GOLAGHAT: A large number of small tea growers of the state staged a protest alleging that they are being deprived of receiving the actual price stipulated for the raw green leaf.
The small tea growers of the region came together near the District Commissioner’s office in the Golagahat district of Assam to take part in the protest. They undertook this protest event on the first half of Thursday.
The protesters also demanded a solution for several problems faced by the small tea growers of the state while mentioning that the small tea growers of the district are facing problems while selling the leaves to factories. They also alleged that they are facing huge losses because of the conspiracy of the buyers. The protesters also mentioned that there are over 22000 small tea growers in the Golaghat district itself and that they are facing losses because of the non-payment of the necessary price.
Previously, the All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association (AASTGA), Tinsukia District Committee, has demanded banning illegal and smuggled tea leaves from some districts of Arunachal Pradesh into bought leaf factories in the Tinsukia district in the interest of the survival of small tea growers. As tea is considered an agricultural crop, the AASTGA also demanded the inclusion of tea under the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
In a press meet at Tinsukia Press Club, the secretary of the steering committee, Hiren Moran, said that 42 percent of green leaves fed into bought leaf factories in the Tinsukia district, numbering around 94, are pilfered from three districts of Arunachal Pradesh, namely Lower Dibang, Lohit, and Changlang, in 840 vehicles daily after crossing the inter-state check gate and intriguingly using the biometric cards of Assam tea growers. Moran said that the bought-leaf factories allegedly sell the made tea from Assam by the back door at a high premium without channelling it through Tea Auction, while the degraded quality of tea produced from Arunachal fetches a poor price. As a consequence, the bought-leaf factory owners decline to pay the desired price for green leaves from small tea growers in Tinsukia, said Moran.
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