110
sri lankan team study
WOMEN IN THE
INTRODUCTION
The
S.C.M. of
In
addition to this prior interest, the priority reason that led us to choose this
study was the fact that women workers constitute a very large percentage of the
labour force in the estate sector and are the most
exploited - especially those on the tea plantations. Furthermore the conditions
of these workers illustrates the point that for us in
It must
be mentioned that due to a lack of time, we concentrated on the workers in the
tea plantations. A few workers on rubber estates, and
111
workers in a Coir Mill were interviewed.
METHODOLOGY
The
study was carried out by a team of SCMers. Desk work and field work were the
methods used to obtain our information. The desk work component of the study
involved collecting information from -
a)
Sri Lanka Government Publications e.g. Socio-Economic Survey
1970, Census of Sri Lanaka 1971.
b)
Other Publications on estate workers e.g. Satyodaya Bulletins, Education and Indian Plantation
workers in
c)
Research Studies - Centre for Society and Religion and Marga Institute
The
field work component of the Project involved interviews with
a)
Tea plantation workers
b)
Rubber plantation workers
c)
Coir Mill workers
d)
People with a knowledge of estate workers e.g. full-time
workers of the Christian Workers' Fellowship, Hattan
Social Action Committee and Estate Superintendents.
e)
A Questionaire Guide was drawn up
to help us at the interviews. Some interviews were with individuals, others
with groups. Our own observations too helped us in the study.
THE
The development of
this sector is associated with European colonization and investment and refers
to the sector in which crops are cultivated for commercial purposes, being
mostly for export.
This
sector occupies a vitally important position in
112
Tea is
pre-eminent among
In terms of
contribution to export earnings and size of work force, rubber and coconut rank
second and third among the plantation crops (rubber and coconut exports
comprising 18% and 12% respectively of total export earnings).
In contrast to tea,
small holdings assume a more important position with regard to rubber and
coconut - units of less than 10 acres account for nearly l/3rd of the total
acreage of rubber while holdings under 20 acres represent about 64% of the
total acreage under coconut. Furthermore in contrast to tea estates, the
majority of the work force on rubber and coconut estates is drawn from the
local village population and is thus non-resident Sinhalese.
Table 1
|
Plantation Crop |
% of small-holdings
under 10 or 20 acres |
Ethnic Group of majority
of work force |
|
Tea |
17.4% |
Indian Tamils |
|
Rubber |
33% |
Sinhalese |
|
Coconut |
64% |
Sinhalese |
According
to the socio-economic study of 1969/70, the estate population comprises
1,314,700 persons. The racial composition of this population is given below.
Table 2
|
Race |
% |
|
Indian Tamils |
78.7 |
|
Sinhalese |
10.9 |
|
Ceylon Tamils |
9.2 |
|
Others |
1.2 |
113
Most of
the Indian Tamils who are non-citizens, reside on the estate in living quarters
provided for them. The living quarters provided by the estates can hardly be
called 'houses'. These are merely line-rooms of the barrack type. A line-room
provided for a family unit contains one living room 10' x 12', a small kitchen
and a verandah.
Furthermore,
these workers who are resident on the estates are generally isolated from the
villages surrounding the estate. The very basic facilities for health care,
education, distribution of rationed foodstuffs, are all provided within the
estate itself.
(a) Health. The
health facilities available to the plantation workers are sometimes described
as 'primitive'. The medical personnel in the estates are not qualified, and
even in the matter of drugs and equipment available in the estate, dispensaries
can hardly be compared to those enjoyed by the rest of the population. The
Government imposes a levy of Rs. 2.50 on every patient who goes to a
(b) Education. Education
in the estate schools is only primary i.e., up to the 5th grade only. This
merely provides for the labourers to learn the three
Rs. and nothing more. While children of every other school in the country have
at least five to six hours of education a day, the law specifically lays down
that the estate children need study only for two and a half hours a day for 100
days of the year. The curriculum followed in the estate schools is hopelessly
inadequate. The staff position is deplorable with the pupil ratio of 63 per
teacher compared with 27 for the rest of the island. It is not uncommon for one
teacher to be called upon to teach between 50 to 100 children in Grades 1-5
within a single session of 2 or 2 1/2 hours. According to a Senior official of
the Ministry of Education, only 38 estate schools satisfied the minimum
requirements of the law in regard to buildings and land in 1971. (Number of
estate schools about 800).
(c) Co-operative Store. In many estates a
co-operative store is run for the benefit of the work-
114
force with the patronage of the management. Provisions are
issued on credit and the monies are recovered from the pay sheet. Not all goods
available in co-operatives in the towns are available in estate co-operatives,
e.g. textiles.
(d) Transport.
Within the estate, workers have to trudge daily to their work sites on foot -
may sometimes be a distance of perhaps 2 to 4 miles a day. Visits once a week
to the neighbouring bazaar for shopping and other
purposes is on foot, and public transport facilities are not within easy reach.
(e) Employment. Workers in the plantation are unable
to find employment outside the estate areas either in the public sector or
private sector when they find themselves deprived of employment within the
estate. This is particularly glaring in the case of youth who have been able to
receive a secondary education. Workers in the plantations, especially the
youth, are not provided with such facilities as are provided for the rest of
the population for vocational training.
