independent assessment of the appl action plan

2017 !1

INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THE APPL ACTION PLAN SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY SOLIDARIDAD IN NAHORANI AND NAMROOP TEA ESTATES

Solidaridad Independent Assessment

2017 !2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In 2013 there were many allegations of poor living and working conditions in Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited (APPL), a company in which Tata Global Beverages Limited (TGBL) is a significant shareholder. In 2014, TGBL requested Solidaridad to conduct an independent assessment of the living and working conditions in the tea gardens of APPL. The research carried out by Solidaridad's senior tea industry experts was received by TGBL in early June 2014. TGBL welcomed the recommendations put forward in this report and worked with APPL and Solidaridad in reviewing the recommendations for action. Based on a detailed assessment of action areas, requirements and corresponding resources, APPL is now pursuing a phased Action Plan.

However, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) report presented in 2016 was critical of the monitoring process of social and environmental compliances in APPL. At present APPL is implementing a comprehensive and time-bound action plan titled Project Unnati to address shortcomings and legacy issues in major areas such as human health, worker health and safety, housing, and sanitation infrastructure. The target date for several of the action points falls around March 2017.

To have continuity with the previous work, Solidaridad did with APPL and given its extensive experience on this subject, Solidaridad was requested to conduct an annual review of the progress made by APPL. It was further requested to identify opportunities for improvement and develop an action plan for any further undertakings in consultation with the APPL management, the Employee Engagement Councils, TGBL, and IFC. The aim of the research were as following: • To conduct a detailed assessment of the status of implementation of the APPL Action Plan and report on their progress

clubbed into five broad areas: a) labour issues, b) infrastructure development, c) health and nutrition, d) shares issued to the workers in two estates, Nahorani and Namroop, e) other general areas

• To conduct an anonymous employee perception survey using a representative sample to assess their satisfaction with the improvements taking place and what additional initiatives may be needed.

• To identify opportunities for improvement and develop a time-bound action plan with the APPL management, the Employee Engagement Councils, TGBL, and IFC.

As part of the research we have provided a series of recommendations to improve wherever possible. We do hope that these recommendations would make APPL, as well as TGBL, more competitive in the tea industry. Many of the problems require involvement of all stakeholders in the tea industry and can’t be solved individually by one company. We hope the findings of the study would help in setting up a committee that would work towards attaining some of the shortfalls which still persist. The research was conducted by the team of experienced planters and sustainability professionals comprising of Dr Shatadru Chattopadhayay, Ranjan Circar, SK Das and Uddhab Chandra Sarma. The research was statistically supported by Sanjay Chaubey.


Solidaridad

Dr Shatadru Chattopadhayay Managing Director

2017 !3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The study used four globally accepted social research methods for this survey. 1. Desk research The desk research analysed data from existing resources. The report consulted the Ombudsman report, Colombia law school report, TISS social audit, 2014 and APPL internal compliance reports.

2. Field Research The observation method was employed by our team to watch the developments in the gardens and interpret them based on our several years of experience. Observation acts as a fundamental and basic method of getting information about research. We carefully watched the situation in the two tea estates and tried to understand them in depth, in order to get relevant information about them. We used the covert observation technique. With covert or unobtrusive observation, those being observed are unaware of the researcher. Also, we created a list of documents that each estate manager should possess to validate the claims of progress made by APPL on the Action Plan. Evidences were collected for all the 39 Action Points against its stated completion dates. We have tried to co-relate the documentary evidences with our own observations in the field related to the progress made by APPL on the Action Plan. 3. Semi-structured interviews in the field Direct interviews are when we ask someone questions face-to-face or over the telephone. Here we used the unstructured or semi-structured interview method. We spoke to relevant persons and followed-up on things they have said. 4. Workers Perception Survey A relevant questionnaire was developed based on the findings of secondary research and field interviews. We randomly selected 50 households from the two selected tea estates. To ensure complete neutrality, we got the surveys conducted by local students. These students were from a social work educational background. The findings were analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and the reports thus prepared were assessed alongside findings through other methods.

