• Seek land deeds for Galle & Matara estates’ lands 

Estate sector trade unions are planning to step up actions seeking solutions for long drawn-out issues faced by the Malayagam (Indian origin Tamils) community estate sector workers based in the Southern part of the island, adding that this community’s wellbeing has been neglected on multiple fronts.

This was noted by the Voice of the Plantation People (VOPP) organisation Executive Director Anthony Jesudasan, who pointed out that this community is facing a plethora of inequalities despite their contribution to the estate sector. He told The Daily Morning that the discussions that have been conducted so far seeking solutions to this community’s issues have not borne fruit, and that in such a context, they were planning to reach out to the political authorities in the South. 

In collaboration with the representatives of this community in the Galle and Matara Districts, the VOPP presented several demands, which they said are instrumental to improving the living and working conditions of the community. One of their foremost demands is ensuring this community’s land and housing rights, which they said could be achieved by giving land deeds for lands given between 1993 and 2018 under several estates in the Galle and Matara Districts.

Paying the existing minimum wage of Rs. 1,000 without subjecting to any conditions, and appointing a supervisory committee to oversee the payment of this wage, was another demand.

Regarding the rights and wellbeing of children, they said that special programmes should be devised to ensure education and the personality development of children of this community, adding that steps must also be taken to reduce school dropouts among girl children of this community in the Southern Province. With regard to women, the activists demanded that health facilities should be improved for the women of the Malayagam community, adding that it is also crucial to address malnutrition among children and women of the community. Another demand that concerns women is taking actions to do away with tax systems that exploit the labour of the women of this community. In addition, the trade unions asked for a special programme to monitor the status of life of families and children of women who have left for foreign jobs.

Moreover, they put forward several demands pertaining to voting rights and youth employment.