In
contrast to the special facilities available to the resident plantation worker
(most of whom are Indian Tamils), the non-resident Sinhalese plantation workers
have access to better facilities - facilities that are enjoyed by the rest of
the Sri Lankan population, i.e. free national education system and free health
system. However, the Sinhalese plantation workers face difficulties too in that
the hospitals and good schools are a fair distance from the estate in which
they work.
1.1.
Income Levels.
Estate labour can be regarded as being a cheap source of labour in
Table 3
Minimum
Wage Rates for Selected Wage Board Trades- 1946, 1953, 1963 & 1969
|
TRADE |
1946 |
1953 |
1963 |
1969 |
|
Tea Growing Male Female |
33 26 |
56 43 |
61 49 |
75 61 |
|
115 |
||||
|
TRADE |
1946 |
1953 |
1963 |
1969 |
|
Rubber Growing Male Female Engineering Skilled Unskilled Motor Transport Bus
Driver Porter/cleaner Building Skilled Unskilled Match Manufacturing Skilled Unskilled |
33 26 67 50 130 77 n.a. n.a. 71 54 |
61 51 81 64 142 88 81 64 81 64 |
65 55 105 88 163 109 105 88 96 80 |
77 65 450 122 178 92 178 124 110 92 |
The
estate workers are not paid a monthly wage. Though they are paid once a month, their
wages are determined on a daily rate. This daily rate is different for workers
in tea, rubber and coconut as well as for males, females and children. The
following table shows the difference in the daily rates paid to the different
categories of estate workers.
Table 4
|
CATEGORY |
Tea |
Rubber |
Coconut |
||
|
|
Under 100
acres (a) |
Over 100
acres (b) |
(a) |
(b) |
|
|
Males Females Children |
8.20 6.10 5.51 |
8.68 6.58 5.99 |
8.30 6.35 5.79 |
14.71 12.75 12.18 |
n.a. n.a. n.a. |
The low
wage rate compels more than one member of the family to work in most of the
estate worker households. This is clearly seen in the following table where a
greater percentage of estate sector households have two or more
income-receiving/working members in a family than the percentage found in urban
and rural households.
116
Table 5
|
SECTOR |
No. of
Households (millions) |
No. of
Income Receivers Percentage of Households in each sector |
||||
|
One |
Two |
Three |
Four |
Total |
||
|
Urban Estate Rural |
0.35 0.26 1.50 |
60.0 14.6 59.3 |
26.7 46.7 29.4 |
10.4 19.9 8.5 |
3.0 18.8 2.8 |
|
Source:
Furthermore,
the income obtained by an estate worker household fluctuates from month to month.
This is clearly seen in the case-study of an estate worker's income-expenditure
pattern for a 6-month period - the household monthly income ranged between Rs.
200/ and Rs. 400/- during the 6-month period. This is due to the fact that the
monthly income of a household depends on the number of actual days worked.
During the "slack season" (i.e. during the rainy season, drought
period, etc.) the number of days of work given to workers by the management is
drastically reduced and therefore the income of the household during such
months also declines. Recently the Government stipulated that a certain number
of days of work- 108 in 6 months, be given to estate workers. Unfortunately,
the number of days of work stipulated was not in reference to a month but a
year and therefore the management of estates are able to fulfill this
requirement by giving practically a full month's work during the season' and a
few days' work during the 'slack period'.
The
exploitation of the workers is revealed in the
statistics given below:
Total
income received for one year
(a) by 307,800 women =
Rs. 204 million
(b) by 342,855 men =
Rs. 351 million
Total income received by estate workers = Rs. 555 million
Total
foreign exchange earnings
from tea and rubber = Rs. 1500 million
(This
value exceeds domestic sales)
This
shows that the workers are given only 37% of the value of the export.
117
The low
income levels of estate workers combined with the availability of only basic
facilities of health care and education has resulted in the estate sector
having the highest infant mortality rates, highest maternal mortality rates,
the highest percentage of acutely under-nourished children (i.e. 8.6 for estate
sector in comparison to 6.6. for
1.2.
Health and Nutrition of the estate population
Recent
surveys have shown a very high rate of anemia among working women and an
alarmingly low level of nutrition among children. This is a reflection of the
low level of income as well as the insecure economic position of the estate
worker.
The
case-study of an estate worker's income-expenditure pattern for a 6 month
period shows that the expenditure on food varies from month to month- in fact
it is seen that the expenditure on rationed goods varies with the fluctuations
in the income level of the household, and the previous month's debts which have
not been re-paid. When the debts are greater than the monthly earnings of the
household, the next month's supply of rationed goods is reduced by the estate
management. Not only does the estate management reduce the quantity of goods
supplied, the boutique keepers also give less goods on credit when the previous
month's debts have not been repaid. Thus during these times (especially during
the slack period), the consumption of food is at a very low level and certain
meals are skipped for the want of food.
