Treat upCountry and Northern Tamils alike: Mano

President RanilW has travelled to the north, opened up a presidential secretariat sub office with expressions of positive notions and has assured to appoint multiple numbers of committees to resolve the land, housing, health, and irrigation issues of the Tamil community.   

We welcome these gestures and hope they will produce results at the ground level.   

We now request president to show the same gesture to the Upcountry Tamil community within which the plantation segment which has been identified as the most vulnerable segment by the UN and World Bank.   

We trust the president should be aware of the fact that food insecurity in Sri Lanka is highest in the estate sector at 51% while 43% at Urban sector and at 34% in Rural sector.   The World bank has reported that country’s poverty rate has climbed to 26% and  is at 53% in the estates.   

In addition, UN special rapporteur Tomoya Obokata on contemporary forms of slavery has taken up the issues of the plantations.” Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) leader Mano Ganesan said.   Ganesan further said, The President has already informed me of his intention to visit the up country next.

We have already appealed to him for a special presidential commission to study and come out with proposals to address the issues of the working people who live in the plantations.   
We wanted a special affirmative action programme to address marginalization and vulnerability of the plantation people.   

Next year will mark the 200th year of the establishment of the tea, rubber and coffee plantation in Sri Lanka. Behind this are the hard work and sacrifices of the plantation workers that has been bringing the highest forex revenue to this country over the past 200 years.    Hence, this segment of people can’t be ignored and left high and dry anymore.   
Any and all restructure plans of the plantation industry, shall take the all-important human element, the plantation workers, into account. 

 
The Goal of Tamil people of recent Indian origin is nothing but mainstreaming as full citizens in Sri lankan polity. Sri lankan establishment should be happy about this goal.