ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the enactment of the legislation by and large happened in the overall context of assertion of India's constitutional principles of development with justice and equity, and there was no significant involvement of the trade unions of tea plantations in it. The economic and social implications of a piece of law differentially understood and interpreted by the planters and the workers, the former as empowering and the latter as cost enhancing. The chapter examines the reasons for this differential interpretation by delving into the historical context that brought Plantation Labour Act 1951 (PLA) into existence and its practice by various actors. The PLA provides for the welfare of labour by way of ensuring medical facilities, canteens, crches, recreational facilities, suitable accommodation and educational facilities for the children of plantation workers in and around the work places in the plantation estate. Social cost of tea production has been an issue of intense debate in recent years.
