Tea estate lease nearing end, Manjolai workers seek land, home from new MP

WITH the Lok Sabha polls round the corner, Manjolai tea estate workers, who will soon be evicted from the hills as the 99year lease period of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Ltd (BBTCL) is set to end in 2028, on Thursday demanded that the candidate who gets elected as their new MP must take steps to provide them with free patta lands and houses in the plains, under state or central government schemes.

- THINAKARAN RAJAMANI

Stating that their entire livelihood will be lost after relocation, women workers of the estate told TNIE as the BBTCL has already begun settlement talks, this could be their last election in Manjolai hills.

"Though there are over 2,000 voters among us residing in these hilly hamlets-Manjolai, Kakkachi, Naalumukku and Oothu-neither candidates nor their supporters have bothered to visit us as part of their parliamentary election campaigns.