Tea Plantation Labour in India Housing Generally the labour colonies in plantations are scattered in many places due to the topography of the place. Two or three labour lines are found in one place and form a colony. Each labour line normally consists of five or six houses and the lines are constructed parallel to each other. The houses are brick-walled and have either tiled or asbestos roofs except in one plantation located in the interior part of Gudalur taluk where the houses have thatched roofs. Timber—both for the construction of the houses and for repair-—is obtained from the trees grown for shade in the plantations, mostly silver oak. Leaking roofs and damaged chimneys are rare occurrences, except in Gudalur taluk, where it is a common occurrence. Each house has a small kitchen, and a spacious middle multipurpose room, and an outer courtyard. Normally the floor is not cemented. When aworker becomes permanent he/she is allotted a house and is allowed to live in the house till retirement. In some of the plantations if only one member in the family is a permanent employee, the management locks up the kitchen of the house, and the family is allowed to use the middle room and the outer courtyard. The same practice of locking up the kitchen is followed if either the husband or wife retires from service. In some cases another family which has a single permanent employee is accommodated in the kitchen portion, and two families share a single unit. The worker has to vacate the house the very next day after retirement. He will get the retirement benefits (Gratuity calculated for 15 days wage for every year to the total number of years completed in service) and Provident Fund only after he returns the key of the vacated house to the management. In Gudalur taluk housing is not provided to all the permanent employees; they are allotted one after six months, and in some cases after one year. But for the employees who do not get allotted a house and for the non-resident tribals (who do not lik{? to live on the plantation), the management, gives Rs. 25 per mlonf_shla‘s HRA and Rs. 150 per year as maintenance allowance. Water Supply Water for drinking and househ old use is supplied through taps. These taps are located in front of the labour lines. Water supply is restricted to one or two hours in the mo rning and again for one or two hours in 86 Tea Plantation Labour in Tamil Nadu the evening, and round-the-clock supply on Sundays. In a few plantations the management chlorinates the water supplied to the labour lines on some occasions. In two of the plantations water scarcity is a major problem; supply is not regular, the quantity is insufficient for a day’s consumption, and it gets worse during the summer. Workers from these plantations go to nearby villages to fetch drinking water. The source of water is either an open well or a tubewell. If perennial streams traverse through the plantations(which is very common) the workers go there to wash their clothes and sometimes also to bathe. Sanitation As per State rule, separate toilets are to be provided to all the households; yet it was found that in one plantation two families share one toilet, and in two other plantations the toilets are abandoned due to severe water scarcity. The toilets are constructed slightly away from the labour lines. The owners of the toilets lock them to prevent the others from using them. The toilets do not have taps; one has to carry water to the toilet. Inadequate water supply is the main cause for the latrines being dirty. In one plantation a small tank is constructed adjacent to each toilet, to store water. All the houses are electrified, Previously no electricity charge was collected from the workers, but now since there is a change in the consumption pattern due to the use of radio, TV, and other clectrical appliances like heater and iron, the managements collect electricity charges from all the houses. Meters are provided for each house and charges are collected according to the meter readings. The labour colonies do not have streetlighting, Roads are laid in all colonies in the plantations; in only one plantation the workers reach their lines through a footpath. Drainage system exists in all labour colonies, but it is not properly maintained. Water stagnation in the drains is quite common. But in two plantations drains are extremely well maintained. The poor maintenance of the drainage system is mainly due to the insufficient number of sweepers, and in some cases due to the irresponsible behaviour of the sweepers. A room is provided for the recreation of the workers, and facilities exist to play indoor games like chess and carrom. But the room is also 87