Tea needs national drink status to survive

Rahul Karmakar, Hindustan Times
Guwahati, February 26, 2012

All is not well with the tea industry. The reasons vary from shortage of labour, lack of mechanisation and market-induced losses leading to closure of several estates.

Three major tea organisations in an SOS to the Parliament Standing Committee on Commerce on February 26 sought rejuvenation of the industry. They have accordingly suggested auction reforms and release of subsidies on time besides giving tea the ‘national drink’ status.

These three organizations are Assam Tea Planters’ Association, North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) and Bharatiya Cha Parishad.
“The 1999-2007 phase was harrowing for the tea industry leading to losses across the country and closure of several estates. The situation improved in 2008 but the 2011-12 fiscal saw prices dipping at the auctions. If that weren’t bad enough, cost of production spiraled owing to key inputs such as fertilizers, coal, gas, electricity, etc. becoming more expensive,” NETA president Bidyananda Barkakoty told HT.
The joint forum of the three tea organizations underscored the need for a robust electronic auction system following assessment by regulatory authorities. They also pointed out that delay in releasing subsidies announced by the government and Tea Board from time to time often negates the purpose.
“In Assam, the industry has overcome many crises in the last 180 years. But we are not equipped to overcome the crisis that we have already started facing – shortage of labour. We need a special project on mechanisation for developing user-friendly, economical machineries for harvesting, pruning and other activities,” Barkakoty said.
Other requirements to save the industry included branding and export promotion, value-addition on promotion of Indian brands, improving pace of tea plantation, opening of ‘chai bars’ across India to promote tea drinking and extending transport subsidy scheme to the industry.
“The elevation of tea as a national drink will go a long way in the industry getting the attention it deserves by virtue of being India’s most popular beverage,” an industry spokesperson said.

Small tea growers for easier factory norms

The Assam Tribune Online

Staff Reporter
 GUWAHATI, Feb 28 – The All Assam Tea Factory Demand Committee has pleaded for making easier the Tea Board norms for setting up tea factories for the small tea growers of the State.
In their memorandum to the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, which left for New Delhi today after a four-day visit to the NE region, the Demand Committee suggested that licences should be issued to the small tea growers having their sufficient own green leaf production.
Self-help group is not the only way to accommodate excess amount of green leaves produced by the growers, the committee said. Establishment of suitable centre to train up the growers on production of quality green leaf and processing of quality made tea have also been pleaded by the committee.
The committee argued that the over 80,000 small tea growers of the State produce 716 million kgs of green leaves annually making a contribution of 30 per cent to the total quantity of tea produced in the State. But, the small tea growers do not have their own processing units for manufacturing made tea.
As a result, small tea growers for the last two decades have depended either on the estate factories or on the bought-tea-leaf factories, which could not fetch the right price in the market.
To safeguard their interest, some enterprising small tea growers are prepared to set up tea factories of their own. It is learnt that more than 18 such entrepreneurs have submitted application along with all necessary documents cleared from various State departments to the Tea Board, but to no avail.
It has resented the Government of Assam’s 2008 advice to the Tea Board for not to issue any more licence to for any fresh tea factories in the State. The State Government’s 2008 suggestion was based on the belief that excess amount of green leaf would require feed excess processing facilities. This would result in coarse plucking.
But this concept was not correct, said the committee. It argued that lakh kilograms of green leaves were dumped by the small tea growers on the roads during the peak season of 2011. Moreover, bought-leaf-factories and big estate factories were allowed to enhance their manufacturing capacities by manifolds during this period, argued the Committee.

Assam Tea producers cry for survival

IBN Live
PTI | 05:02 PM,Feb 26,2012 Guwahati, Feb 26 (PTI) Three Assam tea producers' Associations have submitted a memorandum to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce urging it to take immediate measures to ensure the survival of Assam's tea industry. A joint forum of Assam Tea Planters' Association (ATPA), North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) and Bharatiya Cha Parishad (BCP) pointed out that the industry was passing through a period of stagnancy. Stating these, NETA Chairman Bidyananda Barkakoty said here today that the average price of CTC tea in Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) from April 1, 2011 to January 31 2012 was lower by Rs 4.41 compared to that of the same period in 2010-11. Rise in cost of key inputs such as fertilizers, coal, fuel, gas and electricity have made the task of containing the cost of production difficult. "If logical steps are not taken immediately to address policy bottlenecks in the primary markets/auctions, there is every possibility that soon the industry will be gasping for survival," he said. The Planters' Associations have also called for immediate auction reforms and urged for a robust electronic auction for fair price. "Unlike other tea growing areas/states, tea is a major industry of Assam and therefore sustained viability of the tea industry is vital for the local economy," he added.

Assam Government’s Actions in Starvation Deaths – Inadequate and Misleading

From Times of Assam, Saturday 10 March

By- Wali Laskar | Date- March 04, 2012

After the Barak Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC) reported hunger deaths in a tea garden in Assam, the state government has taken some actions, though they are inadequate and some of them are even misleading.

