Indian tea may declare as National drink

Prashant Acharya. EOI, Siliguri, 12 october 2014: Keeping aside the report of the Mumbai based NGO Greenpeace International about tea containing chemicals and pesticides; Union Minister of State for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Sports and Youth Affairs, Sarbananda Sonowal has suggested Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to declare tea as the national drink of the country.

Nirmala who will attend the national level tea stakeholders meet in Assam’s capital Guwahati on October 13 is expected to announce the Indian tea as a national drink in the function.

An environmental NGO Greenpeace based in Mumbai had revealed the presence of residues of chemical pesticides in a majority of brands that are sold in Indian markets during their one year field study that was published few months back in several national dailies including EOI.

Greenpeace have allegedly found the presence of harmful pesticide residues including toxic dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) in tea sold by leading brands across India.

“We had carried out a study across many cities in India over the past one year to check the quality of tea leaves sold in cities. Our study has revealed the presence of residues of chemical pesticides in a majority of brands,” Neha Sehgal, senior campaigner of Greenpeace said over the telephone from Mumbai. Meanwhile the ten member team from GJM’s trade union Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union (DTDPLU) will also urge the union minister Nirmala Sitharaman to form a separate ministry for tea. Union’s President P T Sherpa, Legal Advisor Tilak Chandra Roka, Terai Dooars in-charge Harihar Acharya, central leaders Bimal Darjee, Ratan Thapa, Azam Pradhan, Dinesh Khapangi, Sunil Thapa, Narayan Biswa and Arpan Chamling will discuss the tea worker’s wage increment issues in the meeting with the ministers and other members of the Indian Tea Board at Guwahati on 13th October.