As the problem of the closed and the abandoned tea plantations of west Bengal intensifies one solution that seems rather pragmatic and often passionately advocated is cooperative structuring of the ‘Cha Bagans’. Left to their own devices by the owners and visible apathy of the government towards them has left the common majdoor, with a few options to sustain human existence. Thus with little help coming their way the cooperative structuring and organizing of the workers seems a logical alternative. Indeed, argument of making the owners accountable has been seen has a more effective solution nonetheless it involves prolonged legal battles and no real security of the proper administration even on the owners return. The starving populations of the tea estates cannot be subjected to prolonged cruelty and need an immediate alternative.
The cooperative model has in fact been successful previously. In September of 1973 the owners of the Sonali Tea Garden, the Khemkas, abandoned it after stripping the garden of all its assets during their one year ownership. With no capital, no management experience and saddled with debts, the workers were in a desperate position the worker had not received remuneration for months and the plucking season was also over with the onset of winter. Disillusioned by the attitude of the political worker unions as well as the government they were left with little to choose, either abandon the garden as the former owners had done or stay on and try to save it from complete ruin. They decided to stay on. In September 1974 the workers formed their own cooperative. Named after the village where most of the workers live, the’ Saongaon Tea and Allied Plantation Workers’ Cooperative Limited’ was the first of its kind in the long history of tea plantations in India. Notably half the members of the Cooperative were women. The cooperative’s first act was to abolish wage discrimination between men and women. The first time women had ever been awarded the same wages as men on an Indian tea garden. Thus the cooperative brought with not just economic but social emancipation as well.
The garden made rapid progress over the next three years as ten more acres were planted with young tea bushes. Wages were raised by 30%, new equipment was purchased and the living conditions of the workers improved as the cooperative paid for house repairs, established a dispensary and school and installed a pure water supply. These impressive gains were made without the help of a professional manager. Supervision and administration have been carried out an elected nine person management committee of seven ordinary workers (including at least three women) and two clerical staff, reelected every 15 months. Most committee members are illiterate.
The most significant change was however on the psychological level. Initially many workers regarded the committee as a sort of paternalistic company, which would guide and look after them. This approach was the result of the old pattern conditioning of management worker relations of issuing orders and disciplining workers who refused to conform. The committee on the other hand consciously tried to involve all workers in confronting and overcoming managerial problems abandoning old management techniques of issuing charge sheets, show-cause notices and other cumbersome procedures. If a worker was slack or disobeyed orders, the committee tried to persuade him or her to change. This usually worked, but if the worker still refused to comply the case was brought before a meeting of the whole workforce, which decided on a suitable form of punishment. This procedure was very effective in maintaining work discipline and increasing production at the same time, workers felt a real involvement in running the cooperative. Remarkably, the cooperative received no financial assistance from banks or any other source, all its expenditure being met through the sale of green tea leaves. By the end of 1977 the workers had even managed to establish a substantial contingency fund. However the owners decided to come back to the plantation, now that it was a profit-yielding establishment. They challenged the registration of the cooperative by filling a suit in Calcutta High Court. Although the Sonali success story was cut short by the unwanted come back of the owners it still remains a firm indicator of the possibilities that a cooperative regime can obtain for the workers of the abandoned or closed plantations.
The process of globalisation through structural adjustment has adversely affected the working class throughout the world. Labour in most developing countries has suffered because the restructuring of industry has invariably led to unemployment due to the closure of ‘unprofitable’ industrial units.
Nowhere is this effect more prominent and more alarming than in the tea industry. In the circumstances, a viable alternative that has come up is that of a co-operative system of ownership and functioning. A co-operative society may be defined as an association for the purpose of joint trading, originating among the weak, and conducted always in an unselfish spirit, on such terms that all who are prepared to assume the duties of membership may share in its rewards in proportion to the degree in which they make use of their association. The first cooperative was started in England in 1844, a cooperative store set up by a handful of unemployed weavers at Toad Lane in Rochdale. The cooperative movement all over the world adopted the basic principles governing the functioning of this cooperative. These were: one vote for each member (and not for each share as in the case of joint stock companies), sale at market prices, division of profits among the shareholders on the basis of the shares each held, and limited interest on share capital.
