Small tea growers seek reduction in land fees

MP, 10 Nov 2023, Alipurduar: The Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Associations (CISTA) has reached out to the Bengal government urging a reduction in land fees and the simplification of documentation processes. 

In a letter dated November 1, CISTA addressed Smaraki Mahapatra, the principal secretary of the state Land and Land Reforms department. The letter specifically requested a revision in the rates set by the state government for regularising small tea growers’ land and advocated for a more straightforward form for the regularisation of small tea plantations. Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the president of CISTA, highlighted: “]

The last regularisation of small tea growers’ land occurred in 2001. Presently, Bengal boasts around 50,000 small tea growers, contributing over 65 per cent of the state’s tea production. 

Our persistent request for the regularisation of growers’ land was acknowledged by the state government, initiating the process on April 5 this year and issuing an order. The District administrations of Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, North Dinajpur and Alipurduar have shared the ‘1(D) Application for regularisation of change of character of land.’” 

Unfortunately, this form requires documents such as a mutation certificate, a detailed project report and income tax details from the last three years. These stringent requirements should not be applicable to small tea plantations, where 98 per cent of the average area is only 4-5 bighas. 

Many growers lack income tax files, rendering the submission of I-T return files irrelevant. Since tea plantations differ from traditional agricultural activities, the demand for a project report is unnecessary. 

I would like to request an initiative to simplify the ‘1(D) form’ for the regularisation of small tea plantations or consider eliminating the submission of irrelevant documents.” Chakraborty emphasised: “Small tea growers are experiencing substantial financial losses due to the poor prices of green tea leaves over the last five years. 

Government-announced rates of Rs 25,000 per hectare for rayati land and Rs 50,000 for vested land are too high for growers to bear during this financial crisis. Therefore, we have written to the state, urging a revision of these rates to alleviate the burden on growers.” 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/small-tea-growers-seek-reduction-in-land-fees-540005