Surveys
have also shown that even when the estate households are free of debt, they buy
cheap vegetables. They tend to sell some of the vegetables they grow in their
own little plots as well as the sugar they obtain on ration and their
consumption of animal protein like meat, fish and eggs is very low. It has also
been found that thriposha (a protein food), which is
distributed by the government to children, is not kept solely for the
children’s use, but is used by the whole household when the family cannot
afford food. All this goes to show that it is the economic position of the
estate worker that results in their poor levels of nutrition.
In this
context it must be mentioned that a year ago, when subsidies were cut by the
Government from those households earning a household income of over Rs.300/-,
the estate worker households too had to surrender their rice ration books. This
is in-
118
spite of the fact that their income fluctuates below
Rs.300/- in certain months. Thus these workers are compelled to buy rice in the
open market and during the slack season they now tend to be worse off than when
they were entitled to the free rations.
The poor
nutritional level of estate mothers and thus the high rate of anemia is one of
the factors behind the high infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates
prevalent in the estate sector. Another reason may be the fact that most estate
women deliver their babies at home and are attended to by elderly women
(mothers on small estates do not have access to trained government midwives).
When some estate workers were interviewed and asked why they preferred to have
their babies at home, they remarked that it is very expensive to go to hospital
- "the estate pays us only Rs.25/- for travelling
expenses but it costs us Rs.60/-".
As
mentioned earlier estate employers are reluctant to send patients to hospitals
run by the State on account of the levy they have to pay for each patient who
goes to a government hospital. Thus only seriously ill cases are sent to
government hospitals, most of the other cases being treated at the estate
dispensary. A scheme was introduced fairly recently on 200 estates whereby once
a month a poly-clinic/mobile clinic is run on the estate by doctors from nearby
hospitals. Estate mothers are given a paid holiday on this day so that they can
attend the clinic as well as take their children. A remark was made by some
estate women that these clinics tend to over-emphasize family planning (i.e.
sterilization). A case study of an estate showed that the programmes that
attracted the highest degree of participation were programmes of distribution -
vitamins, special foods and medicine which goes to show that estate workers and
their children need such foods and medicine.
This
same case study reveals that 79% of those who had been ill, had resorted to
some type of ritual as a part of their treatment. This goes to show that estate
workers have traditional beliefs regarding diseases. Mystic evil influences are
thought to be causes of disease and thus rituals and ceremonies are indulged
in, as it is thought that evil influences can be averted by such rituals and
ceremonies.
1.3 Educational levels of the estate population
The
rate of literacy and the level of education on
119
estates are the lowest in the island, with more
than 50% of the women not having been to school. The repetition and leaving
rates are the highest, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the very limited
curriculum followed in estate schools. The following statistics obtained from
Government sources will illustrate these facts:
Table 6
Literacy - Those
over 10 years of age (percentage)
|
All Island 82.6 |
Urban Sector 88.7 |
Rural Sector 84.3 |
Estate Sector 61.2 |
Source: Socio-Economic Survey, 1969/70 preliminary Report,
October, 1971.
Table 7
Level of Education
- Total Population - 5 yrs. and over (percentage)
|
|
All Sectors |
Urban Sector |
Rural Sector |
Estate Sector |
|
No schooling |
17.5 |
11.4 |
15.8 |
38.9 |
|
Primary |
44.6 |
37.8 |
45.4 |
51.0 |
|
Middle Grade |
30.4 |
37.9 |
31.7 |
8.8 |
|
GCE (Ordinary Level) |
6.6 |
11.0 |
6.3 |
1.3 |
|
GCE. (Advanced Level) |
0.9 |
1.9 |
0.8 |
0.0 |
|
|
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Source: As above.
Table
8
Those with no
Schooling - classified according to sex
|
|
All Sectors |
Urban Sector |
Rural Sector |
Estate Sector |
|
Male Female |
11.6 23.4 |
7.2 15.7 |
10.4 21.2 |
26.5 51.8 |
|
|
17.5 |
11.4 |
15.8 |
38.9 |
Source: As above.
120
Table 9
Repetition
and leaving rates in first level education by region, 1968 (Percentages)
|
Grade |
Colombo |
Rest of
Island |
Estate |
|||
|
Repetition |
Leaving |
Repetition |
Leaving |
Repetition |
Leaving |
|
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
22.9 14.3 16.8 13.4 12.6 8.4 9.4 9.6 |
1.0 1.0 1.5 1.8 3.5 3.9 4.5 10.7 |
31.1 23.9 20.0 17.2 13.9 18.4 4.2 9.9 |
2.0 4.3 4.9 7.8 7.0 4.0 5.2 10.4 |
41.0 40.0 37.0 34.0 28.0 – – – |
19.0 20.0 23.0 26.0 27.0 – – – |
A case study of an
estate undertaken recently shows that the reasons why estate children drop out
school in the age group (5-16) reflect the fact that both parents are employed.
The reasons given were to look after younger children, to take lunch for
parents who work a fair distance from their homes, to help their parents in
their estate work and because there is no one to compel them to go to school.
Behind all these reasons is the economic factor which makes it necessary for
both parents to work.
The influence of
the economic factor is further seen when the average expenditure per head for 2
.months on education, by sector, is considered. The Table below shows that the
estate sector households are spending less on the education of their children
than those in the rural and urban sectors.