The cooperative model is a successful business option that is being utilized by many economies with immense success. In North America especially in the agri-food industry the role of cooperatives is of undeniable significance. Producer cooperatives control nearly 80% of the grain handling, over 40% of dairy product manufacturing and nearly 30% of maple syrup handling and processing. In India the Amul project is the leading example of the success and effectiveness of cooperative models. The project was financed through community aid programme and loans from World Bank and was implemented during the period 1970-1996. This programme has benefited over eleven million farmer members covering over one lakh village cooperative societies setup under the umbrella of 170 district co-operative milk unions, resulting in the production of over hundred and ten lakh kg of milk per day. The success of a cooperative lies in the distinctive set of values that are inherent to such organizations distinguishing them from other forms of business enterprises.
The garden made rapid progress over the next three years as ten more acres were planted with young tea bushes. Wages were raised by 30%, new equipment was purchased and the living conditions of the workers improved as the cooperative paid for house repairs, established a dispensary and school and installed a pure water supply. These impressive gains were made without the help of a professional manager. Supervision and administration have been carried out an elected nine person management committee of seven ordinary workers (including at least three women) and two clerical staff, reelected every 15 months. Most committee members are illiterate.
The most significant change was however on the psychological level. Initially many workers regarded the committee as a sort of paternalistic company, which would guide and look after them. This approach was the result of the old pattern conditioning of management worker relations of issuing orders and disciplining workers who refused to conform. The committee on the other hand consciously tried to involve all workers in confronting and overcoming managerial problems abandoning old management techniques of issuing charge sheets, show-cause notices and other cumbersome procedures. If a worker was slack or disobeyed orders, the committee tried to persuade him or her to change. This usually worked, but if the worker still refused to comply the case was brought before a meeting of the whole workforce, which decided on a suitable form of punishment. This procedure was very effective in maintaining work discipline and increasing production at the same time, workers felt a real involvement in running the cooperative. Remarkably, the cooperative received no financial assistance from banks or any other source, all its expenditure being met through the sale of green tea leaves. By the end of 1977 the workers had even managed to establish a substantial contingency fund. However the owners decided to come back to the plantation, now that it was a profit-yielding establishment. They challenged the registration of the cooperative by filling a suit in Calcutta High Court. Although the Sonali success story was cut short by the unwanted come back of the owners it still remains a firm indicator of the possibilities that a cooperative regime can obtain for the workers of the abandoned or closed plantations.
The process of globalisation through structural adjustment has adversely affected the working class throughout the world. Labour in most developing countries has suffered because the restructuring of industry has invariably led to unemployment due to the closure of ‘unprofitable’ industrial units.
Nowhere is this effect more prominent and more alarming than in the tea industry. In the circumstances, a viable alternative that has come up is that of a co-operative system of ownership and functioning. A co-operative society may be defined as an association for the purpose of joint trading, originating among the weak, and conducted always in an unselfish spirit, on such terms that all who are prepared to assume the duties of membership may share in its rewards in proportion to the degree in which they make use of their association. The first cooperative was started in England in 1844, a cooperative store set up by a handful of unemployed weavers at Toad Lane in Rochdale. The cooperative movement all over the world adopted the basic principles governing the functioning of this cooperative. These were: one vote for each member (and not for each share as in the case of joint stock companies), sale at market prices, division of profits among the shareholders on the basis of the shares each held, and limited interest on share capital.
The cooperative model is a successful business option that is being utilized by many economies with immense success. In North America especially in the agri-food industry the role of cooperatives is of undeniable significance. Producer cooperatives control nearly 80% of the grain handling, over 40% of dairy product manufacturing and nearly 30% of maple syrup handling and processing. In India the Amul project is the leading example of the success and effectiveness of cooperative models. The project was financed through community aid programme and loans from World Bank and was implemented during the period 1970-1996. This programme has benefited over eleven million farmer members covering over one lakh village cooperative societies setup under the umbrella of 170 district co-operative milk unions, resulting in the production of over hundred and ten lakh kg of milk per day. The success of a cooperative lies in the distinctive set of values that are inherent to such organizations distinguishing them from other forms of business enterprises.
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