Boon for estate dwellers

According to a story of our weekend newspaper the Sunday Observer a large stock of books are to be distributed among 80 Estate schools and libraries in the Nuwara-eliya District.

According to Justice Minister V.Puththirasigamony who represents the Estate sector this is the first time such a large consignment of library and school books has been received by schools and libraries in the Nuwara-eliya District.

The question is whether the estate youth be able to benefit by this generosity given the large scale illiteracy prevalent in the estate sector. As is commonly known the estate community had been the most backward in the sphere of education. For them there is hardly any life outside the tea estates and line rooms.

Very few break out of this vicious circle. They lived the lives of bonded slaves under the British planters and colonial and not much has changed in their attitudes and outlook.

They prefer to wallow in their misery and be straitjacketed into a life of labour with little reward. Their children had hardly seen the inside of schools which until very recently had been in a primitive state and invariably were driven to take after their parents as tea pluckers or estate labourers.

Politicians who represented the community allowed the status quo to prevail fearing any enlightenment on the part of this segment would see through their charade. Today there are hardly any academic achievers from the estate sector when even a student languishing in a refugee camp obtained the highest marks at a scholarship exam.

This segment had been putty in the hands of plantation politicians over the years due to their ignorance and illiteracy. But this cannot be allowed to continue for too long. Thus it is to the credit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa that he has taken a direct responsibility to ameliorate the conditions of the estate community since assuming office and is directing vast improvements particularly in the areas of education and housing.

As a segment that is contributing immensely to a vital sector of the country’s economy it is only fair that justice be done by this community. There is a need for solid measures to deliver this segment out of the poverty trap and make them a vibrant voice in the national polity.

The time has come to stop them from being led by the nose by unscrupulous politicians who make hay exploiting the ignorance and backwardness of this community. Their contribution to the national economy is far too important to let them languish.

It is hoped that what has been commenced to improve the knowledge of the estate students would be expanded to cover a wider field enabling them to obtain a sound education that would see them go places of their own volition. Measures should also be taken to rid them out of their siege mentality.

It is this factor more than any their that hinders their prospects and stifles progress. They have been living as supplicants of their political masters and are reluctant to break out of this cocoon.

Steps should be taken to deliver them of their present mindset by instilling a new confidence in their lot. Today there are an army of estate youth who are idle and according to reports the plantation sector has to highest rate of alcoholism.

This idleness poses danger since it may make them easy prey in the hands of the LTTE to be recruited for its vile deeds. Already there are rumblings in the hill country of incursions by the terrorist outfit.

Poverty, ignorance and isolation are fertile grounds for any evil force to exploit. We should therefore remove the causes that make these elements stray from their natural path. The Government should commence more programmes of interaction with the estate community.

They should also be guided to take up other forms of employment away from the drudgery of estate life. The Estates offer vast potential for development of alternate economic avenues. Not much of the Estate sector had been tapped for the development of tourism.

Other than its scenic aspect the hill country has a rich culture of colonial vintage that could be used to attract Western tourists which in turn could be an alternative source of employment for estate youth.

This segment should be provided with the education and wherewithal to stand up on their feet instead of being held captive by politicians. A larger scale programme should be mapped out to tap the hidden potential of estate youth and direct them on an alternate course free of the shackles that has stifled their initiatives and enslaved them all these years.