Alipurduar, June 9 -- The Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (CISTA) has appealed to the Chief Minister of West Bengal to establish a separate development board for the welfare and protection of small tea growers in the state. The organisation submitted a letter to the Chief Minister on Monday, stressing the need for a dedicated body to address the challenges faced by the sector.
According to CISTA, the proposed board would provide policy support, promote sustainable growth and help resolve long-standing issues affecting small cultivators, who contribute over 70 per cent of the state's total tea production.
CISTA president Bijay Gopal Chakraborty said the board should include representatives of small tea growers, officials of the Tea Board, members of the State Commerce and Industries department, administrative officials from tea-producing districts, and researchers. "Such a broad-based body would ensure better coordination in policy formulation and implementation while safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders associated with the sector," he said.
North Bengal is home to nearly 50,000 small tea growers, while around three lakh people depend directly and indirectly on the industry for their livelihoods. Over the past few decades, small tea cultivation has emerged as one of the key pillars of the rural economy across the plains of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Uttar Dinajpur districts.
The region has more than 150 bought-leaf factories that procure green tea leaves from small growers throughout the year. However, one of the major concerns of growers has been the lack of remunerative prices for green tea leaves. In view of these challenges, demands for the introduction of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for green tea leaves have gained momentum.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.