5. Limitations The research was restricted to the Nahorani and Namrup tea estates of APPL. In our view, coverage of only two estates doesn’t allow us to provide a conclusive evidence of what has changed in the entire APPL group of estates. Hence, our findings would be restricted to only the two estates we covered in this phase and should not be construed as an overall assessment of APPL. However, we did review some of the documentary evidences provided to us from the Guwahati office of APPL for the entire group and, based on those documentation, we have tried to provide some general recommendations.


SOLIDARIDAD

2017 !4

ASSESSMENT SUMMARY Labour issues

Freedom of Association It is a fact that a strong trade union movement is lacking in the Assam tea gardens and the movement has been traditionally dominated by ACMS. There are other unions present, but none have enough participation of the workers that will enable them to be recognised as true worker’s representatives. The situation in APPL is like any other major tea producing company in Assam. We didn’t find any evidence in the two gardens we covered that APPL staff have influenced in any way the trade union formation in the garden. Solidaridad had previously recommended that APPL could form a Estate Employees Council (EEC) in each estate that will meet at least once a month to discuss critical issues around welfare, health and sanitation, among others and further strengthen processes for tracking redressal of issues raised, discussion on long pending housing and/or worker housing infrastructure upgrade concerns, discussion on effectiveness of measures being implemented by the company under various action plans, and sharing information about the EEC deliberations and decisions with the entire worker community. In our assessment, we found that EEC meetings are regularly organised. We checked documents and interviewed the workers in both Nahorani and Namrup estates and found that EEC was active and meetings are held every month. More than 50% women are members of EEC. The EEC is a good practice which could be adopted by other tea plantations. However, we observed some scope of improvement in this good practice around EEC. The EEC has no set and clearly communicated selection criteria for its members. The workers survey showed that workers are not fully aware on how to be members of EEC and what are the rights and responsibilities of be members. It was also not clear if the members were representing the workforce through a democratic election process as it should be or they were nominated. Allegation of benefitting from child labour Solidaridad team did not find any evidence of APPL benefitting from the work of child labour. Overall, the APPL group garden population is 137,508, out of which 28,543 are permanent workers. But on the top of that there are 20,028 temporary workers. With such large number of temporary workers, there are no requirements for child labour. In fact, one of the pressing problems is that today none of the youngsters or teenagers are willing to work as a tea pluckers. We interviewed many workers and their sole ambition is to ensure that their children do better than them.


2017 !5

Allegations of economic displacement as a result of the fisheries project Solidaridad had previously investigated this allegation in 10 APPL estates and found that the allegations were not correct. There was no violation of any law by APPL that we came across in pursuance of its non-tea agricultural programme in the 10 gardens we surveyed. In 2014, we found that indeed contracts were given (i.e. in Nahorani) using inappropriate phrases like “regular temporary employment in perpetuity”. Hence, we had recommended that either these workers be regularised and made permanent workers with all fringe benefits or they could be given the government approved minimum wages for non-tea agricultural activities. To our satisfaction, we observed that all the workers associated with fisheries have been given formal employment by Nahorani. Migration of workers What we witness is a spike in migration from both the gardens in the last three years. Nahorani survey has revealed an increase in migration outside tea estates from different workers families from 6% in 2014 to 28% in 2017. What was surprising is even from Upper Assam which didn’t see much of migration earlier are showing 30% of workforce having family members getting jobs outside the garden. The tea plantation youth face a serious challenge today. The boys and girls have higher educated than their parents. Television consistently shows the dreams of making it big in mega cities like New Delhi and cheaper cell phones with internet has opened them up to the whole world. None of them want to work in the tea estates as a tea pluckers any more. Further, the rapid increase in population within the estates is leading to a reduction in opportunities within the tea industry and there is hardly any meaningful employment in the vicinity. We witnessed that APPL management has acted upon the recommendations of Solidaridad from the previous assessment and have taken the following steps:

Awareness campaigns on trafficking have been conducted with renowned NGO - Bachpan Bachao Andolan. ADWR an NGO run by the Baptist Christian Hospital (BCH), Tezpur have conducted anti-trafficking programme was held for the North bank gardens – Majuli, Hattigor and Nahorani. The NGO continue to have an ongoing programme on anti-trafficking at Nahorani. Muskan Clubs are well functioning in both Nahorani and Namroop and are conducting skit plays highlighting the need for greater awareness on migration and trafficking The Nahorani estate has initiated a very novel step of maintaining a register of all the people migrating out of the garden.


