Health and Reproductive Rights of Women at Workplace: with special focus on Plantation

in Karnataka

Saravana K
Research Scholar
Department of Studies and Research in Social Work
Tumkur University, Email: sarwanmass@gmail.com Mob: 97392 44374

Dr.Lokesha M.U
Assistant Professor
Department of Studies and Research in Social Work
Tumkur University
Abstract
India constitutes a 30 percent of the total population (309 million) internal migrants, As
per NSSO report (2007-08) prominent reason for internal migration is for employment.
Migrants face defiance of basic entitlements including access to subsidized food, housing,
drinking water, sanitation and public health facilities, education, banking services and often
work in poor conditions devoid of social security and legal protection. Cultivation of Coffee
dominated in the hill tracts of South India, in that Karnataka dominant 79.3 percentage of total
coffee production in India and it is the only industry requires high density of manual work; The
majority of working people in the plantation were migrated from Tamilnadu, Kerala and other
part of India; they were brought by Kanganis for low wage and to fill the labour scarcity at hill
station during 19th and 20th century colonial period, among them more than half of working
labours were women. The workers on the plantations receive very low pay. For example, human
rights in India, tea pickers earn just 1-1.5 dollars a day per each 20 kg of tea leaves. But even
that is not a problem compared to inhuman treatment. Women account for 75-85% of the total
number of tea pickers. This paper is going to examine the violation of women rights in plantation
sector of Karnataka. Descriptive research design was adopted, 76 samples were collected with
purposive sampling by adopting self prepared questionnaire. The collected data was computed
with excel and SPSS, simple percentile and ANOVA test was applied to examine the significant,
the result was shown that 78 percentages of women workers were not having any toilet facility is
in their working place and 84 percentages of women workers were receiving daily wage less
than men. These results were proving gender discrimination at work place.

Key words: Plantation, Women, Workers, Kanagani, Human Rights

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Introduction

Plantation is requires high density of human work, tea and coffee are the most famous
drink in the world in terms of consumption. In India Coffee cultivation was begun since 700 AD
by Bababuda a pilgrim from Mecca. And it widely cultivated during the period of British
colonial, and they needed to explore the prospects of tea cultivation in Assam because of it was
too expensive to procure from china. East India Company had domination over the plantation
including tea and coffee (Choudhury, 2010). British personnel wanted to rectify their expenses
of labour, so the planters recruited workers from the Presidency of Madras, where there were
huge numbers poorly affected by the extensive starvation and indebtedness in the constituency. It
established as permanent workforce due to the enhancement of plantation productions such as
tea, coffee and rubber in 19th and 20th Centuries. Since migration of women was a small
proposition in early period of plantation, and their proposition was sequentially began to rise, and
they occupied more than half of plantation workforce during end of 20 th century in India (Kurian
& Jayawardena, 2013).

Women and Plantation

Women workers remain fifty percent in total workforce of plantation but they
marginalized in trade union (Sarkar & Bhowmik, 1999),Women migrant worker constitute a
highly vulnerable and socially sensitive group in globe (UNESCO, 2013), migration turn into an
authentic approach for survival of family. The Tamil women are readily available work in
plantation. The women groups in plantation have a lower literacy rate than in the overall
population. The noticeable effect is that more Muslim and Tamil women are joining the migrant
labour force (Dias & Ramani, 2011). Plantation is one of male dominating industry by its own
norms and practices. Recruiters, workers including women workers, management and owners of
plantation acknowledging the women was justified through traditional view such as custom,
religion and law. So on women workers considered by their superior that cheap labour. Women
in plantation were under privileged with education, income and health and they were excluded
from the plantation leadership (Kurian & Jayawardena, 2013). Women worker has to

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responsible for dual burden like working in plantation, as well in the house, they strive since
from morning to night (Duara & Sambit, 2012).

Rights and women workers in Plantation

Women worker had a nominal considerate of the written contract, including their wages,
and often no awareness of other rights and benefits they are entitled to (Poverty, 2016). The
migrated women have working plantation because to uplift their family socially and culturally,
but later on they are forced to work in plantation based on financial crisis of their family.
Working women in plantation are consuming poor quality grains, which makes several health
issues and declaim the working capacity of women worker (Banik, 2015). Plantations in
Karnataka have provided housing accommodation to their employees irrespective of migration
pattern, 163 creches existed and only canteen facility was provided in 22 plantations. In the view
of sickness benefit for plantation workers only 7,017 employees were claimed and received
sickness benefit out of 16,408. Out of 1,125 women employees in plantation maternity benefit
were claimed only 175 employees (Report On the Working of The Plantations Labour ACT,
1951 during the Year 2008, 2008). The income and employment are adequately shared by poor
and weaker section such as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other
Backward Classes (OBCs) and minorities of plantation workers in India; because of extensively
extend of plantation in industry (Planning, 2008). Plantations contribute generation of
employment, especially women (Joseph, 2012).

