Small tea growers stage protest near Golaghat District Commissioner’s Officer

GOLAGHAT: Small tea growers staged a protest near the Golaghat District Commissioner’s Officer in Golaghat Town on Thursday for being deprived of the actual price of raw green leaf.

The small tea growers also demanded solution of various problems faced by them. Due to alleged conspiracy of buyers, the small tea growers of Golaghat district have been facing huge losses in selling their green leaves to bought leaf factories.

In this regard, Monuranjan Saikia, Promod Dutta and Ratneswar Tamuly,president, working president and secretary respectively, said that small tea growers are deprived from getting their due rates against their leaf production due to which more than 22,000 small tea growers in the district were facing great loss.

Notably, the Tea Board of India fixed minimum rate of Rs 25 per kg of 40 percent quality green leaf in Golaghat district. But interestingly, the bought leaf factories have paid Rs 12 to Rs 15 per kg against green leaf. The Tea Board of India and district administration have allegedly maintained silence in this matter.

There is a monitoring committee in Golaghat with the District Commissioner as chairman, member and secretary from Tea Board of India, two members of Small Tea Growers’ Association, two members each from NETA, ABITA and Tea Association of India. The District Commissioner as well as monitoring committee allegedly did not pay any attention to the matter.

The Golaghat district small tea growers’ body demanded to facilitate irrigation system to small tea gardens, provide subsidized manure to growers, stop transportation of green leaves from outer states, include the tea cultivation under agriculture department, take a decision in the forthcoming cabinet of Rs 2 crore for infrastructure development of small tea growers government and constitute a separate law on small tea growers.

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