600 Families, Mostly Dalits, Face Homelessness and Job Loss: Will the Government Hear the Pleas of Manjolai Tea Estate Workers in Tamil Nadu?

The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Ltd (BBTCL) operated the Manjolai tea estate under a 99-year lease, set to expire in 2028. As the lease end approached, BBTCL extended a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to workers at its tea estates in Manjolai, Manimuthar, and Oothu. Workers, like 64-year-old Sobia James, faced uncertainty about their future, relying on the state government’s intervention to secure their homes and livelihoods. Despite the VRS benefits, workers demanded that the state government take over the tea plantation instead of surrendering the land to the forest department. This would prevent the eviction of thousands of workers, many of whom were Dalits. Political leaders and activists urged the Tamil Nadu government to manage the estate to protect the workers’ livelihoods. The workers, who had lived and worked there for generations, faced a bleak future as the government began steps to evict them.