Plantation crop:

=> The term plantation crop refers to those crops which are cultivated on an extensive scale in contiguous area, owned and managed by an individual or a company.

=> Include tea, coffee, rubber, cocoa, coconut, arecanut, oil palm, cashew etc.

=> High value commercial crops of greater economic importance and play a vital role in improving Indian economy, especially in view of their export potential, employment generation and poverty alleviation.

Plantation worker:

=> A person employed in a plantation for hire or reward, whether directly or through any agency, to do any work, skilled, unskilled, manual or clerical and includes a person employed on contract for more than sixty days in a year.

Issues with plantation workers in Assam

• Substandard housing
• Poor nutrition and Ration
• Substandard education and medical facilities

There are three systemic weaknesses in the tea ecosystem in Assam that require urgent attention from the government.

1. Outdated management practices

• Tea corporates follow several colonial-style practices in human resources and labour management.

2. Systemic marginalisation

• The tea tribes are one of the most marginalised communities in Assam.
• They are still considered 'outsiders’ and are denied

3. Exploitative legislation

• Tea plantations come under the Plantations Labour Act, 1951, which requires tea companies to provide several social benefits, apart from wages.
• But the provisions are not implemented effectively.

Plantation Labor Act, 1951:

=> The Plantations Labour Act, 1951 (PLA) applies to any land used or intended to be used for growing tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona or cardamom or any other plant which measures 5 hectares or more and in which 15 or more workers.

=> State government is the appropriate authority to make any rules, changes or issue orders – under this Act.

=> Plantation Labor Act (PLA), 1951 – requires garden owners to provide certain amenities to tea plantation workers.

=> The amenities that industry is required to provide include free housing, medical facilities, primary education, potable water, sanitation and creche, besides concessional electricity, food grains, fire-wood, footwear etc.

=> There is the provision for daily rest, paid annual leave and limitations on the number of hours of work per person.