On July 30, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court is set to hold its next hearing on a series of petitions filed by and on behalf of the Manjolai plantation workers in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district.
What happened to the estate?
Located inside the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tirunelveli, the Manjolai estate includes the villages of Manjolai, Kakkachi, Nalumukku, Oothu, and Kuthiraivetti. Post office, bus stop, ration shop, school, and health center, among other public facilities.
The estate also includes a tea factory in Oothu. The Wadia Group Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (BBTC) has been operating a tea plantation here since 1929, on a 99-year lease.
On May 30, 2024, BBTC said it will cease operations and hand over the underlying land to the Tamil Nadu government. This is because the State has declared this land as ‘forest’ in 2018 and because the lease will expire in 2028.
Caught in the crossfire between the BBTC’s decision and the state government’s claim are workers in the Estate. In 2001, the plantation had 6,600 people living here; of them 1,586 are permanent workers and another 5,000 work in plantations. When the BBTC announced its decision, several hundred workers – mostly Dalits and landless – were forced to accept the terms of the voluntary retirement scheme, vacate their homes, and collect dues and bonuses on June 14.
On June 21, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court heard the petition and ordered the status quo. The petition asked the Court to direct the State authorities to cancel the voluntary retirement application submitted by the tea plantation workers, provide free house-site patta, house, 4 ha land, other monetary relief, jobs for family members, and implement the Scheduled Schedule. The Tribals and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, or FRA, 2006 – or have the Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation Limited, a state government that has taken over the plantation.
How is the Estate created?
BBTC established the Manjolai plantation in 1929 on 3,388.78 ha of land leased from the Singampatti family. In 1952, the Tamil Nadu government took possession of the former Singampatti lands, including the area leased to the BBTC, using the Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion to Ryotwari) Act 1948. The Revenue Department handed over the land to the Forest Department while allowing the BBTC to continue to own the land. leased in order of 1958.
BBTC developed 1,716.59 ha as a plantation and must preserve a parcel of 392.55 ha in the Kusangaliar watershed area for water conservation. The site of the BBTC and the roads leading to Manjolai were brought to Manimuthar town in 1963. In the 1970s, the BBTC set aside 449.4 ha of land to protect the lion-tailed macaques there.
How did the area become a forest?
In 1978, Tamil Nadu began the process of notifying 22,972.20 ha – including 3,388.78 ha leased to BBTC – in Singampatti as reserve forest under the Tamil Nadu Forest Act 1882, and registering it as ‘forest’ in the revenue records.
A year later, the Forest Settlement Officer supported BBTC’s claim that the land should be exempted from forest notification. But the Forest Department challenged the decision in the District Court. The court remanded the matter to the Forest Settlement Officer for fresh disposal.
After a delay, the Forest Settlement Officer rejected BBTC’s claim in 2010. BBTC challenged the rejection but the Madras High Court ruled against them on September 1, 2017. However, this Court allowed BBTC to continue to own the leased land until February 11, 2028. .
On January 19, 2018, the Supreme Court rejected BBTC’s appeal. On September 19 of the same year, the 22,972.20 ha of land was notified as a Reserve Forest.
How is the estate related to the tiger reserve?
Under Project Tiger, the Tamil Nadu government formed the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) in 1988 as an administrative and management category. It became a legal category in 2007 when the government notified 89,500 ha of land as critical tiger habitat under the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WLPA) 1972. The government also notified another 70,654.20 ha as a buffer area on August 13, 2012. As a result, the total KMTR 1.60 lakh ha – including Manjolai plantation.
According to WLPA, KMTR’s tiger conservation plan should ensure the safety of tigers as well as use “ecologically appropriate land use … to address the livelihood concerns of local communities”. For this purpose, Tamil Nadu is mandated to “ensure agriculture, livelihood, development and other interests of people living in tiger reserves”.
Furthermore, the WLPA requires notification of tiger reserves to recognize the forest rights of local people. It also allows the individual to be moved only if they choose.
How did the labor issue arise?
In the Tiger reserve, the FRA determines how and what forest rights should be recognized. And the FRA prohibits evictions before those rights are determined. These rights include ownership by individuals of up to 4 ha for housing and farming, all imaginable community rights except hunting, and community forest resource rights.
Combining the two Acts, the Tamil Nadu government must recognize the forest rights of KMTR residents and ask permission from the forest residents to move (while confirming that other reasonable ways for people and tigers to co-exist are not possible). The state also provides resettlement packages for individuals and communities to be relocated with the consent of Ward Sabhas and individuals. Separately, BBTC must pay estate workers dues under the relevant labor laws.
However, Tamil Nadu’s notification regarding the KMTR ignored the provisions of the WLPA and FRA, leading to the current dispute.
What is the state’s legal obligation?
For those who have chosen to relocate, Tamil Nadu must complete the recognition of rights in the FRA, provide all the facilities at the relocation site, and finally acquire these rights under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act. 2013.
The state must also pay fair compensation to all affected families, including twice the market value of the land, the value of assets on the ground (including flora), subsistence allowance for one year, one-time financial assistance for relocation. , the cost of building materials, goods, and cattle, and resettlement allowances.
The settlement plan includes provision of alternative fuel, electricity connection, roads, drinking water, etc. property in the area close to the place of residence.
What is the country’s choice?
The livelihood of the workers is from the forest that is leased to BBTC, so the forest is under the jurisdiction of FRA. Non-tribal laborers belonging to the community who have lived in the area for 75 years and whose source of income is primarily dependent on the forest are eligible as ‘Other Traditional Forest Dwellers’ to claim their rights.
Finally, those whose claims are rejected cannot be evicted (according to the order of the Supreme Court on February 28, 2019).
Alternatively, the State government can divert part of the Manjolai plantation developed for the plantation to settle the workers, after obtaining the approval of the Ministry of Environment and the Central Empowerment Committee in Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam 1980. It is possible. exempted from paying the net present value or carrying out compensatory reforestation if the beneficiaries do not own the land.
As forest land recorded before 25 October 1980 – when the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 came into force – and converted to non-forest use before 12 December 1996, this part of the Manjolai area cannot be regulated by this. Prevail. However, the challenge to the amendment that created this possibility is pending in the Supreme Court and the current Court remains exempt.
CR Bijoy examines natural resource conflicts and governance issues.
