TIRUNELVELI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) registered a case on Thursday following a complaint filed by activist SP Muthuraman against shifting Manjolai tea estate workers from the hills to the plains.
The complaint stated instead of granting forest rights to 700 families of Manjolai tea estate workers, the officials are forcing them to relocate to the plains.
“The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited took the land on lease for establishing the tea plantation in 1929. The lease agreement is valid up to February 11, 2028. In 1998, the forest department declared this land as a tiger reserve.
The tea estate workers of Manjolai have been residing there for five generations. They are now being forced to relocate to the plains by the company, Tirunelveli district administration and Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve authorities,” the complaint read.
“As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, the ‘other traditional forest dwellers’ are a member or community, who has resided or depended on a forest for at least three generations prior to December 13, 2005.
However, instead of giving the forest rights to the Manjolai tea estate workers as per the Act, the officials are forcefully relocating them,” said Muthuraman in his complaint.