Brewing inequality: the unseen cost of Sri Lanka's Ceylon Tea

AgriculturePlantation workers, especially India-origin Malaiyaha Tamils, face historical legacyMalaiyaha women pluck tea in Sri Lanka's up-country. Tea plantation laborers are grappling with low wages, rising living expenses, and limited access to basic infrastructure and essential services. (Photo by Munza Mushtaq)MUNZA MUSHTAQAugust 29, 2026 08:31 JSTCOLOMBO -- Before sunrise each morning, 67-year-old Meenarasi Nesan leaves her compact home in Kandapola, a tea-growing town in Sri Lanka's central highlands. By 5 a.m., she has prepared tea, packed a simple meal of rice and lentils and checked on her daughter and grandchildren before departing to begin the climb into the mist-covered hills where she works.