The BHRPC reported that 12 people died due to starvation, malnutrition and lack of medical care in the Bhuvan Valley Tea Estate in Cachar district since the owners closed down the estate on 8 October, 2011 and abandoned the labourers without paying their wages, bonus, provident fund dues and other benefits stipulated in the Plantation Labour Act, 1951. The government welfare schemes including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 and Integrated Child Development Scheme as well as the Supreme Court directives issued in the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) vs Union of India & Others or Writ Petition (Civil) 196 of 2001 which is also known as the right to food case not implemented properly.

The actions that have been taken by the government include 1. making the owners to reopen the garden on 9 February, 2012 after 4 months, 2. making the owners to pay a part of the due wages/salary and bonus, 3. a magisterial inquiry into the causes of some deaths, 4. making the owners to increase the wages a little and 5. forming one man inquiry committee to find out the factors that led to the deaths:

1. It is true that the garden has been reopened on 9 February at the instance of the district administration. However, the owners have not yet appointed a permanent manager to run the tea estate. No qualified and permanent doctor and nurse have been appointed in the NRHM run garden hospital. There is also no electricity and water available. There is only an ASHA, a pharmacist and a lab boy in the hospital. Health conditions of 43 people are bad who have not yet received any medical attention.

The rationing of some staple food has also been started. However, according to the labourers, both the quality and quantity of the food items supplied are not up to the mark.

The factory is yet to be opened.

2. Only 50% of the outstanding wages has been paid and bonus for the year 2011 has been paid. According information, bonus for the year 2010 and 2009 are still outstanding along with remaining 50% of wages. Owners are yet to deposit their part of provident fund. Since the labourers incurred debt during the period of the closure after repayment of these debts they are not in position to spend towards medical treatment.

The labourers also told that since 2000 the owners have never constructed and repaired any dwelling house of the labourers. We have seen them living in dilapidated huts falling far below the requirements of the adequate housing within the meaning of the right to adequate housing.

3. A magisterial inquiry into the causes of some deaths was conducted. The inquiry concluded that these deaths have taken place due to causes other than that of starvation. It appears that the methodology of the inquiry has been asking a question and recording a reply without any independent witness. The BHRPC is constraint to say that this method does not stand much credibility.

It also appears that there is a lack of clarity in the sense of the terms starvation, malnutrition and death caused by them as used in the inquiry report. The BHRPC has relied on the definitions of starvation and malnutrition as given in the National Food Security Bill drafted by the National Advisory Council. There are some guidelines for investigation of starvation deaths prepared following relevant protocols of the World Health Organisation and other UN bodies. One such protocol is prepared by the Supreme Court Commissioners on the right to food. According to these guidelines, the modes of death and causes of death as well as various types of causes need to be separated to find out the actual cause of death.

Circumstantial evidences strongly suggest that underlying or contributory causes of all the deaths are starvation and malnutrition. There is no other explanation of the unusually high rate of death in this particular garden in this particular period. It is as if there is a steady continuous spell of death that even awaits the living.

More over, it is reported that the government admitted that for last 20 years the garden was not running properly and the Plantation Labour Act, 1951 was not followed and this led to the abject poverty of the labourers.

4. It is reported that a new wage structure for labourers of tea gardens of Barak valley was announced. According to this structure, effective from 1 January, 2012, the wage is fixed Rs 68 per day for one year. From 1 January, 2013, the daily wage would be Rs 72 and from 1 January, 2014, it would be Rs 75 per day. But the payment of the 50% outstanding wages that was made to the labourers of the Bhuvan valley tea garden is at rate of Rs 50 per day, instead of Rs 68. On the other hand, the labourers of the tea garden of Brahmaputra Valley in Assam are paid Rs 75 and their counterparts in Paschimbanga (West Bengal) are paid Rs 85 per day. This discrimination has no reasonable basis and in violation of equality clause of the Constitution of India as well as the norms of equal pay for equal works. The wages of tea labourers of Assam should be same for the time being, though the labourers are demanding Rs 100 per day at the minimum for a long time.

5. A one man inquiry committee of additional chief secretary Mr. P K Choudhury to find out the factors that led to hunger deaths and fix the responsibility. However, the Supreme Court of India has held that the chief secretary of the state is responsible for every starvation death that takes place in his state. An inquiry by a person who is a part of the state administration to determine whether these were starvation deaths or not falls within the prohibition of nemo debet esse judex in propia causa—no one should be judge in his own cause and this is a universally recognized rule of natural justice.

More over, right to truth and justice is a collective right of the people. Therefore, they must appear to have been rendered.

In view of the above and the assurance of the Chief Minister that he will spare no effort to ensure protection of human rights of every citizen and prevention of starvation deaths, the BHRPC is very hopeful and with lots of hope it suggests that:

A. The authorities should provide urgent relief to the tea workers in terms of food supply and medical treatment to prevent further deaths and deterioration of health conditions of sick workers and their dependents.

B. The authorities should conduct a prompt, impartial and objective inquiry into the situation of the garden to fix responsibility for the deaths and the conditions that led to this situation including corruption in implementation of government welfare schemes and non-adherence to the provisions of the Plantation Labour Act and other laws applicable in the estate management by an independent commission of inquiry headed by a sitting or retired judge of a high court or the supreme court and comprising of, among others, medical experts, nutrition experts, labour rights and human rights experts.

