Centre Forms New Tea Board Sans Representatives of Small Growers

GUWAHATI: Small tea growers, who contribute nearly half of the tea production in the country, have not found any representation in the newly constituted Tea Board of India.

The Union Commerce Ministry constituted the new Tea Board on March 9 through an official notification. From Assam, Rupeash Gowala, general secretary of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha and Sunil Kirwai of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangha Karyalaya have been included in the new board.

The disappointing development has come despite the fact that the Tea Board of India last month had written to the Union Commerce Ministry requesting it to include representatives from the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association and All Assam Small Tea Growers Association in the new board.

“Even though we hoped that the Union Commerce Ministry will positively respond to our request, we could not help since it was a government decision. Going by contributions being made by small tea growers, the board should have their representatives,” a Tea official said.

Disappointed with the development, the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association has decided to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Commerce Ministry demanding inclusion of representatives of the association in the new board. The association will write to the Prime Minister after its national executive committee meeting scheduled to be held at Siliguri on March 16.

“Small growers produce 50 per cent of tea in the country. But it was shocking and surprising to find no representation in the Tea Board of India, the country’s tea regulator. The big tea lobby must have influenced the Union Commerce Ministry to deny inclusion of small tea growers’ representative in the new board,” an office-bearer of Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association said.

The All Assam Small Tea Growers Association said there are more than 1.4 lakh small tea growers in the State. “But it is sad to see no representative of the small tea growers in the Tea Board,” an office-bearer of the association said.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal last month appealed to the small tea growers to work dedicatedly to produce quality tea and capture the world market. Small tea growers are receiving financial incentives from the State Government under the new plantation scheme since 2016-17.

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