The Estate Sector in Sri Lanka: A Hot Spot of Disadvantage

By Myanthi Peiris

The history of the estate sector in Sri Lanka is characterised by the forceful occupation of land by the British and the establishment and expansion of the tea estate sector.  During this time, Indian Tamils were brought from India to work on the estates. 

Within the estates themselves, the Indian Tamils continue to be denied basic human rights and lack access to the most basic services.  In colonial times, the Tamil labour population of the estates was thought to be the property or the asset of the estate.  Even today, despite laws and political statements to the contrary, there is a deeply rooted belief that estates have been “Leased with Humans”.  Supporting this belief is that, despite having lived and worked on estates for generations, the estate populations do not have any right of ownership to the land or to their homes located on the land.  The right to live in their homes depends on whether or not one or more members of the family retain employment on the estate. As a result, most families are pressured to register their children to work on the estate at the earliest employable age.

The plantations from their inception adopted a dependency syndrome. The plantation management is responsible for each member on each estate from “womb to tomb”. This scenario was introduced to keep the masses under strict control by limiting their access to the outer world. These hegemonic ideals prevail to the present day. For example even today, though the Local Government Authorities (Pradeshiya Sabhas) are legally mandated to provide the basic services, it continues to be the domain of estate management. Without land or other assets and with an ingrained expectation that all needs should be delivered by estates, the estate communities are not motivated to become self-reliant and continue to suffer the widespread effects of dependency and powerlessness. 

The injustices and isolation of the tea estates and conflicts with the local village populations have come to a head several times.  The communal riots in 1977 and 1983 were major events in the hill country that further contributed to tensions between communities in this sector. Additionally, Tamil communities complain that although they are the largest ethnic group in the district, the assistance they can obtain from the police and other officials is limited due to the language barriers.

In addition to low literacy and skill levels, a major factor limiting the ability of estate workers to seek employment elsewhere is that up to 30% of the estate population (as opposed to the national rate of 97%) does not possess birth certificates or identity cards which are required for movement and outside employment. 

Poverty in the estate sector

In the estate sector, households’ socio-economic status is considerably lower than in the rural and urban sectors. 11.4% of the estate sector population can be categorised as being poor and vulnerability of this sector is higher compared to the other two sectors (DCS, HIES 2009/2010). For instance it has been found that a considerable share of the estate sector population is very close to the poverty line. Households’ poor socio-economic status affects the health and welfare of people in the estate sector adversely. 

Poverty the cause of health and social issues

Due to extreme poverty most of the estate workers cannot afford a nutritious meal and therefore their health levels are poor. Majority of the estate workers who are females suffer from anaemia and the rates are similar among children. The infant mortality and stillbirth rates among estate workers are high because they do not have an easy access to healthcare.

Although the healthcare facilities have improved over the years when compared to other sectors, the estate sector does not enjoy all the benefits. A packet of milk powder which is a basic need of an infant costs more that Rs 300 and half of their wage is spent on milk powder if they have two or three children in the household. While it is these workers who continue to contribute to the Sri Lanka economy the country needs to take serious measure to ensure that their basic needs are met.

The role of women

Women workers comprise 75-80% of the plantation workforce, but are in the lowest stratum of the plantation hierarchy. Though plantations have been in operation for more than 100 years, there are no females in key positions. Instead, it has been a highly male dominant regime, with men in the upper levels of the hierarchy.  While this situation prevents women from entering management positions on the plantation, it also adversely affects women’s physical and mental well-being. Additionally, women workers often do not have the freedom and opportunity to attend to their basic biological and other needs.

The economic contribution of women to their household and families through their earnings and their role as workers contributing to the economy have not translated into improved living conditions, social status, or autonomy for women. Also, males in the estate sector earn more in their monthly salary than women workers, though women work longer hours.

Housekeeping remains a key part of women’s roles in households. They are expected to collect water for drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning and this adds to their existing household work such as preparing food and caring for their children.  With no direct water lines to homes, women often travel several kilometres to fetch water before starting their work day. This task is not only tiring (affecting both work performance and general well-being), but it also compromises the security of women having to travel between their homes and the water source. Often, this can impact on their ability to attend work at the required time and/or their ability to meet the plucking targets.

Substance Abuse

In the estate sector, substance abuse is common among men to spend a high percentage of income on alcohol.  According to DHS 2006/07 data, 40% of the estate sector families were regular users of alcohol; whereas in the other two sectors it affected around 17% of families. Although the estate sector recorded the highest poverty levels, they spend Rs 1,216 per month on alcohol, tobacco, etc., which is roughly double that of the average household-level spend on alcohol in the rest of the country (Rs. 665).

Governance and Community Relations - Disenfranchised and Disconnected

The estate population has been conditioned by many years of isolation not to expect basic services to be provided by government or other external agencies that are legally mandated to provide such services. Rather, the estate management provides the services that are normally provided by government agencies elsewhere in the country and charges the workers for such services.  A portion of all estate worker salaries are held by estate management to pay for basic services. This, in essence has become a local income tax for which there is no accountability as to where and how it is used. 

Recently some efforts have been made by different levels of government to provide services to estate communities.  As a result, there are a limited number of estate communities where state-sponsored facilities such as drinking water, roads, and electricity and, housing are being developed. However, the percentage of estate communities served by government agencies is small compared to the total estate population. Nevertheless, these government efforts are important as they demonstrate willingness and a commitment on the part of multiple government agencies to connect these communities within the estates to the government and outside world.

Political parties within the targeted estates function through Estate Workers Unions/Trade Unions. When a worker joins a union they automatically becomes a member of that particular political party which is represented by the union. The unions’ head is called the “Thalaivar” and is appointed by the unions/politicians. Communities do not have a huge say in selecting these people. Once they are selected even the Samurdhi officers and the Grama Niladhari depend on them for communications for the estates/divisions. Therefore, even though the Pradeshiya Sabha, the local political unit has links and access to the estate community, unless the Thalaivar possesses enthusiasm in undertaking the development work of the community, the collective voice of these individuals cannot be heard and, as a result, the needs of such communities are largely ignored.

What steps need to be taken in the future?

Moving forward how can the estate sector come up to the level of development that has been achieved by both the rural and urban sectors. What policy changes and other interventions are needed for communities to achieve good levels of human development and overall a better quality of life.

We need to ensure thatthe estate management of the tea estates change the traditional land and labour use and management model to enable the communities to move out of their dire situation.

The need to facilitate greater non-plantation employment opportunities for estate communities is important and can also can also greatly improve the living standards and give them the opportunity of bringing home a fixed income. Further the diversification of land, into areas where tea cannot be cultivated should be encouraged. Estate populations are generally seen as fixed labour resources of estates, and estates are obliged to employ all estate residents of working age seeking employment. One solution is for policy makers and plantation industry stakeholders to facilitate labour mobility between estates and encourage estate labour integration with the rest of the labour market.

While the cost of maintaining large estate workforces and their resident families, have increased, tea prices have declined in recent times and are not expected to see significant increases in the near term. Therefore the by encouraging these communities to find other employment opportunities and other avenues we can diffuse the impact each individual has to bear.

Finally the local government and other service providers can ensure that these communities have access to the services that all other citizens are entitled to.