C. The officials or other persons who would be found negligent and derelict in their legal duties and responsibilities that directly contributed to the developing of the situation that led to the deaths should be prosecuted according to law.

D. The kin and the dependent of the deceased person should be provided with adequate reparation so far money can provide.

E. The authorities should ensure that all outstanding dues of the labourers are paid immediately and the wages of the all tea labourers of Assam made equal for the time being and that the tea gardens are run according to the laws providing all rights and benefits to the labourers under the laws.

In sum, the BHRPC would also like to see assumption of some moral responsibility for these calamitious circumstances of death under conditions of hunger and malnutrition, instead of a mere legalistic standpoint. We expect that the Govt. at the state and the Centre should speak the truth and does not issue mere denials in a circumlocutory fashion. In this situation of famished deaths, ought is more important than is.

India signs peace pact with rebel group

Reported on channelnewsasia.com NEW DELHI: The Indian government on Saturday signed a pact with one of India's oldest rebel groups to end militant violence in the restive northeastern state of Assam and pave the way for peace talks. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the largest separatist outfit in Assam, is seeking an autonomous ethnic region the state, but within the Indian union. Under the agreement, signed by representatives of the national and Assam governments and ULFA, the guerrilla group vowed not to stage any attacks while the search for a political resolution to the dispute was underway. The government also promised not to take any military action against ULFA members. The accord came a month after ULFA, which has been fighting for a homeland for ethnic Assamese since 1979, set out its demands in the first formal peace talks with the government. The group announced a unilateral ceasefire in July. The agreement "is the harbinger for future talks," India's Home Affairs Joint Secretary for the northeast, Shambhu Singh, told reporters in New Delhi. In the past two decades, more than 10,000 people have lost their lives to the insurgency in Assam, a region known for its tea, timber and oil reserves. Under the agreement, members of the rebel group, which numbers to around 600, will be put in special camps. ULFA said, however, that it would not surrender its arms and ammunition. "Why should we? This is not a final agreement," a senior leader of the group, Sashadhar Choudhury, told reporters. "This is a gentleman's agreement. We will see how the parleys go forward." Public support for the ULFA has dwindled in recent years after a series of attacks in public places that resulted in heavy civilian casualties. The ULFA leadership used to operate out of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, but the movement was severely weakened by a 2009 crackdown by the Bangladeshi authorities, under pressure from India. The lone hold-out to the peace process has been ULFA's military commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be hiding with around 100 armed cadres somewhere along the Myanmar-China border.

Training institute needed for skill development

Reported in Food & Beverage News The North-Eastern Tea Association (NETA) has asked the state government to set up a training institute, in order to develop the skills of the tea labourers in Assam. “Shortage of manpower is going to be a major challenge for the tea industry,” Bidyananda Barkakoty, chairman, NETA, informed FnB News in a chat over telephone. Following several years of prolonged struggle, the state's tea industry had undergone dramatic changes from 2007, yet some challenges confined mostly to shortage of manpower still remained. Barkakoty said that the setting up of the HRD (Human Resource Development) institute and mechanisation of plantations could be a two pronged-strategy for providing solutions to the problems faced by the industry. About mechanisation of plantations, currently there are some existing machines which are made in Germany, Japan, China and other countries and India has a lot of scope for improvements in the technology of the existing machines based on plucking standard, work culture, field drains and height of bush. “We are seeking the help of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in this regard,” said Barkakoty and added that skill development at all levels was lagging in the industry. He then said that Assam being the largest producer and exporter of tea, needed a training institute for workers right from the grass-root level to the managerial executives to meet the challenges for a sustainable development of the tea industry. Barkakoty confirmed that the Association has urged the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) for the setting up of the HRD institute in the state as this would not only help improve the management with new techniques, but also develop new markets and contribute to the overall growth of the tea industry. Meanwhile, he also urged the Government of Assam to persuade the Centre to declare tea as a national drink as it had evolved not just as a product or commodity, but as a culture from ages. He was addressing the 15th biennial meeting of the NETA recently, in Golaghat, Assam. At the meeting, he suggested various ways to improve the tea industry and projected analysis on different areas such as the opportunities, strengths, weaknesses, strategic plans and support to bring in changes to the existing problems of the tea industry.

