International Tea Day: All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association (AASTGA) cry for remunerative prices

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: On International Tea Day today, the All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association (AASTGA) rued the fact that even as Assam Tea completed 200 years, the small tea growers of the state do not get remunerative prices for the green tea leaves they produce. And this is despite the fact that small tea growers contribute over 50 percent of the production of green tea leaves in the state.

Talking to The Sentinel today, Krishna Prasad Sarma, general secretary of the Jorhat district committee of the All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association, said, “We are proud of the tea industry in Assam completing 200 years and the small tea growers of the state contributing to the industry. We have all along been demanding a mandatory MSP (Minimum Support Price) of Rs 30 per kg of green tea leaves produced by the small tea growers in the state. However, our demand continues to fall on the deaf ears of the State Government and the Tea Board of India.”

Sarma said, “Of course, the Tea Board of India fixes district-wise minimum benchmark prices (MBPs) of green tea leaves produced by small tea growers in the state. And the MBPs change from month to month. In April this year, the Tea Board of India fixed the MBP for the Jorhat district at Rs 30 per kg of green tea leaves. However, in that month, the bought tea leaf factories of the Jorhat district paid the small tea growers at Rs 20–23 per kg, Rs 25–27 per kg in the first week of May, and for a few days they paid at Rs 20–25 per kg. According to the rules, the bought tea leaf factories should pay the small tea growers at the minimum benchmark prices and at higher prices for quality green tea leaves. I feel like reminding the State Government that the small tea growers of the state are indigenous youths of the state who deserve the government’s attention. Our cost of production comes around Rs 19 per kg of green tea leaves.”

Sarma further said, “Each district has a monitoring committee with the deputy commissioner as its chairperson to monitor the prices of green tea leaves. Even after the beginning of the tea season this year, the tea monitoring committee of the Jorhat district has not held a single meeting. The last such meeting held in the district was in November 2022. The government needs to pay attention to the fact that the district tea monitoring committees hold meetings at a regular interval to keep tabs on the prices of green tea leaves. We met the Jorhat district administration twice this year to hold the meeting of the monitoring committee, but to no avail.”

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