49th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Tea Association of India Barak Valley Branch, held in Cachar Club

Silchar: The 49th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Tea Association of India (TAI) Barak Valley Branch, Silchar was held in Cachar Club, Silchar recently, where a considerable number of tea garden owners, tea estate management, government officials and Trade Union Leaders participated. The Barak Valley in the south of Assam is an important tea growing area with 101 tea estates of which 70% tea estates are the members of Tea Association of India (TAI).

In the meeting in the dais were Moloy Bora, IAS, (Retd.) Electricity Ombudsman, Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission, Akhileswr Singh, IG, BSF, Massimpur, PK Bhattacharjee, Secretary General, Tea Association of India, Kolkata, Sushil Kumar Singh, Chairman, TAI Barak Valley Branch, Sorodindu Bhattacharjee, Secretary, TAI Barak Valley Branch. The meeting was conducted by Sorodindu Bhattacharjee, Secretary, TAI Barak Valley Branch.

In his inaugural address Sushil Kumar Singh, Chairman, TAI Barak Valley Branch dealt at length on the problems and future road map of the tea industry of Barak Valley area. He was emphatic that while tea industry in Assam has completed 200 glorious years of existence, the tea industry of Assam stand on the edge of uncertainty and warned that in Cachar the industry is on the brink of terminal decline. He attributed the unfavourable geographical location of the tea gardens as well as increased input cost of coal, electricity as well as fertilizer by 8% to 15% in relation to very sluggish increase of tea prices in the tea auction centres by a mere 3% to be the main cause for this impending disaster of the industry. The tea estates of Barak Valley area is also plagued by scarcity of work force and the low productivity of workers. The ageing tea bushes of the plantations as well as emerging new tea plant diseases have added to the woes of the tea planters.

Mentioning the steps taken by the Tea Association of India (TAI) to bring these problems to the notice of the government, Singh mentioned about the representation as well as the proposal submitted before the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India as well as to the Chief Minister of Assam.

While thanking the Assam government for the various welfare scheme launched for benefits of tea estate workers, he emphasized the need for continuous electricity supply, assistance in generation of solar power and setup of coal depot at Barak Valley and also ranting subsidized rate of gas for tea factories of Barak Valley area. He urged for proper infrastructure particularly road as well as banking infrastructure to be provided by the Central as well as the State government.

Speaking on the occasion, Moloy Bora urged the gathering to rally together to overcome the challenges faced by the tea industry in Barak Valley. He specifically mentioned about the strong taste of Barak Valley Tea and urged that this unique character which is advantageous for brewing milk tea should be highlighted as Barak Tea for Kadak Tea. He advised TAI to give representation before the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission regarding the problems of electricity. Akhileswr Singh, IG, BSF praised the strong tea of Barak Valley and advised the gathering to take steps for turning around the tea industry as tea is a drink not only for the country but all over the world. He emphasized that it is the strong tea in most inhospitable regions climates which make the armed forces to do their duty 24/7. PK Bhattacharjee, Secretary General, Tea Association of India, speaking on the occasion dealt in a macro perspective of the tea industry emphasized the need for boosting export and also the need for making quality tea and to adhere to the FSSAI standards, stated a press release.