Assam Tea should be state drink and national drink

Darjeeling may have something to say about the latter. Reported in Business Standard, by Supratim Dey The tea industry of Assam, a state which is synonymous in the outside world with its tea, has asked the government to declare the beverage as the ‘National Drink’ of India. It also wants tea to be declared as the ‘State Drink’ of Assam. “In view of its glorious past and in anticipation of its bright future, we sincerely feel that there is a genuine case for tea to be declared as the ‘State Drink’ of Assam. The logical step forward would then be to persuade the government of India to declare tea as the ‘National Drink’ of India,” said Bidyananda Barkakoty, Chairman of North Eastern Tea Association (NETA). For India, which is the largest consumer of tea and the second largest producer of tea (till 2005 India was the largest producer), declaring tea will have an “integrating effect”, feels Barkakoty. India consumes more than 80 per cent of its domestic production and 20 per cent of the world’s production. NETA had yesterday submitted a memorandum to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in support of its demand. In the memorandum, Barkakoty has put forth at least 33 reasons why tea should be declared as the ‘State Drink’ of Assam and the ‘National Drink’ of India. “If whiskey can be the national drink of Scotland, sugarcane juice the national drink of Pakistan, vodka the national drink of Russia, tequila the national drink of Mexico, why can’t tea be the national drink of India,” asked Barkakoty. Barkakoty feels that the tea industry in Assam, with its 180 years of glorious history, has already passed through many turbulent periods and is quite vulnerable to recession. Since the livelihood of millions of people is associated with the industry, it needs adequate support to protect it from being threatened. He feels that the proposed new status of this beverage would provide a major impetus to the brand building exercise of Indian tea. “Symbolism apart, the declaration will be a good idea for bolstering the marketing of Indian tea. Tea is now accepted as a health drink world over. This fact coupled with the ‘State Drink’ and ‘National Drink’ tag would also attract the large youth population of the country towards this health beverage,” said Barkakoty. Historically, Assam is the second commercial tea producing region after southern China. Southern China and Assam are the only two regions in the world with native tea plants. Assam produces more than 55 per cent of India’s total tea production and contributes 13 per cent of global tea production.

Urea shortage hits gardens - Uncertainty over tea production, export

Also in The Telegraph, by PULLOCK DUTTA Jorhat, Aug. 11: Shortage of fertilisers, especially urea, has hit the tea industry hard with the industry warning that unless supply is restored immediately, production would be affected this year. “Tea estates have not been able to apply urea in the second split and unless immediate supply is restored, tea production will be adversely affected and projected tea production and export targets cannot be met,” an Indian Tea Association communiqué said. Assam produces about 500 million kg of tea every year which is more than 50 per cent of the country’s total production. Urea is a must for the tea crop which is applied in three splits (phases): March-April, June-July and August-September. The Indian Tea Association (ITA) is in constant touch with the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers and the agricultural directorate of the Assam government in this regard. The shortage of one of the primary fertilisers for tea crop has been because of breakdowns of two units of the Brahmaputra Valley Fertilisers Corporation Ltd (BVFCL) — the only authorised supplier of the subsidised urea in the region. The ITA has also held a meeting with the BVFCL authorities recently in this regard. The BVFCL authorities were requested to make extra efforts to make the material available immediately. The BVFCL informed the ITA delegation that it was a routine for the BVFCL to shut down its units for maintenance every year in April for 15 days. This year, however, it had taken a considerable time to re-commission because of a major breakdown in both the units. To avert a similar crisis situation in the future, the tea industry should lift the material regularly latest by February/March each year and stock for the two major split applications — June-July and August-September, the ITA delegation was told. Sources in the tea industry said taking advantage of the shortage, various dealers were charging exorbitant prices for the material which is available in the black market. Till a couple of months back, urea was available in the market at Rs 5,640 per metric tonne but today the prices have soared to anything between Rs 8,000 and Rs 9,000. “We are buying urea at exorbitant rates and this has added to the cost of production manifold. It will be difficult for many gardens to buy fertilisers at this high price which will have an effect on production this year,” former chairman of the Assam Tea Planters’ Association (ATPA), Raj Barooah, said. A BVFCL official said that the central PSU would make enquiries regarding a few dealers charging higher prices for urea, and take necessary action including cancellation of dealership licence. He said that BVFCL had a commitment to supply the material to Manipur, Tripura, Bihar and Nepal apart from Assam. “We are trying to restore normal supply very shortly,” he said. Top

Clamour for 20% bonus - Tea union wants payment three weeks before Pujas

From The Telegraph, by WASIM RAHMAN Jorhat, Aug. 12: Clamour over Puja bonus has begun. The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), the state’s oldest and largest tea labourers’ body headquartered in Dibrugarh, has set the ball rolling with a letter to major tea planters’ associations, urging the industry to initiate the bonus payment process, paying at the maximum rate of 20 per cent. Union minister of state (independent charge) for DoNER and Dibrugarh MP Paban Singh Ghatowar is the president of the Sangha. In the early part of this decade, the bonus issue had reached a boiling point, leading to police firing on agitating labourers in Tinsukia district in 2002. But with the fortunes of the tea industry looking up during the past few years, bonus payments had gone smoothly. In his letter to the industry a few days back, ACMS general secretary Dileshwar Tanti requested that the “quantum of bonus” be announced and paid at least three weeks ahead of Durga Puja. He asked the tea estates to submit copies of their balance sheets and computation statements for the previous fiscal (2010-2011) to the Sangha’s central office in Dibrugarh by August 30. Taking the “hopes and aspirations” of the workers into consideration, the letter also urged the industry to declare and pay the bonus to the workers at one go rather than in instalments. Sangha sources said most of the time, the gardens did not comply with the request to submit balance sheets, which allowed “outside forces” to take advantage of the situation to fuel unrest among the labourers. Payment of bonus to industrial employees is mandatory under Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, which says that employees earning up to Rs 10,000 per month have to be paid bonus at a minimum rate of 8.33 per cent and maximum of 20 per cent, on the basis of the employers’ earnings in the previous fiscal. Tanti, a former MLA, told The Telegraph that a meeting between representatives of major tea companies, tea was scheduled to be held at the Sangha’s central office in Dibrugarh in the first week of September to discuss the bonus issue. This was being done to ensure that the process of bonus payment passes off smoothly and peacefully. He said since business in the last fiscal was “not bad”, they wanted the industry to pay maximum bonus. “We want the gardens to pay the bonus three weeks before Puja so that workers could get enough time to do their shopping,” Tanti added. According to industry sources, the matter should be sorted out amicably, as the industry is on a revival mode with tea prices going up. In the past two years, most of the estates and big companies, including MNCs, in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts, paid bonus at the rate of 20 per cent, while a majority of the state’s gardens paid 17 per cent. Assam Tea Planters’ Association additional secretary Anjan Kumar Bhuyan said the Sangha’s request had been intimated to the member gardens. Dhiraj Gowala, assistant general secretary of the influential Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA), too, has demanded 20 per cent bonus for the workers.

