Tea Board must shift its office to Assam: Tea Planter

ROADMAP FOR FUTURE OF GREEN LEAF

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: A stakeholders’ consultation of Assam tea industry was held in the city on Thursday at the direction of the Union Commerce Ministry to chalk out a future roadmap for the beleaguered tea industry.

“It is good that such consultation has taken place. But for a bright future of the tea industry, the Tea Board must shift its headquarters from Kolkata to Assam. Since Assam produces the largest quantity of tea, there cannot be any reason for the headquarters of Tea Board of India to be based in Kolkata. He argued that the Tea Board (if based in Assam) can execute its activities for the betterment of tea growers in the State more effectively,” a tea planter said.

He pointed out that there are five statutory commodity boards under the Department of Commerce, Government of India. These are for tea, coffee, rubber, spices and tobacco. “Except the Tea Board, all the other boards are headquartered in the States where the products are mainly grown. Karnataka is the birthplace of coffee in India and the Coffee Board is headquartered in Bengaluru. Likewise, rubber cultivation in India has been traditionally confined to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and the Rubber Board is headquartered in Kottayam, Kerala,” he argued. Similarly, the official said the Spices Board and the Tobacco Board are headquartered in Cochin (Kerala) and Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) respectively.

Tea Board’s Deputy Chairman Arun Kumar Ray while addressing the stakeholders consultation on Thursday, urged the tea industry to do away with the ‘zamindari system’ where the owner tries to run gardens by sitting in Kolkata.

“The zamindari system will no longer work in the face of emerging challenges and the crisis being faced by the tea industry. The owners will have to be in the gardens to see, learn and transform their experiences on the grounds into actions,” Ray said.

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