1. Short title, extent, commencement and application.—(1) This Act may be called the Plantations
Labour Act, 1951.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall come into force on such date2
as the Central Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, appoint
3
[(4) It applies to the following plantations, that is to say,—
(a) to any land used or intended to be used for growing tea, coffee, rubber 4
[, cinchona or
cardamom] which admeasures 5
[5 hectares] or more and in which 6
[fifteen] or more persons are
employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months;
(b) to any land used or intended to be used for growing any other plant, which admeasures 5
[5
hectares] or more and in which 6
[fifteen] or more persons are employed or were employed on any day
of the preceding twelve months, if, after obtaining the approval of the Central Government, the State
Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, so directs.
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[Explanation.—Where any piece of land used for growing any plant referred to in clause (a) or
clause (b) of this sub-section admeasures less than 5 hectares and is contiguous to any other piece of land
not being so used, but capable of being so used, and both such pieces of land are under the management
of the same employer, then, for the purposes of this sub-section, the piece of land first mentioned shall be
deemed to be a plantation, if the total area of both such pieces of land admeasures 5 hectares or more.]
(5) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that all or any of the
provisions of this Act shall apply also to any land used or intended to be used for growing any plant
referred to in clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (4), notwithstanding that—
1. The Act comes into force in Pondicherry on 1-10-1963 by Reg. 7 of 1963, s. 3 and Sch. I. The Act has been amended in Kerala
by Kerala Act 25 of 1969.
2. 1st April, 1954: see S.R.O. 880 dated 6th March, 1954, Gazette of India, 1954, Pt. II, Sec. 3, p. 530
3. Subs. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 2, for sub-section (4) (w.e.f. 21-11- 1960).
4. Subs. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 2, for "or cinchona" (w.e.f. 26-1- 1982).
5. Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for "10.117 hectares" (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
6. Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for "thirty" (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
7. Ins. by s. 2, ibid. (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
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(a) it admeasures less than 1
[5 hectares], or
(b) the number of persons employed therein is less than 2
[fifteen]:
Provided that no such declaration shall be made in respect of such land which admeasured less than
1
[5 hectares] or in which less than 2
[fifteen] persons were employed, immediately before the
commencement of this Act.]
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “adolescent” means a person who has completed his 3
[fourteenth] year but has not completed
his eighteenth year;
(b) “adult” means a person who has completed his eighteenth year;
(c) “child” means a person who has not completed his 3
[fourteenth] year;
(d) “day” means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at midnight;
(e) “employer” when used in relation to a plantation, means the person who has the ultimate
control over the affairs of the plantation, and where the affairs of any plantation are entrusted to any
other person (whether called a managing agent, manager, superintendent or by any other name) such
other person shall be deemed to be the employer in relation to that plantation;
4
[Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, "the person who has the ultimate control over the
the affairs of the plantation" means in the case of a plantation owned or controlled by—
(i) a company, firm or other association of individuals, whether incorporated or not, every
director, partner or individual;
(ii) the Central Government or State Government or any local authority, the person or persons
appointed to manage the affairs of the plantation; and
(iii) a lessee, the lessee;]
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[(ee) “family”, when used in relation to a worker, means—
(i) his or her spouse, and
(ii) the legitimate and adopted children of the worker dependent upon him or her, who have
not completed their eighteenth year,
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[and includes parents and widow sister, dependent upon him or her;]
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[(eee) “inspector” means an inspector of plantations appointed under sub-section (1) of section 4
and includes an additional inspector of plantations appointed under sub-section (1A) of that section;]
1. Subs. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 2, for "10.117 hectares" (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
2. Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for "thirty" (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
3. Subs. by Act 61 of 1986, s. 24, for “fifteenth” (w.e.f. 23-12-1986).
4. Ins. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 2 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
5. Ins. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 3 (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
6. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 2, for certain words (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
7. Ins. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 3 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
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[(f) “plantation” means any plantation to which this Act, whether wholly or in part, applies and
includes offices, hospitals, dispensaries, schools, and any other premises used for any purpose
connected with such plantation, but does not include any factory on the premises to which the
provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948) apply;]
(g) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
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[(h) “qualified medical practitioner” means a person holding a qualification granted by an
authority specified or notified under section 3 of the Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916 (7 of 1916),
or specified in the Schedules to the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956), and includes any
person having a certificate granted under any Provincial or State Medical Council Act;]
(i) “wages” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (h) of section 2 of the Minimum Wages Act,
1948 (11 of 1948);
(j) “week” means a period of seven days beginning at mid-night on Saturday night or such other
night as may be fixed by the State Government in relation to plantations in any area after such
consultation as may be prescribed with reference to the plantations concerned in that area;
3
[(k) “worker” means a person employed in a plantation for hire or reward, whether directly or
through any agency, to do any work, skilled, unskilled, manual or clerical 4
[and includes a person
employed on contract for more than sixty days in a year], but does not include—
(i) a medical officer employed in the plantation;
(ii) any person employed in the plantation (including any member of the medical staff) whose
monthly wages exceed 5
[rupees ten thousand];
(iii) any person employed in the plantation primarily in a 6
[managerial or administrative
capacity, notwithstanding that his monthly wages do not exceed ten thousand]; or
(iv) any person temporarily employed in the plantation in any work relating to the
construction, development or maintenance of buildings, roads, bridges, drains or canals;]
(l) “young person” means a person who is either a child or an adolescent.
3. Reference to time of day.—In this Act, references to time of day are references to Indian Standard
Time being five and a half hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time:
Provided that for any area in which the Indian Standard Time is not ordinarily observed, the State
Government may make rules—
(a) specifying the area;
1. Subs. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 3, for cl. (f) (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
2. Subs. by s. 3, ibid., for cl. (h) (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
3. Subs. by s. 3, ibid., for cl. (k) (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
4. Ins. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 2 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
5. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 2, for “rupees seven hundred and fifty” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
6. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 2, for “managerial capacity, notwithstanding that his monthly wages do not exceed rupees seven
hundred and fifty” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
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(b) defining the local mean time ordinarily observed therein; and
(c) permitting such time to be observed in all or any of the plantations situated in that area.