Assam to get Northeast's first integrated tea park

Reported in the Economic Times GUWAHATI: The first integrated tea park of the Northeast will come up at Chaygaon on the outskirts of Guwahati. Around Rs 23 crore will be invested in the project. The pre-feasibility report of the park is already prepared. Sources in Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) told ET: "We have identified 200 bighas of land for the tea park. We have already purchased and acquired 60 bighas. Process is on for procuring the remaining." Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, during his meeting with deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said that though tea is the biggest industry in Assam there was not a single integrated tea park in the state, which could cater to the needs of the industry. "The AIDC has taken steps to set up the tea park, which will create worldclass infrastructure for processing, warehousing, blending and packaging on the industry cluster concept. Tea export from the state will increase substantially with the operation of the park," the sources added. Based on the techno-economic feasibility report, AIDC has re-casted the project cost from Rs 39.67 crore to Rs 23.40 crore. The fund is expected to be generated from the leased out space and assistance to the state for developing export infrastructure and allied activities. Currently, Guwahati has around 14 lakh square feet of warehousing facilities scattered in different locations. Assam's tea production was estimated at 480.2 million kg (mkg) last year, which was down by 19.7 mkg compared to the previous year's production of 499.9 mkg. Tea plantation is expanding fast in non-traditional areas and the park is expected to assist the growers in the non-traditional areas. While Assam and Tripura are traditional tea-growing states, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim constitute the non-traditional areas. The Northeastern region accounts for 55% of the area under tea and 53% of the production. Tripura produces 7.5 mkg annually. The non-traditional areas together produce 2.98 mkg annually.

Reverse migration - Assam tea workers leaving the region

Reported in several online newspapers. This story from The Hindu, by Sushanta Talukdar About 300 tea garden workers of an estate in Assam have left their jobs and gone back, along with their families, to their ancestral places in Telangana in search of greener pastures. Captains of the 180-year-old tea industry in the State are worried that such reverse migration is likely to aggravate the problem of shortage of labour, which the industry has started experiencing. Chariman of North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) Bidyananda Barkakoty revealed this trend during his speech at the 15{+t}{+h} biennial General Meeting of the association held in the upper Assam town of Golaghat on Saturday. “Shortage of labour is going to be a major challenge for the tea industry. We have already started to feel the pinch. Absenteeism has already been an area of concern. We have taken up this issue with Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) at several meetings. Absenteeism and shortage of labour, though inter-related, are two different issues. Shortages in many gardens are felt even without absenteeism. Reverse migration is taking place in some areas. About 300 families have left the tea estate and gone back to Telangana,” said Mr. Barkakoty, who has been re-elected NETA chairman for 2011-2013. Mr. Barkakoty, however, declined to divulge the name of the tea estate, but confirmed that migration of tea garden workers from Assam to Kerala had also been taking place. To overcome the problem of shortage of manpower and absenteeism, the NETA chairman stressed the need to adopt a multi-pronged approach of mechanisation and setting up a Human Resource Development (HRD) institute. “The changing lifestyle and modern living standards require an overhaul of the traditional management styles of this vital industry. Hence, the Assam tea industry needs a skills development and training institute for the grass-root worker and the managerial level executives to meet the challenges in these aspects and move forward with systematic analysis and formulation of strategies for sustained development,” he added. The NETA also urged the Assam government to declare tea as the “State Drink of Assam” and also to persuade the Centre to declare tea as the National Drink of India. Tea is the National Drink of Britain and China. The Assam tea industry employs about 5 lakh permanent workers and 5 lakh seasonal workers. Another 10 lakh people are dependent on the industry, be it employment or services. Assam produces more than 51 per cent of India's tea and contributes 13 per cent of global tea production. The total turnover of Assam tea industry is 5,000 crore. After the annexation of Assam from Burma (Myanmar), the British colonial administration started tea plantations on a large scale in the region. The first tea committee was formed in 1834, and the first tea garden was established in 1837. By 1900, there were 804 tea gardens. The industry soon began facing a shortage of labourers. With the native people of Assam engaged in independent farming, a labour class seeking wage employment on a regular basis was not available locally. It, therefore, became imperative for the planters to import labourers from outside the State. The Tea Districts Labour Association, constituted under the Tea District Emigrant Labour Act, 1932, started recruiting labour from six labour-surplus provinces — Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Central Provinces, United Provinces and Madras. The first batch of tea garden labourers were recruited from the Chotanagpur division of Bihar by the Assam Company in 1841. The industry continued to import labourers until 1960.