Table 10
Average
expenditure per head for 2 months on Education by Sector
|
Sector |
Spending
Unit for 2 months |
|
Urban |
3.92 |
|
Rural |
2.31 |
|
Estates |
1.58 |
Source: Survey of
The above
disparities arise because the estate households cannot afford to spend as much
on the
121
education of their children as others in rural and
urban sectors, due to their low income levels.
Even among the estate worker's
households, differences have been noted in attitudes towards education. The
case study done on an estate shows that there is a difference in attitudes
towards education of children between Sinhalese and Indian Tamil parents - the
Sinhalese parents hope to educate their children so that they may obtain
government sector monthly paid jobs while the Indian Tamil parents do not have
such aspirations. These hope that their children will obtain jobs on the estate
as daily paid workers but -they even have doubts as to whether this too will be
possible in the prevailing situation where more workers are being recruited
from the neighbouring Sinhalese villages. Thus the
difference between the attitude towards education of the Sinhalese and Tamil
children lies in the aspirations of the parents for their children, the poorer
aspirations of the Tamil parents reflecting their insecure position and
insecure future. This shows (a) the necessity of granting full citizen -ship as
early as possible to the Indian Tamils, at least within the framework of the Srima-Shashi pact, (b) providing avenues for estate
children to obtain jobs outside the estate sector. At present plantation
workers are denied employment outside the estate on which they are registered
and this would be the reason why Indian Tamil parents aspire to estate jobs for
their children.
2. WOMEN
"The condition
of women in plantations is pathetic". "The servitude of the tea
estate woman makes her the most exploited person."
These are the
conclusions drawn by two persons who have worked for the upliftment of tea
plantation workers. Our study amply bears this out.
2.1 Labour
Force - Participation/Employment
According to the 1969/70 survey (the
only statistical figure available), the total estate population composition was
632,700. Out of this female population, 53.8% are employed. The fact that this
figure (i.e., the employment of females) is very high is seen by comparing it
with employment of females in other sectors of
122
Table 11
|
Sectors |
Employment Rate % |
|
Sri Lanka Urban Rural Estate |
15.4 10.4 11.1 53.8 |
Furthermore, of the
total female labour force in
2.2 Educational Levels
As mentioned earlier, 51.8% of the
female population in the estate sector have had no schooling.
Out of the 300,400
women employed in the estates, 102,300 are from the age group 15-24. Only 4.1%
of this age group of females in the estates are students and 70.7% are
employed. On the contrary in the urban sector, 26.9% of the females of this
group are students and only 11% are employed. In the rural sector, 23.1% of
this age group are students 12% being employed.
Table 12
|
Sector |
% of
Female Students |
% of
employed females |
|
Urban Rural Estate |
26.9 23.1 4.1 |
11 12 70.7 |
This
shows the very grave imbalance in the educational opportunities for this age
group on the estates. The low percentage of female students in the estate sector
is due, once again, to the need to work in order to supplement the family
income.
Thus
the female workers on the estates are mainly illiterate or sub-literate and are
employed at an early age.
"A little too much education and unaccustomed luxury would make these
children unfit for their
calling." This comment made in 1900 reveals the attitude of the British
rulers to Indian plan-
123
tation workers. It seems
as if this attitude has continued up to this day. The denial of proper
education to estate workers' children is a cause of their continued
exploitation as cheap labour. The girls have been
more affected by this situation because of cultural attitudes that prevail
among estate parents -"men are superior and if it is economically
possible, it is they who must be educated ....girls have to be looked
after" once they attain the age of puberty". Thus a trend seen more
recently is for girls to drop out at Grade 5 and boys to join secondary schools
outside the estate and continue their education for some time longer. This of
course depends on the resources of the family.
2.3 ROLE AS A WORKER
Female
estate workers form little less than half (i. e, 47%) of the labour force on the estates, and receive a lower wage than
their male counterparts.
(a)Tea Plantations. In the tea plantations
practically all the women are employed as tea pluckers
and their hours of work are roughly from 7 a.m. in the morning till 5 p.m. in
the evening. A pick of about 15 kilos of broken leaves has to be ensured to
obtain a daily wage of Rs. 7/~. Only some estates give a few additional cents
for every extra kilo picked - others do not do so. Tea plucking is-not categorised as a skilled job. Nevertheless, skill is still
required to pick the correct leaves (.2 leaves and a bud), as the flavour of the tea depends to a certain degree on the;
pickings, and prices depend on the flavour. In
comparison to the number of female tea pluckers,
there are just a few male tea pluckers. The majority
of male estate workers are involved in weeding, pruning, uprooting, cutting
trenches, re-planting, maintaining roads, etc. which are not
"skilled" jobs. Their hours of work are also shorter- from 6 a.m. to
about 2 p. m. But in spite of the shorter hours and the lesser skill involved
in their work, they receive a bigger wage. This shows that women are
practically exploited category, within a group of workers who are exploited in
(b)Introduction of Machinery to the Tea
Sector. Increased mechanisation of tea factories
has affected women. Earlier, women were employed in winnowing and grading of
tea in the factories. Today machines do this work and men are employed in
running and maintaining these machines, showing that modernisation
124
and industrialisation displace
women from jobs that they were employed in.
