Small tea growers Association of Jalpaiguri on Tuesday (January 28), West Bengal have welcomed the move by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to instruct the Chief Secretary to investigate the reasons behind the Tea Board’s decision of last plucking date and free entry of Nepal tea. They also appealed to the government to take initiatives to protect the community.
According to their official statement, the small tea growers contribute over 64% of the total tea produced in the State and “free entry of Nepal tea harms mainly Darjeeling & Dooars, Terai tea.” They also stated that the robust climate change effect shows in Bengal tea cultivation production pattern.
The association also highlighted that the tea plucking in 2024 was the same for the states of Assam and West Bengal but reportedly the Tea Board “did not consult with producers of tea in Bengal”. They also claimed that the “Tea Board’s unscientific & unrealistic order of 2024 related to early closure shows how Govt. of West Bengal deprived to get GST from nearly 1000 crore of total turnover.”
Their statement also added, “Tea growers faced huge financial loss who are mainly from rural indigenous people from backward, minority classes. More than 15 lakh people who are directly or indirectly engaged with these small tea cultivations. STGS of Bengal had to spend their days without any income for the last two months to be continued up to mid-March. They had to sell their highly perishable produce below the cost of production which is a regular phenomenon.”
In the letter, the tea growers also left suggestions and appealed to the government to take initiatives to protect the community in the long run. One of their suggestions was to keep the plucking season till December 31 every year in Bengal and pursue the Union Commerce Ministry & Tea Board India for a fair price on their green tea leaves.
The small tea growers also requested the CM to introduce agriculture-related schemes for tea growers to help them in their ongoing financial struggles and constantly rising battles with climate change. They claimed that they could not avail artificial irrigation, crop insurance to mitigate climate change issues on their cultivation and hence asked her to include them in her three agriculture schemes namely KRISHOK BANDHU, BANGLA SASHYO BIMA (BSB), BANGLA KRISHI SECH YOZONA (BKSY).
Published - January 29, 2025 02:24 am IST
