Small tea growers welcome govt’s move to enlist them

MP | 29 Mar 2023 : Small tea growers in North Bengal have expressed their gratitude to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the decision to enlist 30,000 small-scale tea gardens in North Bengal. 

The decision to enlist these tea gardens in North Bengal, spread across 4 to 5 districts, was taken in the Cabinet meeting held at Nabanna on Monday. The decision was taken to take control over them so that workers there are not deprived of various facilities offered by the government. 

The government is set to start the process of enlisting the small tea growers with cultivation land between 5 and 15 acres. Most of these small-scale tea gardens are on government Khas land. 

Once the state completes the enlistment process, the workers in small-scale tea gardens will also get the benefits of state government schemes. Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the president of Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Associations (CISTA), said: “We convey our thanks and gratitude to the state government for the decision over the small tea growers in North Bengal who are contributing around 65 per cent of the tea produced in Bengal. 

There are over 50,000 small tea growers in North Bengal. However, only a few of us have the NOC and are enrolled in the government record that the state government had issued around 20 years back. As most growers do not have NOC of the land on which they run their plantations, they do not have official recognition and are bereft of various benefits of state and Central governments.” 

Chakraborty also added that on several occasions they had attracted the attention of the state government regarding the problems of small tea growers. Incidentally, the small tea growers provide jobs to around 25 lakh people in the region. “We are first-generation entrepreneurs, and all those associated with the sector are local residents of North Bengal and the total investment is to the tune of over Rs 12,000 crore,” added Chakraborty. 

Debashis Paul, General Secretary of North Dinajpur Small Tea Growers Welfare Association, said: “In Bengal, small tea plantations are spread over districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, and North Dinajpur. We all welcome the decision to enlist us. We don’t have any recognition. We are requesting the government to take the initiative so that small tea growers can get government recognition with regularisation of land by paying nominal government fees and give the farmer status so that they can avail farmers’ welfare schemes like Bangla Senchai Yojana, Kisan Credit Card, Crop Insurance and Krishok Bandhu Sanman.” 

Birendra Bara Oraon, State Secretary, INTTUC, stated: “We have a huge number of tea workers who work in project tea gardens in North Bengal. As the project tea gardens are not registered, the workers don’t get the benefit of the Plantation Labour Act. After enlisting the garden, the laborers will be benefited under this act.” 

Courtesy & source: Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/small-tea-growers-welcome-govts-move-to-enlist-them-513388