(c)Coconut and Rubber Plantations. On
rubber and coconut estates, women are employed as rubber tappers and sundry
workers. Here again women are paid less than their male counterparts.
The
difficulties and hazards women face while working are many - the rough uneven
ground surrounding the tea bushes cut and bruise their feet. They have to be
"sure of foot" in climbing the slopes to prevent a fall. (A few years
ago a tea plucker had fallen and been strangled by
the rope on her basket in an estate we visited.) As the day wears on, the
basket they carry on their back gets heavier and therefore by evening, as a tea
plucker remarked, "my fingers are stained and
bruised, my hair is cut and my back aches."
A
rubber tapper remarked that "my fingers are
stained and my head aches as a result of tapping the trees and carrying the
heavy pails of latex to the factory." On one estate, it was found that
children had dropped out of school to help their mothers in collecting the
latex and carrying it to the factories. Furthermore, all the estate workers do
their various tasks exposed to the elements - be it in the scorching sun or in
the mist, or in the rain.
The worker-staff
relationship is almost barbaric as the general psychology that governs the
relation ship is that the worker will not work unless the supervisor is hard on
her. Therefore women workers are meted out abuse and scoldings.
Workers, too, said that they tend to relax unless they are treated in this
manner. Thus the feudal, master-slave relationship of subservience is still
seen today in the estate Superintendent-Worker dealings.
Furthermore,
the management makes full use of the low level of education of the workers and
thus exploits them. Gratuities due to retired estate workers are not easily
obtainable and some workers fail to obtain their gratuities due to a lack of
knowledge of their rights.
Trade
Unions on the estate have failed on their duties to the membership in certain
respects. They have fought for social and political demands, but they have done
nothing to awaken the consciousness of the worker except make the worker
dependent on them. This is more true for the women workers who
125
are always on the periphery. The Trade Unions have failed
to pay any special attention to them.
2.4 ROLE
AS MOTHER/HOUSEWIFE
Although
the estate woman is also a wage earner, her identity on the estate is as
daughter/wife or mother - her earnings are generally handed over to either
brother or father.
It is
she who looks after the children, feeding the little ones, or staying away from
work to take the sick child for treatment. The care of an infant devolves
solely on her and, when she has to combine this with her day's work, it is an
incessant rush. (See Appendix- An Indian Tea Plucker
Speaks). Cooking is either the wife's or daughter's chore - so is the
collection of firewood and the fetching of water.
So for
a female, as worker, mother and housewife, there is no such thing as
"leisure time". She has time only to attend to the bare priorities.
" We too like to be clean and keep our homes clean but we have no time to
bathe nor do we have time to tidy and sweep" was the cry of Nesamani, a young tea plucker, to
us. "Let us see your fingers, she goes on, "yours are so clean and
smooth; look at ours-stained and bruised", she observes wistfully.
Bad
health facilities and poor nutritional intakes affect the women very much-
especially pregnant mothers. As mentioned earlier, the estate sector has the
highest infant mortality rate for
2.5 PROBLEMS THAT ARISE
DUE TO THE ESTATE WOMEN'S DUAL ROLE
The
dual role of a worker arid a wife/mother leaves the married estate women with
no leisure time. They have no time to participate in any activities outside
their homes such as non-formal educational programmes and are thus denied the
opportunity of improving themselves and becoming aware of the realities around
them. (Only unmarried women attended the sewing classes conducted by HATSAC on
one of the
126
estates we visited.)
Their
whole day is a constant rush. (See Appendix for details.) This is especially so
for mothers who have infant children to breast feed. They are given time off during
working hours to breast-feed their babies, but this involves rushing from the
work-site to the creche or their homes and back
a-gain within the stipulated time limit given (only 15 minutes was given for
infant feeding on an estate that was visited.) A comparative research study
done recently shows that estate women resort to bottle-feeding. Thus right from
an early age, a resident estate child is at a disadvantage in comparison with
other children in
The
high drop-out rate of children of school age is, as mentioned earlier, a
reflection of the fact that both parents work.
Thus
the dual role estate women workers are called upon to play, not only leads to
the inability of these women to improve themselves, but also leads them to
neglect their children - the future generation.
2.6 CULTURAL ATTITUDES
Social
customs and traditions inhibit women.
Poor
education, social immobility and religious beliefs- whether Christianity or
Hinduism- but more so Hinduism- have strengthened and supported these customs
and apathetic attitudes. In Hinduism, "your husband is the god you have
seen."
In
estate women's eyes, males are superior beings. It is right and just that they
should receive-higher wages, have a better education, go out, etc. An
127
old woman plucker when asked
about the differences in the wage rates between the sexes said that "He is
a man, is he not? and so, he must get a higher wage". So it is either
husbands, fathers or brothers who dominate conversations and make decisions. In
the home it is the male who gets first place -she is the last to go to bed and
the first to rise. Women's mobility is restricted. The society does not accept
or approve of women's mobility unchaperoned in or
outside the estate. Women can go out of the estates with their husbands or in
groups but not alone. The household marketing is done by the males. (This is on
up-country estates- not on rubber and coconut estates.)