2017 !6

Health and safety of the workforce

The two estates we surveyed have phased out pesticides of WHO Class 1a and 1b hazard classification including putting in place control procedures to prevent inadvertent use. Approved quality of PPE kits were purchased and are made available in the gardens. The workers are using it. Separate wash stations and changing rooms were constructed for workers involved in spraying. Regular medical check-ups of spraying workers are taking place The workers survey shows that in Nahorani 100 percent of the workforce are using PPEs. In Namrup the numbers are a bit lower at 88 percent. However, this is expected because there is a traditional resistance against using PPEs by the workers in hot and humid climate.

Infrastructure development

Housing shortage As per the Form 12 there were no shortage in housing for both Namroop and Nahorani. The company however maintains an internal census survey of the population and housing. The census survey shows shortages in housing. It is advisable to maintain only one report on the actual requirement of houses, toilets, bathrooms and other statutory requirements under PLA. House repairs In the previous survey by Solidaridad, we witnessed leaky roofs, cracked walls, missing windows and doors which were the main issues with regard to repair and maintenance. In the Nahorani Tea Estate in 2008, out of the total 915 labour quarters, 790 needed major repairs. The estimated budget for such repair was Rs. 93,81,000. During February 2014, only 167 houses were repaired and 623 families were waiting for their turn several years after filing a complaint. We found APPL management has taken concrete action in this area. Nahorani renovated 67 workers’ quarters spending Rs. 48.30 lakhs in 2014-15, 17 were repaired in 2015-16 spending Rs.6.50 lakhs and another 17 were repaired by the first quarter of 2016-17. In total, 101 houses were repaired for a cost of approximately Rs. 60.5 lakhs. However, it was not clear what are the plans for the 522 remaining houses to be repaired by 2019 and how much it would cost. In Namroop, there are 71 houses which have been repaired under Project Unnati since 2015. There is a backlog of 169 houses that needs to be repaired by 2019. The list provided to us didn’t refer to new house repair complaints that might have come in-between our last survey in 2014 and May 2017. Those backlogs need to be added to the target.


2017 !7

Quality and regularity of repairs We visited randomly selected labour lines where repairs have taken place and found that repairs have been completed to the satisfaction of the worker. The workers also shared that complaints related to house repairs are getting redressed in a timelier manner by the company than earlier. Conservatories In the 2014 survey Solidaridad recommended that out of 915 latrines in Nahorani tea estate, 326 of them needed major repairs. In May 2017, we observed that 10 new toilets were constructed and 489 toilets were repaired with an expenditure of Rs. 46.5 lakhs. In addition, APPL has made a significant investment in bio toilets. It installed 146 bio toilets on an experimental basis across different estates which has cost the company roughly Rs. 54.75 lakhs. In Nahorani, 10 such bio-toilets were installed at a cost of approximately Rs. 3.8 Lakhs. We selected different labour quarters from the line list and undertook visits to each of the lines in both the estates and found the toilets are now regularly maintained. There was 100% response by the workers surveyed in terms of clean and hygienic toilet facilities at the labour lines. In 2014 the response rate was only 26% and hence there is a major improvement in cleaning the toilets. APPL management have introduced a mechanical truck based septic tank cleaner. The introduction of such mechanical septic tank cleaning has speeded up the process of cleaning. Bathing units APPL as per recommendation have initiated constructing new bathrooms across the group. Nahorani had a shortfall of 912 bathrooms in 2014 and still has a shortfall of 701 bathrooms to be completed by 2019. Namroop had a shortfall of 380 units in 2014 and still has a shortfall of 252 bathrooms. In Nahorani, we found that 211, and in Namroop 128, bathrooms have been constructed till 2016-17 and the balance are to be constructed in a phased manner. We verified through random check whether these bathrooms have actually been constructed and being used by the workers. All the bathrooms were functional and have not been converted into storage rooms or goat stables. We realised that if there are clean bathrooms made available to the workers with water availability, they indeed use it for bathing purposes. This comes out clearly from the survey results also. As per the capital expenditure figures available, the construction cost per bathroom is around Rs. 21,754. Going by this estimate there is a need for investing just Rs. 2,07,31,562 for bathroom construction in the present and next financial years to meet the deadline in Nahorani and Namroop alone. It raises the question of economic feasibility and completion by 2019.


