The TANTEA People’s Livelihood Protection Front and the Farmers Workers’ Development Association submitted a list of demands to the Central and State governments at a consultative meeting regarding the plight of Sri Lankan Tamil repatriates in Gudalur working in TANTEA estates.In a statement, the Association demanded the government immediately cancel Government Order (Ms.) No. 173, which permitted the transfer of tea estates “created through the labour of repatriated plantation Tamils to the Forest Department for conversion into forests.” The organisation claimed that 265 hectares of land that was under the control of TANTEA has been handed over to the Forest Department since 2019.The Association also demanded that the TANTEA management publish a white paper explaining the reasons for the corporation’s financial losses, reinstate all temporary staff who were removed from service and make their jobs permanent as well as increase their daily wages to ₹600. It also called on the government to distribute three acres of TANTEA land to each eligible family as a permanent solution.The Association said that TANTEA was established to rehabilitate and provide livelihoods to repatriated Sri Lankan Tamils. “The corporation was developed through the hard labour of these workers, who toiled in rain, cold and difficult conditions. TANTEA plantations were established over 6,800 hectares in Gudalur, Kotagiri, Coonoor in the Nilgiris district and Valparai in Coimbatore district.The repatriated plantation workers transformed these government tea estates into prosperous enterprises through their sweat and tireless labour. They generated thousands of crores of rupees in revenue for the government and its departments,” they said, adding that despite these contributions, that TANTEA workers were paid low wages, were provided poor quality and unsafe housing, unsanitary toilets, inadequate medical care and poor infrastructure.The Association alleged that irregularities in procurement of factory and hospital equipment, expenditure on lavish bungalows for officers, a non-functioning petrol bunk, purchasing vehicles unnecessarily and excessive salaries for administrative officials had resulted in TANTEA’s financial losses.It further alleged that high-quality green leaves produced by TANTEA are sold to private factories, while inferior-quality leaves are purchased from private estates and processed in TANTEA factories, causing additional financial losses.The Association also alleged that while TANTEA claims there is a shortage of labour, nearly 2,000 temporary workers, who had depended on these jobs for many years, were removed from service in April of 2022. They said that under current labour laws, that workers who have completed 480 days of work should be made permanent employees and to avoid this obligation, that TANTEA failed to provide continuous employment for the temporary staff. Published - July 07, 2026 07:32 pm IST