Anura Dissanayake, the leader of the NPP explained yesterday in Parliament how the South Indian labourers brought to this country by the British imperialists for plantations were used as semi-slaves in the early days, and today they have been put in a highly miserable situation without even being given a minimum standard of living. The NPP/JVP Leader said, “We are talking about the communities that were brought to Sri Lanka for plantation work about 200 years ago. Even after the passage of 200 years, the needs of their lives have not been met. They are a people who have faced great suffering since the day they disembarked from the port and came to Matale on foot. It is described vividly in their literature. ‘We are not used to hanging baskets we are not used to picking leaves either How can we live surrendering to Kankani? Please send us to our land Lord.’ That was the true feeling of the plantation people. It tells about their pain after being brought to an unfamiliar country and abandoned. I is how they expressed the miserable way they worked in these mountains. ‘Bending with stress and climbing the mountains If one fruit falls on the ground While picking the coffee fruit A kick from Sinna Dorai would land on your back!’ tThis is how they were locked up in the estates. England enacted legislation to stop the slave trade in 1807. Slavery was abolished in 1833. But during the same period, England created a service in our country similar to slave labour. About two centuries have passed by now. But still we have failed to give them a fair life. They have lived under the British imperialists for nearly 125 years and under the current rulers for over 75 years. There are basic needs in any life. First of all, a good source of income should be obtained. Compared to the common sources of income in our country, the income of the plantation people is very low. Our country earns a lot of wealth from tea production. A large amount of land is held by 23 major estate companies. But they say they cannot give a salary of Rs. 1,000. What is the benefit of the industry that cannot give Rs. 1,000? These plantation owners treat these citizens as their slaves. There is also a criticism of politics in this regard. They have suppressed this community with their politics from time to time and did not work to find fair solutions. Therefore, there is no source of income that can fulfill their basic needs. Are they human if they don’t have a decent living wage? First of all, the people living in the plantations should be given the necessary salary to sustain their life fairly. The companies should be taken over if the ownership is not ready to pay the required wages, then. During the 31 years since 1992 the estates were demolished, not developed, trees were cut and sold. Factories were closed. A situation has arisen where the people have been dragged into the frying pan. Therefore, first of all, if the government is responsible for the citizens of the country, it should work to provide a fair salary for the people working in the plantations. Even though the slogan of getting Rs. 1,000 was brought, more than three years have passed. When you get Rs. 1,000, its value has reduced to about Rs. 100. We are ready to make any law to provide the people who work in the plantations with the salary they need to maintain their lives fairly. The basic need of people is source of income. Nearly one hundred and fifty thousand families live in one-room dwellings called line rooms. They are not houses with normal ventilation, with freedom, where children and parents can live together. There is no proper toilet system. The estate people have lost the right to live in a ventilated house, which is the main factor that differentiates animals from humans. When the schemes that are brought now are implemented, even five more generations will not get a house. The people of these estates have no ownership of this land, and in the end, they become fertilizer for this earth. They have been brought here 200 years ago. Shouldn’t they be given land? Isn’t that a fair question? The Minister of Estates said that 5.2 million hectares are free of any plantations. Is it not justified to allocate some land from this? First, they should allocate an amount of land they have a right to. Let’s implement the projects to build houses later. By thinking about this house and the land, these lives will go to waste without any inheritance on earth. Therefore, there should not be any problem to determine and distribute the land first. The first these people need is a source of income, the next is houses, and the third is education. They should have the opportunity to receive a fair education. The education in the plantation areas is less than the general education in our country. Out of the thirty-eight thousand students enrolled in the university, nearly 200-250 from the communities living near the estates are enrolled to the university. Universities represent a percentage less than the percentage of people in Sri Lanka. As a country, we have failed to provide them the basic education, secondary education and tertiary education they need. Look at the facilities, number of teachers and children’s attendance in plantation schools. Education in our country has abandoned these children. It isn’t easy to maintain an education without an income. There is a massive collapse in education. Therefore, efforts should be made to improve their education. A human needs income, housing, education, health and mental freedom. That is what a citizen is. According to 2016 reports, nationally, stunting among children under five is 17%. But in the plantation sector, it is 31%. As the country’s general population has become emaciated, the emaciation of these people has doubled. Children under five years of age are generally underweight by 20%. In plantations it is 30%. All these data show that the people of the country, in general, are suffering, and the people of the plantations are suffering on a large scale. At least a special unit should be formed to get the standard of living that the common people have inherited. The Ministry of Infrastructure will give something. Land, health, education and sports in separate places. There should be a special authority for this. When the Mahaweli Authority was created, it was formed to bring all the land, water, housing, health, and sports to a common state. In this field, an authority with all powers should also be established. If they are in a lower position than the common society, at least efforts should be made to bring it up to the level of common society. These people should be brought to the level of the common people through an authority that will think about all the facilities and get all the powers. Poverty is more than just a lack of food and drink. If they go to the police, get on the bus or go to school because of poverty, there is a different treatment. Poverty is a social disaster. These poor people have become the prominent victims of this society. If you are looking for someone to work in a house or wash dishes in a hotel in Colombo, you are looking for a boy or a girl from the plantations. This issue has been around for a long time. A formal system should be developed to solve this problem. We are in favour of any proposal that will be brought to the parliament to raise their standard of living.”