Women's
desire to read and be educated is also frowned on by the adults. The opening of
a library on one estate led it to be called a ‘love-berry' - only because a few
young females dared to enter and read.
The
attitude towards life of most estate women (especially on the tea estates) is
one of surrender to fate and God's will. This is seen from the fact that
rituals are indulged in treating diseases, as well as from interviews
conducted. (See Appendix)
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is
evident from our study that we have concentrated on the tea plantation worker.
Within an exploited society some are more exploited than others. Among the most
exploited in
(a)
Wage. "The labourer is worthy of his hire"-Wages
then have to be in keeping with work and needs. So the struggle has to continue
to procure for women workers equal pay for equal work and to all workers a
basic monthly wage, which should take into account the present incentives given
for increased picking. With the generally accepted prince-
128
ciple of profit sharing-
profits should also be distributed among workers.
Higher
and stable wages would mean increased family income-so it would not be
necessary for the Letchimis of the estate world to
stop schooling in order to work and increase the family income, or to stop
schooling for want of the pre-requisite of books, etc.
(b)Education.
Education is required at two levels. First, non-formal education for the estate
workers as well as youth and secondly, formal education for estate workers'
children.
Intensive
worker education among the tea plantation workers is an urgent need. Worker's
education needs to equip both estate men and women with an awareness of
themselves as workers occupying a key position in the economy and to give them
an understanding of national issues and the role which they can play along with
workers in the urban and rural sectors in the context of action towards the
securing of a just economic system.
Both
men and women should be encouraged to attend any seminars, meetings, classes,
etc. that are held for estate workers. It is only through joint meetings that
'man' may realise the full potential
of 'woman' as a human being and as a worker in her own right.
It may
also be necessary to organise special seminars,
sewing classes, etc. for women. Such non-formal programmes would help women to
become conscious of their subservient attitudes and traditional cultural norms
and reveal to them their right for education, an equal wage and the
possibilities, of their development as full human beings. A tea plucker commented that "it was only after we attended
the sewing class that we had the confidence to speak to people like you".
It reveals what special classes can do for women.
With
regards to the formal educational system, the estate schools that have not so
far been integrated into the national system need to be taken over by the
Government as soon as possible. Also all these schools should be developed and
brought into line with other primary schools in the country as regards
buildings and equipment, 'schemes of studies and teaching staff. This will
enable these schools to become at least feeder schools for second
129
ary schools and Maha
Vidiyalayas situated outside the estates.
The present
barriers against estate youth from entering governmental vocational training
centres have to be removed. This is a special need in the context of the
growing unemployment problem among estate youth. Special care should be taken
to see that women are not excluded from these courses and that courses be
conducted in Tamil in the plantation.
(c)Health
and Nutrition. The estate worker has to be integrated into the national health
scheme. Until such time the existing health and welfare services on the estates
have to be improved and strengthened. Only this will ensure better health care
for the pregnant and lactating mother. In the meantime too the rule that a hospitalised plantation worker be charged per day should be
abolished. The irony is that it is their sweat and labour
that has made a considerable contribution to the provision of these welfare
facilities for the rest of the population.
Health
education programmes need to lay emphasis on nutrition. This is specially
necessary due to the high rates of anemia among working mothers and
mal-nourishment among children. Estate women have to be encouraged to eat with
their families so that they do not have to be content with left - overs. Also estate families have to be encouraged to
consume their vegetables they grow rather than sell them at a pittance, and
more particularly, estates should increase the land area available for
vegetable plots.
(d)
Housing. The one-roomed, ill-ventilated line-room should be replaced with
cottage style dwelling While we may have to accept only renovation of old
line-rooms, there is an urgent necessity for pipe-borne water, more lavatories
and electricity which will at least lighten the burden of the estate worker,
especially the woman, who is cook, char-woman, and housewife all rolled into
one.
(e)
Citizenship Rights. Full citizenship rights, at least within the framework of
the Srima Shastri pact
needs to be granted as early as possible to the Indian Tamil workers so that
they have a feeling of security and a feeling of being "needed" in
this country. Also, lack of citizenship prevents political participation and
hinders the growth of pol-
130
political consciousness.
(f)Social
Mobility. Barriers to social mobility such as the discharge ticket and the food
ration token cards, have to be removed. This will ensure the possibility of
outside employment and help to break down their isolation from the Sinhala
village people.
(g)Programmes Outside the Estates.
Awareness has to be created among students, peasantry,
urban workers, villagers in neighbouring estate areas, ate.
of the plight of the tea plantation workers, and of their very existence as a sizeable proportion of our
population who have contributed to our development. An attitude of acceptance
has to replace the attitude of 'rejection'.
In addition to other orgasnisations, Trade Unions
have to realise their responsibility to shed their
command-oriented nature and take more positive steps to build awareness ,
through worker education programmes, with the Sinhala-mass based Trade Unions.
Here it
is apparent that simultaneous action in the political, social, economic and
cultural fields is called for to ensure the integral human development of the
plantation worker. This, therefore, challenges all groups- both secular and
religious- to work together towards this end.
