An SOS from Tocklai

The Tocklai Tea Research Institute in Jorhat, which is the first institute of its kind in the world, has given yeoman’s service to India’s 183-year-old tea industry. But then all do not seem to be well with this premier institute. While resource crunch has remained the most important issue before it, negligence on the part of successive governments – be it in Dispur or in Delhi – has stood as the major hurdle in its proper functioning, not to speak of upgrading it into a university or a research organization which can be called an institute of national importance. Numerous research institutes in various fields which were established decades after Tocklai have marched ahead, leaving the world’s oldest institute working in the field of tea research in a vintage state. While the beginning of a new era of tea research in India was marked by the establishment of the Scientific Department of Indian Tea Association (ITA) in 1900, it was exactly eleven years later – in 1911 to be precise – that the Tocklai Experimental Station came into existence in Jorhat. The Tea Research Association (TRA) on the other hand came into being in 1964 with Tocklai becoming the epicentre of all research activities in the country. Going by the TRA’s website content, research on all aspects of tea cultivation and processing is even today carried out primarily at the Tocklai Tea Research Institute in Jorhat. Though it was initially called Tocklai Experimental Station, the Tea Research Association took over its management in 1964. And while the management was initially very good, it has rapidly deteriorated especially in the past three decades, which has pushed the premier institute into near darkness if not extinction altogether. It was in 2014, three years after it had completed one successful century of existence, that it got a new nomenclature, ie Tocklai Tea Research Institute. Tocklai on the other hand carries out transfer of technology to its member estates through its advisory network which covers as many as 1,076 tea estates. These tea estates in turn occupy a little over 3.41 lakh hectares of land which is spread over the whole of Assam, Tripura, Dooars, Darjeeling and Terai. Tocklai on the other had has its regional R&D Centre at Nagrakata in West Bengal. With the passage of time certain specific research activities however were taken out of Tocklai. These include research on pharmacological properties of black tea, which is carried out in Kolkata. Sadly, the name-change that took place in 2014 has not brought about any significant change in its functioning, prompting Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to constitute an expert panel to study the various issues related to Tocklai’s ailments. This eight-member committee headed by the former Gauhati University vice-chancellor Mridul Hazarika, constituted to look into the problems and issues affecting the performances of tea industry in the state and diminishing role of Tocklai Tea Research Institute, had submitted its report to Chief Minister Sonowal on December 23, 2019. More than six weeks have passed since submission of that report, but nothing much has been heard about what the Government proposes to do in view of the various recommendations that it has made. While Tocklai gets a sizeable portion of its fund by way of subscription from the different tea companies, the Ministry of Commerce fulfils its balance fund need through the Tea Board in the form of grant-in-aid. But then, most tea companies have, in the past few years, begun a kind of chorus, complaining the health of the industry is not at all well. The big companies owned by multi-nationals continue to draw profit and invest most portion of it outside Assam. But despite the sad song that most companies have been singing, what has been observed is that several entities from other fields have started acquiring stakes and even buying up entire companies. The Assam Company Ltd, established way back in 1839 and continues to remain the oldest tea company in the world, for instance, has only recently changed hands. As far as Tocklai’s employees are concerned, they have been on strike off and on, alleging that they have not received several salary components like insurance and provident fund for years. Fresh recruitment of scientists and smooth conduct of research work has also remained in a limbo for years. What the Government of India should do is to immediately upgrade this premier institute to a University or an Institute of National Importance. This can be best done in a PPP mode, comprising the Union Government, the State Government and the tea industry. After all, no industry can survive without R&D. Tea being the lifeline industry of Assam which has provided jobs to several lakh people, it is the bounden duty of Chief Minister Sonowal to urgently place the Tocklai case before the Prime Minister. Tocklai is Assam’s pride.