2017 !8

Water points APPL has taken up an ambitious programme of providing one water point for each house even when the PLA requirement is only one water point for three houses. In Nahorani we observed that provision has been made to provide piped water and that 75 water platforms have been repaired and 30 new water platforms have been constructed. In Namroop, all the colonies are connected with piped water.

Electricity We had recommended in our previous survey on two aspects related to electricity connections:

• Implement individual metering along with cluster metering across all plantations • Arrangement of supply of electricity from government electricity boards at residential rates should be

facilitated across the plantations APPL as per the documents shared have completed individual metering in 21 estates. Execution in the rest of the estates is being pursued with the authorities. Namroop has implemented it fully but it is in the process of being implemented in Nahorani where due to non-payment of electricity bills, the electricity connection to the workers line has been discontinued. However, the State Government is in the process of giving individual meters along with the restoration of supply. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Worker Committee, Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) and the Estate Management for supply of electricity. For both the estates, billing is being done as per the special domestic rates levied by the State Government for 15,536 workers’ quarters/houses. The government has given the responsibility of monitoring the colony electrification to a committee formed by the workers and for this purpose they give a discount of Rs 1.01 per unit in the billing.

Construction of drains In May 2017, we found that all the drains have been cleaned once. However, they suffer from design problems. APPL have set up a target of constructing cemented drains in all worker colonies by March 2019. However, only Nahorani has constructed one concrete drain at Worker’s Colony No.20 spending Rs.7.03 lakhs. Namroop is yet to initiate the process. A clear strategy that addresses the issue of drainage system in the labour lines are found to be missing.


2017 !9

Shares to the workers Share distribution The share distribution was done without any force by the management in the two estates and was purchased by employees out of free will. The workers perception survey results pointed towards this fact in 2014 and also in 2017.

Salary and dividend slip All the workers in both the estates receive pay slips in local language which reflects the deductions made for the shares. A separate dividend intimation slip is also provided to the workers. Share trading In spite of paying off the loan, the employees are not in possession of share certificates. They are also not sure how to sell their shares if they want to. APPL management needs to hand over the share certificates and educate the employees on how to sell their shares if they want to. Financial literacy training Through our interviews and also through our survey we found the workers were not able to fully benefit from training organised by different organisations at different times. It is advisable that APPL management reviews the training methods, curricula and participation of workers in such training. We also recommend that APPL could desist from hiring multiple training organisations on an ad-hoc basis. It can give the contract to one credible organisation to conduct the programme across the group gardens with a clear curriculum, and assess the impact of the training imparted on a regular basis.

Health and Nutrition Medical services A roaster for doctors’ attendance has been initiated and surveys showed that doctors’ availability is now known to the workers. The OPD timings at the estate hospitals have also been extended to 5 p.m. so that workers get adequate medical support through the day. All the workers we interviewed were satisfied with the quality of health care they are getting from the estate hospitals. The e-healthcare centres are connected under the hub and spoke model at RHRC, Chubwa and are working successfully and APPL may consider extending it to other gardens in collaboration with HP. Health and hygiene New smokeless chullahs have been provided in Nahorani which are highly appreciated by the workers. Namroop estate is yet to implement it. Kitchens have been reconstructed in both the estates. Nahorani has


2017 !10

also distributed Tata Swach water filters to all permanent workers. Namroop is yet to do that. All the drains are regularly cleaned.

Kitchen gardens Not adequate progress has been made on kitchen gardens. Both the estates have taken measures to develop and display nutrition charts in the hospitals, but its impact is not known.

Other issues

Dedicated team for implementation of the Action Plan A committee has been set up for implementing the Action Plan of APPL. But the terms of reference of this committee was not available. APSITE It was not clear how APSITE would be fully rolled out by October 2017 across all gardens. The level of preparedness either at Guwahati or at the gardens was not visible. Consultations on Draft Action Plan Both the estate managements were fully on the loop regarding the Draft Action Plan targets. However, other stakeholders like workers could not share if they have accessed the full Action Plan.