Assam need to protect Assam Tea

Assam needs to protect Assam tea the same way Cornwall protects its pasties and Parma it's ham. From The Assam Tribune Online, by a staff reporter State lacks awareness on GI Registry Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, July 28 – NE region has the highest number of potential geographical indication (GI) items like handicraft, agricultural and forest products, mineral, etc. But the fact remains that the region is yet to file a significant number of applications with the GI Registry of the country to get its right over these items protected. This is the observation made by Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks and Geographical Indications of the country GL Verma. The Deputy Registrar is in the city on the eve of a one-day seminar-cum-workshop on authorised users of geographical indications. The function is organized by the Geographical Indications Registry of the Union Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The GI Registry has defined the geographical indications of goods “as that aspect of industrial property which refers to the geographical indication referring to a country or to a place situated therein as being the country or place of origin of that product…” India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999, which came into force with effect from September 15, 2003. Verma said that Karnataka has filed maximum number of applications and got nine of its items registered with the GI Registry and other three items of this South Indian State are under process of being registered. It needs mention here that Assam has got two of its items – muga silk and Assam tea – registered with the GI Registry. But awareness on the need to register the users with the GI Registry is seemed to be absent in the State, particularly in matters of muga silk. India has, according to a survey, over 3,000 potential GIs, which need to be protected. Till now, only 238 applications have been filed before the authorities for the purpose of registering equal number of items, and, of them, 153 have so far been registered, said Verma. Applications for registering the potential GIs should be filed with the GI authorities and the GI authorities have already furnished the details of the applications in their website: ipindia.nic.in On the ownership of the GI items, the Deputy Registrar said that all such items belong to the community and people of particular localities concerned. Some authorities like the State Government, associations like the producers’ guilds, with support from the universities and govt organisations, may come forward for getting such items registered with the GI Registry. The GI Act, 199 of the country aims at registering and providing a legal framework to protect geographical indications of the country, groups and localities, which have special characteristics and quality products.

Assam tea in new Jo Malone fragrance

Ok, a bit off the subject of the blog, but I just had to report on this. It may even be a fragrance that does not set off my hayfever. Unfortunately I have so much perfume already I cannot justify buying any more.

Reported in the Bangkok Post.

It's tea time

Published: 9/07/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Muse

It's such an irony that during the course of Jo Malone's 17 years in perfumery, the British perfume house has teased with the diverse cultures from all over the world _ the passionate rhythm of Latin music for Blue Agava & Cacao, the exotic beauty of Thai cuisine for Sweet Lime & Cedar or the Japanese Kohdo ceremony for the two colognes in Kohdo Wood collection _ before it finally goes back to the true tradition that the Brits are most associated with in the world: Tea drinking.

So, it's not surprising that the Jo Malone house finally visits the quintessential British tradition for its lastest summer fragrance collection: Tea Fragrance Blends. The five scents are Assam & Grapefruit, Earl Grey & Cucumber, Fresh Mint leaf, Sweet Lemon and Sweet Milk. Created by master perfumer Christine Nagel, the collection attempts to re-interpret classic rituals and capture the essence of such authentic practice into Jo Malone's olfactory signature.

In reality, unlike many previous Jo Malone's scents, the Tea Fragrance Blends take a more literal approach towards the scent that lends its name and inspiration to the cologne. You have Earl Grey & Cucumber that smells distinctly like Earl Grey, and it's by far the scent with strongest staying power in this collection, with the vanilla and musk in the base note ensuring the warm scent reminiscent of the tea.

Those preferring a brighter, more invigorating fragrance that is similar to morning tea could check out Assam & Grapefruit _ a scent that starts off pretty refreshing with the dashing shot of fruity odour, before fading down into the bold scent of Assam tea.

Fresh Mint Leaf completes the main all-day tea ceremony collection as the representation of evening blend, with a strong, spiky mint scent _ more mint compared to Jo Malone's jasmine-y, highly floral White Jasmine & Mint.

Sweet Lemon and Sweet Milk complete the collection the way sugar, lemon and milk complete our tea time. Whereas Sweet Milk is nothing but literal _ transpiring a scent that is milky and sweet, and is nearly impossible to be worn on its own. Sweet Lemon is a fruity twist that can both be layered on any of the scents in the collection or even worn on its own.

As a final thought, the Tea Fragrance Blends is one of Jo Malone's most straightforward interpretations of its source of inspiration, resulting in scents that are true to its name, rather than a new, distinctive creation _ hence the need to master the art of fragrance combination to achieve a more customised scent of your own, unless you just love tea so much and prefer to have the characteristically tea-like odour with you.

