prevailing in Maanjolai tea estate after the teagarden works came to a grinding halt.

 Dr. Karthikeyan, after explaining in detail about the issue to the NHRC team, handed over to them the documents pertaining to the Manjolai tea estate workers’ issue. The NHRC members, after their 90-minute-long meeting with the Collector, met Puthiya Thamizhagam founder K. Krishnasamy, one of the complainants, at Circuit House before heading to Manjolai Estate to meet the workers. Dr. Krishnasmay also shared a few documents.

 “We’ll be here till September 21. Anyone who is aware of this issue can meet us in connection with Manjolai tea estate workers’ issue,” said Mr. Ravi Singh before leaving for Maanjolai.