HAVE A NICE CUP OF TEA!

It was just a fingerprint! But Manickam signed one of the most important documents of his life with it. That fingerprint gained him the right to receive a monthly pension for the next 15 years - a novelty in a country like India. Manickam has just turned 58 years old; he has worked on a Tea estate up in the West Ghats Mountains of in Southern India for the last 41 years.
Years ago, when he was young and strong, the strenuous work between the tea bushes under a scorching sun lugging heavy baskets and sacks full of freshly plucked tea leaves was easy. But now, Manickam wishes to retire.
On the whole this is almost impossible in India. Pension schemes aren’t widespread, and often only amount to little more than 200 Indian Rupees/month, about 5 Euro.

On the Nilgiris Estate, the workers enjoy a much better position. They can retire when they reach 58 and receive a pension of 800 – 1200 Rupees/month, depending on the period they worked on the estate. To qualify for the pension scheme of 800 Rupees the workers of the estate must have been under contract for at least the last 20 years, to qualify for 1200 Rupees/month: 30 years.
The pension fund was started in 1995. By 1997, the first pensioners received their monthly payments. Today the pension fund has become sustainable, and the interest earned will enable the next generations to enjoy this little luxury. This luxury is even more significant when you take into account the fact that the workers have to leave the plantation - their only home for the last 30 years – after retirement without any social security.

The “Pension Fund” project was jointly initiated and managed by the workers and managers of the estate. In addition, many other projects strive to improve the living conditions of more than 3000 workers on the Estate. Computers in schools, a school bus, vaccinations of the workers, basic medical care are only some of these projects.

The setup of the pension fund was financed by Fairtrade premiums.
Each kg of fairtrade labeled tea sold enables one of the fantastic projects to take place in Asia and Africa. For teas with a CTC production method as well as for orthodox fanning’s and dusts, 0.5 Euro are transferred directly to the workers. All other teas manufactured with the orthodox method have a premium of 1 Euro per Kg.

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