Rationale of the Study

Women workers are paid less than male migrants and there are benefits of
maternity leave, other maternity entitlements, or breast-feeding breaks at plantation work sites.
Women workers in plantation facing serious health consequences because of lack of access to
proper sanitation, and their private hygiene issues makes them undergo in silence because of the
stigma around it. The state was taken major steps to protect their rights in workers in plantation
area through minimum wage, maternity leave with wage, provident fund, housing facility,
education for children and drinking water facilities. Plantation workers have settled in nearby
villages of plantation by having voter ID and ration card. But, still migrants plantation workers
especially women struggling to get minimum wage and other facility according law in Karnataka

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(Plantation workers seek inclusion in BPL list, 2016). And they facing violation of their rights,
This study is focuses on the study on violation of women plantation workers in Karnataka.

Objectives of the Study

The present study has following objectives

1. To understand the socio-economic condition of Women Plantation Worker

2. To study the human rights violation among women workers at plantation

Material and Methods

Researcher adopted descriptive research design with purposive sampling technique to

identify the samples (Only Married women workers). Self prepared questionnaire was used by
applying likert scaling to collect data. The collected data was computed through SPSS 19.0 by
applying simple percentile statistical test.

Results and Discussion

Table 1: Socio-Demographic Profile

Sl. No Age Frequency Percent

1. 20-25 19 15.2
2. 25-30 35 28.0
3. 30-35 30 24.0
4. 35-40 23 18.4
5. 40-45 18 14.4
Mean = 20
Education Qualification
1. Illiterate 25 20.0
2. Can read only 42 33.6
3. Can read and write 31 24.8
4. Primary 25 20.0
5. Middle 2 1.6
Category
1. SC 51 40.8
2. ST 49 39.2
3. OBC 17 13.6
4. Minorities 6 4.8
5. Others 2 1.6

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 The table shows socio-demographic profile of plantation women worker, the mean age of
women worker is 20, education qualification of women workers is shows that majority 33.6
percentage of women plantation workers are can read only they are not received any formal
education and 40.8 percentage of women worker in plantation were belongs to scheduled caste.

Health Rights

Women face immense difficulties merging their responsibilities in the reproductive

sectors due to both employers opinion about what womens role, Women frequently hide their
pregnancies to avoid denied to work by an employer and sometimes women are even required to
take pregnancy tests before being employed at work place 65. Women's rights to health are
adversely affected in these areas. Maternal and infant mortality rates higher in plantation area.

Sl. No Key Area Percentage

1 Stunted 35
2 Underweight 45
3 Under weight pregnant mothers 41.7
Source: Primary data-tested through clinical diagnosis with the help of local anganwadi worker

The above table indicates the malnutrition status of women workers in plantation. It
shows that 35 percentages of women workers were stunted and 45 percentages are under weight,
41.7 percentage of pregnant women worker in plantation were under weight. The result clearly
indicates plantation women worker are malnourished.

Reproductive Rights

As a result of the internationally circulated discuss on population, after the 1960s the
government of India has launched family planning techniques in order to control the growth of
population. The programme was implemented by women and child development department and
FPP in the late 1970s. Oral contraceptive pills and injectables, condoms, female sterilization
and male sterilization have become popular family planning methods. The following figure
illustrates the consumption of contraceptive in plantation area in Chikkamagaluru district of
Karnataka state.

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 Table 2: Working married women by contraceptive method currently used

Type of Plantation Female Sterilization Pill

Tea 13.1 6.4
Coffee 45.1 8.4
Source: Primary Data

The above table indicates female sterilization in the plantation sector. Further, the data
discloses that the usage of modern methods for family planning. Majority coffee plantation
women were under gone for sterilization. Though, promoting the above methods, there is a
chances to reduce harm which caused by stable sterilization on women health. Local Plantation
companies tactically spread permanent family planning technique because such methods
passively help them to compose the maximum profits out of the male/female labour by reducing
the number of children. Because for each newborn plantation has to provide different facility
such maternity, crche, education (PLA 1951, 1951). This has to be stressed as an example of
using governmental initiatives for economic benefits given that the profits are reduced when
companies have to spend more capital on social welfare, that is, the well-being of their workers.
So, it becomes clear the only objective of the plantation policies has been to reduce the number
of children in workers household in order utilise the labor of these people as much as possible
(Logeshwary & Bastian).

Conclusion

This study is an effort to examine the nature of rights of women in the plantation
sector especially their health and reproductive rights. Some of the statements during field survey
revealed a variety of forms of women rights violations against plantation women. It was found in
the study that right to health of the plantation women have been violated in many forms.
Notably, the lack of educational attainments, constant poverty, limited of access to health
services, lack of social mobility, rigid and cruel regulation of plantation management are
significant factors that largely influence on women rights violation in the Plantation sector.
Therefore, government and civil society organizations required to initiate appropriate measures
to empower and educate plantation women to improve their social position. Additional, as the
present study suggests, although there are a number of governmental and Non- governmental

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institutions participate to protect rights of the plantation women, many among them are focusing
largely on women and neglecting men. Nevertheless, men also should be educated on the rights
of women to uplift the status of women in the plantation sector.

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