131
appendices to
SRI LANKAN STUDY
I. AN INDIAN TEA
PLUCKER SPEAKS
Name : Sita Letchimi
Age : 27 years
Status : Married
Place : Bogawantalawa
My ancestors came from across the
t was
sent to the estate school at the age of 7 and continued to go to school until I
reached Grade IV. Then I had to leave school to take care of my younger
brothers and sisters and help in the household work. Also my parents could not
afford to send me to school.
I
started working as a tea plucker at the age of 15.
When I was 21 years, my parents arranged a marriage for me. I have 3 children
and the youngest is six months old. My husband also works on the estate.
My day
starts at 5:00 a.m. I go to the one water tap provided for our row of 10 houses
for a wash. There is one lavatory too. After this I prepare the breakfast of
plain tea and rotti, breast-feed my baby and leave my
home around 7 or 7:15 (depending on the work-site). On the way to work I leave Velu at the estate creche in the
care of Theresa Ammal who is now really too old to
run around babies, and then hurry
132
to the work site to be there by 7:30. Sometime in the
mid-morning, I rush to give Velu a feed. We stop work
around 12 noon and take our morning pickings to be weighed. At times I have to
walk as much as 1 to 2 miles to the weighing spot. After my pickings have been
weighed, I rush back home prepare a rotti for lunch
and then go back to work by 1:30 p.m. We return with our pickings to the
weighing post about 5 p.m. I cluck around 15 kilos of tea a day on the average,
for which I am given a wage of Rs. 7/-. Any pluckings
in excess of the 15 kilos is paid for at the rate of -/20 cts.
per pound.
When I
return after a day's work my head and back ache as a result of carrying the
basket of tea leaves on my back which is strung from my head all day. My feet
too are cut and bruised due to the uneven ground we stand on while plucking.
But there is no time to rest. I start cooking the night meals which is rice and
vegetables. My husband does the marketing, but I also fetch water and collect
firewood on certain days,
At the end of this day's work, I have no time to think of anything else other than
troubling over how I am to live the
next day.
II. A
SINHALA TEA PLUCKER (LOW COUNTRY) SPEAKS
Name : R.M. Heemenike
Address : Teledeniya
Balangoda
Age : 47 years
Place
of Birth : Ihala
Galagama, Balangoda
I have
never been to school. There was no school in my village when I was a child. My
mother objected to my going to school in the neighbouring
village. She thought it quite sufficient for me to know enough to read a
medical prescription and sign my name. My father liked my going to school. He
taught me the alphabet from the pirith book. I am the
eldest, and as such I was expected to look after the younger ones.
At the
age of 22 I married a young man of my own choice. My husband owned a small
boutique which he was compelled to abandon as he could not recover the loans.
Then we cultivated a paddy field on 'ande'
133
and I assisted him on the field, and my sister helped me
with the household chores at such times.
My
husband had a steady income for only one year since our marriage 25 years, in 1974
I got an acre of land from the Government and subsequently another acre. In
1977 my husband planted sugar cane, 50 coconut plants and 25 tangerine plants
and put up a thatched home for us to live in.
My
husband gets contracts and other work but he is generally indifferent and
lethargic.
My
husband wastes the money he earns on gambling, without giving anything to the
family. I have advised him about his lethargy, but there has been no response.
;He does not participate in social activities but does not object to my taking
part in such activities.
I am
also a tea plucker and can pick 80-90 lbs. of tea
each day. I earn about Rs. 180/- a month and it is with my earnings that the
family is maintained.
I wake
up daily at 4:30 a.m. Boil the tea and prepare the breakfast which is chiefly
rice. I send the children to school, prepare the lunch as well, and then set
off to work around 6:30 a.m. I return home from work at 2:30 p.m. I then go to
the boutique to buy the provisions. I do this generally about twice a week. At
other times I work in my home garden where I grow onions and vegetables. I
collect the firewood too and no one helps me in this work. My daughters
generally prepare the dinner, but in their absence I do this too.
I am a
mother of four daughters and one son.
It is I who take an interest in
the children's education, buying them books, etc. Two of my daughters and my son still g0
to school.
I have
always taken an interest in social, religious and political activities. I have
held office as Secretary of the local Mahila Samitiya and as President of the local S.L.F.P.(Sri Lanka
Freedom Party) branch. I have also taken part in the election campaigns in the
village and have addressed political meetings.
One of
my children is married. I intend renouncing the worldly life. I feel that
society is not fair and reasonable to women. Had I learned of women's
emancipation earlier, I may not have married.
Interviewed
by Robini Weerasinghe
134
III. A
SINHALA WOMAN-RUBBER TAPPER SPEAKS
Name : R.M. Annie
Age : 40 years
Status : Married
Village : Gonapinawela,
Hikkaduwa
My
mother died a few days after my birth and my father abandoned me at a farm when
I was a baby. The owners of the farm brought me up as a general domestic help.
I was sent to the village school and studied up the 8th standard. (The village
school was poorly run.)
I
started working systematically on the farm from the age of 15 and continued to
do so after marriage. I have worked for 25 years but I have worked as a rubber tapper for the last 13 years. My husband also works on the
farm but is a monthly paid worker and earns Rs225/- per month. I earn a wage of
Rs. 5.50 a day (i.e. Rs. 4/- for tapping rubber and Rs. 1.50 for cutting
grass). My wage is calculated on a daily basis so I have no paid leave, but my
wage is paid on a monthly basis. If possible I work for 7 days of the week. Of
course, in addition to all this work, I work as a housewife, too.
