V. T. Sambanthan - Contributions

Contributions

In his own way, Sambanthan Thevar instituted some reforms among Indian plantation workers. For example, he promoted education and thrift among Indian workers, lobbied for the introduction of English language instruction in Tamil schools in Perak and for the transformation of the South Indian Immigration Labour Fund into an education fund for the children of plantation workers.

The greatest challenge that MIC faced during his presidency was the fragmentation of estates, the livelihood of almost all Indian workers. In a bid to help the fragmentation, the party sponsored cooperative efforts to acquire estates and prevent displacement of the workers.

In 1960 Tun V.T. Sambanthan Thevar touted the idea of a social co-operative to help plantation workers during the British land sell off. Tun Sambanthan Thevar and K. R. Somasundram worked closely to purchase their first estate at Bukit Sidim in that same year. The co-operative was later called National Land and Finance Co-operative Society (NLFCS).

He toured rubber plantations to persuade workers to buy shares in the cooperative; a worker with a registration fee of $2 and a share costing $100 (payable in instalments) could buy a stake in a plantation.

At the time of his death in 1979, the cooperative had bought over 18 estates, totalling 120 km² and had a membership of 85,000 workers. The Malayan Plantation Agencies administered the estates on behalf of the cooperative.

His wife, Toh Puan Umasundari Sambanthan served as chairman and director of the National Land Finance Co- operative Society (NLFC) from 1980 to 1995 and its president in 1995 and 1996.

K. R. Somasundram has since taken over the Chairmanship of the company upon the death of Tun Sambanthan Thevar and is still actively involved in the co-operative. Today NLFCS has 19 estates totalling 35,000 acres (142 km2), as well as investments in Palm Oil, Property and Banking.