The Hindu : National : `No child labour in 3 plantation industries'

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Wednesday, Jun 06, 2007
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National

`No child labour in 3 plantation industries'

Special Correspondent

Average daily wage of women is less

NEW DELHI: The Union Labour Ministry has claimed that there was no child labour in the tea, coffee and rubber plantation industries. Of the 9.78 lakh workers in these industries, 53.54 per cent are women, 45.25 per cent men and 1.21 per cent adolescent workers, says a report on Occupational Wage Survey (OWS) of the Labour Bureau.

The majority of the workers, constituting 89.48 per cent, are employed as "plantation labour," followed by "rubber tappers," who account for 3.80 per cent.

Rubber workers get more

Over 80 per cent are employed on a piece-rate system of wages, while others are employed on a time rate basis. The rubber plantation workers are the highest paid.

They get an average daily wage of Rs. 89.77, followed by Rs.71.66 in coffee plantations and Rs. 54.27 in tea plantations.

However, the overall daily wage rate of all workers in the three plantations stood at Rs.58.37.

Although women outnumbered men in employment, their average daily wage was found to be less than the latter in all three plantations, with the exception of one occupation each in coffee and tea plantations and three occupations in rubber plantation.

The report is part of the sixth round of the OWS with effect from 2002.

In all, 56 industries are to be covered under this round of the OWS.

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