SAMILA WENIN

Demand for better conditions in Assam

This was reported widely, but see the link below from The Telegraph, by Pullock Dutta

Tea garden asked to ‘pay up’
- Karbi outfit orders closure
PULLOCK DUTTA
A section of the Hatikhuli tea estate. Telegraph picture

Jorhat, July 12: Activities at Hatikhuli tea estate were disrupted today, with the garden employees refusing to work, following a threat from the Karbi People’s Liberation Tiger.

The tea estate, one of Asia’s largest organic tea plantations, belongs to Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd, formerly Tata Tea.

The militant outfit has ordered the closure of the tea estate until the management comes to the negotiating table or pays up the money that the Karbi outfit has demanded.

The outfit had abducted a labour sardar, Bogai Karmakar, of the tea estate last Thursday to put pressure on the management to pay up.

However, Karmakar was released yesterday when the labour force, led by the Assam Tea Tribes Students Association, threatened to carry out attacks on Karbi villagers if he was not released.

The labourers also blocked National Highway 37 for several hours on Sunday.

A caller, who identified himself as Nilip Ingti, a leader of the Karbi outfit, told a few labourers of the tea estate last evening that Karmakar was released not because of the outfit’s fear of the garden labourers.

He said Karmakar was released because it did not want any confrontation with the tea labour community.

“We have nothing against the tea community and as such we are releasing Karmakar. But the labourers of the tea estate must ensure that they should cease work from tomorrow until the management pays up”.

The caller threatened capital punishment to anyone trying to oppose the diktat.

Anit Gaur, the assistant secretary of the Bokakhat unit of the tea tribe association, said the labourers have no option but to cease work, as they cannot risk their lives.

“We have informed the garden management to settle the issue with the militants and till then, the labourers have decided not to work,” said Gaur, who hails from Hatikhuli tea estate.

He said the labourers have also demanded the payment of daily wages from the management since it was not their fault that they could not work.

Golaghat deputy commissioner N.M. Hussain said he has assured the labourers of security and there should be no fear from the militants.

“We have already posted a police picket in the tea estate,” he said.

The deputy commissioner, however, said it would not be an easy task to provide security to the garden labourers all the time.

Located along the Golaghat-Karbi Anglong border near Kaziranga National Park, a large portion of the garden falls in Karbi Anglong district.

He added that there was no information about the militants demanding money from the garden management.

Repeated attempts to contact the garden officials failed.

Sources said the labourers would be holding a meeting with the management for a solution to the problem.

The Karbi outfit has gone on an extortion spree, targeting tea gardens in the Nagaon-Karbi Anglong border areas to raise funds to purchase arms.

This came to light during a law and order review meeting of Karbi Anglong and Golaghat district police.

“We have instructed all tea garden officers not to move outside the gardens at odd hours. All possible measures to ensure security have been taken,” a police official said.

The outfit’s general secretary, Ingti, told reporters that these gardens would not be allowed to continue their business.

The outfit has also instructed the Karbi and other indigenous workers serving in the gardens to leave work immediately.

The Karbi Anglong police source said the outfit’s threat is nothing but a part of its planned extortion drive.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SARAT SARMA IN NAGAON

Lodges created to increase tourism

This by a staff reporter from The Telegraph

Tea bungalow-lodges beckon tourists
A STAFF REPORTER

Jorhat, June 22: The Assam government-owned Assam Tea Corporation Limited, in a bid to increase its revenue, will convert at least eight bungalows in four tea estates into tourist lodges.

The ATCL has 15 gardens and most of these are in Upper Assam.

Disclosing this to The Telegraph, industry minister Pradyut Bordoloi said the ATCL has to diversify its business and converting these British-era bungalows into tourists lodges has the scope to earn more revenue for the company.

The eight bungalows have been identified at Cinnamara, Soycotta and Murmuria and Rungamatty tea estates. While the bungalow at Rungamatty is almost ready with renovation completed, work on the other seven bungalows will be carried out soon.

Bordoloi had visited the Rungamatty tea estate yesterday to oversee the ongoing renovation on the bungalow.

Although the ATCL had planned to take into tea tourism venture by converting tea gardens into resorts way back in 2005, things did not work out because of paucity of funds. In fact, a bungalow in Cinnamara tea estate, the first tea estate to have been owned by an Assamese, Maniram Dewan, was prepared for tourists but work stopped midway.

“The ATCL is limping back to its good old days and in another few years we expect the company to make profit again,” Bordoloi said.

He said several initiatives like re-plantation of tea bushes and modernisation of factories have been done in recent times. A senior ATCL official said most of these bungalows were lying unused for several years now and few of them were almost in ruins.

“The maintenance cost of these bungalows is huge and they remained unused after being vacated by the tea executives,” the official said.

He said tour operators would be contacted as soon as these bungalows were ready for tourists.

The official said there were plans to convert all the 15 tea estates of the company into resorts and the colonial-style bungalows into star-category resorts. “Many tourists from the different parts of the country and abroad have a fascination for tea gardens and we want to cash in on this. Spending few nights amid lush green tea estates will no doubt be a great experience for tourists.”

