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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report. It also takes note of the comments supplied by the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers' Union, received in May 1999, on the poverty and the sad situation of rural workers and the lack of workers' organizations in the agricultural sector.

The Committee recalls the information provided by the Government in its previous reports to the effect that agricultural workers in Sri Lanka can be categorized into two main sectors: the plantation sector and the non-plantation sector. The Government stated that the plantation workers were well organized and were members of long-established major trade unions. It indicated that the non-plantation workers were mostly self-employed and grouped under farmers' associations, that a few of them worked for wages often on a seasonal basis, and that they were poorly organized. In its latest report, the Government states that there is no restriction for self-employed to organize themselves but adds that no data is available to show the number of trade unions of self-employed or on their membership.

The Committee considers that there is an important gap in the legislation as self-employed persons engaged in agriculture are not covered by the Trade Union Ordinance, 1935, as amended, and that the Government should take appropriate measures to modify existing statutory laws or enact new laws in relation to agricultural workers and their right to establish organizations, like industrial workers, in order to comply with its obligation to respect and fully apply this Convention.

Therefore, the Committee asks the Government to provide in its next report detailed information on any legislative and other measures taken or contemplated to ensure specifically that those engaged in agriculture enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, and to repeal any statutory or other provisions restricting such rights.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2000.]