My day
starts with rubber tapping at 5:30 a.m. which goes on till 8:30 a.m. I have my
breakfast around 8:30 and then recommence work from 9-11 a.m. tapping and
collecting the liquid latex in buckets and carrying it to the farm. From 11
a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. is generally slack period on the farm. I cook, have
lunch and do my household work, which includes going to the Co-operative for
provisions, during this period. From 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. I work on the farm
mainly cutting grass for the cattle. The work I find most difficult is carrying
the heavy buckets of liquid latex.
We live
in a wattle and daub house with a thatched cadjan
roof. Nevertheless as my husband gets a regular wage, and as he does not waste
his money on smoking and drinking, we are able to save and buy certain
necessities like a bicycle, sewing machine and radio.
I have
given birth to 6 children, 4 of whom have survived. I think I have been able to
look after my family and also work without neglecting the family. It has been
very difficult, especially when all the children were young, but I cannot
grumble as that is
135
my fate. There is
very little free time - at such times I glance at the newspapers and
listen to the radio. About once in three months we may go to a film- the
theatre is outside our village. However there is very little time to visit
friends and relations, etc. One time when we do visit is during festivals,
especially Sinhala New Year. At this time I do not tap rubber but I continue to
do my quota of work on the farm. Something I would like to do is to go on
pilgrimages. It is 4 or 5 years since I went to Katagama
and 20 years since I went to Sri Pada. Now that the
children are grown up, there is a possibility I could go.
Interviewed
by an SCMer.
III. A
WOMAN COIR WORKER
(a)
Background. Sriyanie Fernando, 25 years of age, lives
in the predominantly Roman Catholic town of
Why
should this be so for Sriyanie works in a Government Coir Mill in Katunayake for 51/2 days of the week.
(b)
Description of Work. Sriyanie wakes up daily at 5:00
a.m., cooks her food and then leaves for the mill. Work starts at 8:00 a.m. and
goes on till 5 p.m. with a lunch break from 12 noon-1 p.m. Sriyanie
is one of a group of 25 firls who feed coir into
semi-automatic machines, that twist the coir into string. This work has to be
done standing with bundles of coir tucked under the arms. Their average
production is 9 lbs. of rope a day.
(c)
Work Hazards. At least 10 of the 25 girls suffer from varicose veins through
continually standing on their feet. High stools would provide relief, but it
means an addition to production costs. If the workers are found sitting on
benches, then they are reprimanded. No protection is provided for the workers
136
in the way of masks to prevent them from breathing fine
dust that ensues when the coir is shredded and fed into the machines. Moreover
certain coirs are treated with acid to help in
rotting. Such fibres give a very offensive smell and
cause smarting of the face and eyes, and even giddiness in some workers.
(d)Wages.
Sriyanie has been working at the mill for the past 3
years, but she is still a casual daily paid worker. Work depends on orders so
there are periods when workers are laid off (at present there is a rush of work
because of an order from a foreign firm.). Being paid on a daily basis, they
have no leave benefits. They can stay away due to illness but then they receive
no wage. They have no Provident
Fund benefits either, except an allowance of 33% on every Rs. 100/-. However, Sriyanie seldom gets the benefit of the full 33%, as her
wage seldom exceeds Rs. 100/-. Average production is 9 lbs. of strong rope a
day at the rate of -/40 cts. a lb. - this gives her
an average wage of Rs. 20/- a week.
(e)
Future Prospects. Sriyanie sees very little possibility
for bettering her position through higher wages at the mill. Trade Unions do
not exist. She prefers doing clerical work a id has registered her name in the
Job Bank.
IV. CASE
STUDY OF THE INCOME-EXPENDITURE PATTERN OF A TEA WORKER'S HOUSEHOLD
The household
consists of two working members (husband and wife), 6 children and the chief
householder's mother. The income, debts and expenditure on rationed goods for a 6 month
period was obtained - the period being May 1977 to October 1977.
The
data collected shows that the monthly income of this household has not been
steady - it has fluctuated and ranges from Rs.200/- to about Rs.400/- showing
the insecure economic position of estate workers very clearly. It also shows
that the fluctuating income level has led to the expenditure on rationed goods
as well as debts, varying from month to month. For the major part of the 6
months, this household would not have received any cash into their hands on pay
137
day. It
is also seen that when income reached a peek level (i.e. in about July), the
monthly earnings were greater than the total debt. Thus in July the expenditure
on rationed goods was increased during the following month (i.e. August) which
brings out the fact that the estate management is willing to supply the full
quota of rationed goods when the household is free of debt. The relationship
between income, debts and expenditure on rationed goods is seen further in the
month of August- income declines, debts mount up and the following month (i.e.
September), expenditure on rationed goods decreases.
A 6RAPH SHOWING THE INCOME-EXPENDITURE
PATTERN OF AN ESTATE WORKER HOUSEHOLD FOR A 6-MO. PERIOD
