By Fakir Balaji
Coonoor (Tamil Nadu), Sep 9 (IANS): There is an urgent need to amend laws pertaining to the commodities' plantation sector, which plays a vital role in the country's economy, a top official of its representative body said Tuesday.
"Land Reforms Act, Plantation Labour Act and Minimum Wage Act have to be drastically overhauled, as they were framed in a different socio-economic era," United Planters' Association of Southern India (Upasi) president Peter Mathais said here, about 520 km from Chennai.
Addressing planters of coffee, tea, rubber and spices at the association's 121st annual conference here, Mathais said the recommendation of the previous (UPA) government to withdraw exemption granted to plantation lands from land ceiling provisions would sound death-knell to the plantation sector.
"As commodity plantations are agro-based industries, limitation on the extent of their landholdings does not come under the purview of land reforms laws of the states. Hence, the exemption should continue," Mathais said.
Noting that the original Land Reforms Act, which exempted plantations from certain sections that were relevant when they were passed, the outgoing president said their continuation was detrimental to the sector, as they prevent optimal use of the land.
"The relevant sections were enacted with a different political, economic and social mindset. Certain land use clauses, which might have been necessary in the past, are no longer required to administer the Land Reforms Act because their continuation hamstrings planters from making optimum use of their land," Mathais asserted.
Lamenting that the Minimum Wage Act was one of the most misused laws, Mathais told the heads of commodity boards and union commerce ministry officials that planters were forced to pay provident fund (PF) to even temporary employees and migrant labour.
"For instance, due to acute labour shortage and seasonality of operations in coffee estates, planters engage migrant labour in large numbers. Though they do not remain with one estate for long, the Act mandates planters to pay PF even if they are employed for a day," Mathais pointed out.
The association has petitioned the Ministry of Labour and Employment to amend the Wages Act, stipulating 60 days attendance within three months of employing the labourers for enrolling them to the provident fund.
"In case such a provision is not feasible, a special exemption should be granted to the migrant labour in our sector from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Act," Mathais reiterated.
The sector also sought budgetary allocation for sharing social costs incurred by planters on the workforce as part of its welfare measures.
The plantation sector plays an integral role in the economy of the three southern states, with Karnataka accounting for coffee, Kerala coffee, rubber and spices and Tamil Nadu tea.
Of the 17 lakh planters and 24 lakh workers involved in the plantation sector in the country, 76 percent (13 lakh) of growers and 57 percent (14 lakh) of labourers are spread across the three southern states.
Plantation commodities generated Rs.43,871 crore in fiscal 2013-14, contributing 2.5 percent to the national agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) while exports earned the planters and other stakeholders Rs.10,181 crore, accounting for seven percent of the total agricultural and allied goods' exports.
Plantation crops are grown in south India under an area of 18 lakh hectares, which is 65 percent of the total area and around two percent of the total cropped area in the country.
Of the Rs.43,871 crore commodity plantations generated last fiscal (FY 2014), south India accounted for Rs.27,957 crore, with natural rubber contributing Rs.13,306 crore, followed by coffee Rs.8,874 crore, spices Rs.2.951 crore and tea Rs.2,826 crore.
Spices include pepper Rs.1,980 crore and cardamom Rs.971 crore.
As the sector's premier apex body, the 120-year-old Upasi represents planters, small growers, buyers, sellers, processors, exporters and market intermediaries.