2017 !11

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Estate Employees Council (EEC): Develop a clear guideline on the roles and functioning of EECs including who could become members, how the workers’ representatives are representing the workers in the estate, their rights and responsibilities as members. This guideline should be translated into the local language and communicated to the workers in the estates. Further, the process of agenda setting in EEC and communication about the decision taken needs to be streamlined. 2. Migration from the estates: A very effective initiative of maintaining a register for relatives of tea workers going outside the garden is maintained. We recommend it should contain the contact details of the employer so that remediation could take place in case any complaint is raised. Impact assessment of several initiatives undertaken by local NGOs be conducted and be placed before the APPL Action Plan monitoring committee for further action. 3. House construction: It is advisable to follow a uniform system of measurement of infrastructure related shortfalls of houses in both census report and Form 12. Also, the census reports should be numbered and signed by a competent authority so that one is sure if the version used is the official one. 4. House repairs: There is a massive back-log in Nahorani on house repairs. We recommend that house repair targets are broken down on a yearly basis and divided per estate. Further, an assessment of budget required to fulfil this requirement be made. Also, the repair requirements need to be updated on an annual basis. 5. Toilets: Analyse the impact of the bio-toilets for which major investments have been made and document the reasons for discontinuing such an initiative. 6. Bathrooms: There is a massive back-log in Nahorani and Namroop on bathroom construction and we presume the same may be true for other estates not covered in our survey. We recommend that the targets are broken down on a yearly basis and estate wise. Further, we recommend that APPL conduct a financial analysis of the amount needed to construct all the bathrooms across its gardens by 2019. 7. Water points: APPL needs to develop a strategy paper and budget estimate with yearly targets per estate for attaining its own stated objective of providing one water point per house. 8. Electricity: Nahorani estate needs to take measures to reconnect the electricity connection in both the divisions. Absence of electricity for months may cause serious security issues. Further, the process for individual metering could be facilitated by the management. 9. Cleaning of drains: Develop a clear strategy and set year wise as well as estate wise targets for constructing cemented drains. 10. Share trading: The share certificates earlier distributed should be handed over to the employees. Further, clarity needs to be provided if the shares could be traded.


2017 !12

11. Financial literacy training: It is advisable that the APPL management reviews the financial literacy training methods, curricula and participation of workers in such training. We also recommend that APPL could desist from hiring multiple training organisations on an ad-hoc basis. It can give the contract to one credible organisation to conduct the programme across the group gardens with a clear curriculum, and assess the impact of the training imparted on a regular basis.

12. Medical services: The e-healthcare centres connected under the hub and spoke model at RHRC Chubwa is a fantastic innovation and is working successfully. APPL may consider extending it to other gardens in collaboration with Hewlett Packard who are supporting the initiative. 13. Health and hygiene: New smokeless stoves have been provided in Nahorani which are highly appreciated by the workers. Namroop estate is yet to implement it. There is a need to look at the possibility of providing double burner stoves to discourage workers from using firewood in addition to the smokeless stoves. The workers are finding a single burner not adequate to cook food for the entire family within a limited time period. 14. Kitchen gardens: Not much progress has been made on the kitchen gardens. There is huge potential to address nutrition issues in the tea gardens by leveraging the potentials of the kitchen gardens and fallow lands which are yet to be tapped. 15. Dedicated team for implementation: A committee has been set up for implementing the Action Plan of APPL. However, we recommend that it also gets a representative from Tata Global Beverages Limited and IFC which are the majority shareholders in the company. We also recommend that some of the workers’ representatives in the Employees Council be made part of this committee. At some stage, it could also be considered to bring in knowledge resources from outside the company into this committee. A term of reference should be drawn up for this committee that lays down its mandate. 16. APSITE: It was not clear how APSITE would be fully rolled out by October 2017 across all gardens. We recommend that APPL focuses on the impact of APSITE rather than compliances with 11 international standards that this software promises to deliver. A mechanism should be developed to capture such impacts across social, ecological, agronomical, community, gender and other aspects. 17. Third party to conduct evaluation of the Action Plan’s implementation: It is an excellent initiative to seek third party review of the progress. However, it should include coverage of at least 50% of all the estates in order to come to a definitive conclusion on the progress made.

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independent assessment of the appl action plan

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