The official said the tourists would also get an opportunity to have a first-hand experience of the tea-making process. He said the bungalows would not only serve as tourist resorts but also to company executives and businessmen on official visits.

“With several big companies setting up branches in small towns like Jorhat, Nagaon and Golaghat, business executives keep travelling to these places. These bungalows will provide them an ideal location to spend a night far away from the hustle and bustle of the urban setting,” the ATCL official said.

Four murdered in Assam

It seems the family were accused of witchcraft so the "witch hunters" could rape the mother and daughter.

See the full story in Hindustan Times, by Rahul Karmaker

A mother and a daughter were conveniently labeled witches in order to be raped and killed on Tuesday. The arrested ‘witch-hunters’ confessed this on Thursday. The police in north-central Assam’s Sonitpur district had on Tuesday found four bodies in a ditch in Monabarie Tea Estate, Asia’s
largest. The bodies – of Binanda Gaur, 46, his wife Karishma Gaur, 36, daughter Naina, 15, and a neighbour Manglu Mour, 14 – bore multiple injury marks and the faces were burnt by acid.

The police suspected it to be a case of witch-hunting, fairly prevalent across tea plantations. But the arrest of six of the seven ‘witch-hunters’ Thursday morning revealed there was a system to the madness.

“We recovered some instruments used in the killing, but it was not a case of witch-hunting,” said Sonitpur district police chief AP Tiwari.

Tiku Orang, one of those arrested, admitted they were instigated by one Surat Modi to accuse Binanda Gaur and his family members of practicing witchcraft that caused sickness among plantation workers. But the real motive was the lust for Binanda’s wife and daughter.

The mother and daughter were dragged out to the ditch at midnight, raped and killed. Gaur and teenager Mour had been killed earlier.

Black magic, witchcraft and superstitious beliefs have been part of tribal customs in Assam and other northeastern states. According to a conservative estimate, some 150 people have been killed in the past five years for allegedly practicing witchcraft in Assam.

In a bid to check this practice, the Assam police had launched Project Prahari entailing community policing and awareness drives. Officials involved with the project said women often fall victims of witch-hunt owing to property disputes. "Sexual assault appears to be a new phenomenon," said a senior police officer.

Sabha sets sights on tea community - Six garden units opened

Great developments in the Assamese tea community reported in The Telegraph, by a staff reporter.

Jorhat, May 30: The Asam Sahitya Sabha has begun an exercise in building a greater Assam by integrating the tea community with the literary scenario of the state.

The assistant general secretary of the Sabha, Debojit Bora, said till today the community had by and large been ignored by the Sabha, but a scheme had been launched this month to create 75 Sabha units in tea gardens across the state by 2013 and set up a research facility at Dibrugarh that would study the community’s culture and language.

“Till today the tea community has been by and large ignored by the Sabha but when we speak about Assam, we cannot do without the assimilation of this community which is said to be the largest, population wise, among all the other communities,” Bora said.

Bora said Sabha president Rong Bong Terang and its secretary Parmananda Rajbongshi had chalked out the proposal for bringing in the tea community within the greater Assam fold.

In Dibrugarh, construction of a research centre named Rameswar Lal Saharia Sangath Bhawan is under way on the premises of Dibrugarh branch of the Sabha to study all aspects of the community’s culture, food habits, language and festivals.

The Sabha has already made a beginning by setting up six tea garden units in Jorhat district, the first on May 12 at Hoolongoorie tea estate. The other tea garden units are at Teok tea estate, Kakojan, Meleng, Selenghat and Cinnamara.

The one at Cinnamara was opened on May 28.

Convener of the Asam Sahitya Sabha Tea Garden sub-committee, Ashwini Tasa, said other districts would soon be taken up during his two-year tenure and one Sabha unit would be set up to cater to five to 10 gardens covering a population of 5,000.

“Although we came from different parts of India more than 150 years ago, we identify ourselves today as Assamese despite speaking a different language which is a mixture of many languages,” Tasa said.

Tasa pointed out that as people had migrated from Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, it would be next to impossible to evolve a common grammar and language. Tasa said the community comprising many indigenous people and sub-tribes, also lacked an individual with grasp of all these languages put together.

“We have managed to evolve a common language known as Sadri or Sadhani but still there are too many differences which have cropped up while trying to codify this,” he said.

Tasa said he had appealed to the tea community at large to assimilate with the greater Assamese society and the best way to do so was by accepting and learning the Assamese language.

Assam to adopt Kenyan model of regulating tea processing units to ensure quality

The Economic Times of India, 02 June, Bikash, Singh, ET Bureau

GUWAHATI: India's largest tea producer, Assam, will adopt Kenyan model of regulating tea processing units to ensure quality. The state government will regulate the opening of bought leaf factories (BLF) in the state.

The government has put on hold issue of fresh registration of BLFs for the last three years in view of the mushrooming of BLFs. The state government in consultation with Tea Board and tea planters' bodies has come up with a new set of guidelines for opening BLFs and stand alone factories. Hundreds of applications are pending for BLFs.

According to guidelines, the availability of green leaf per BLF should be around 25 lakh kg annually. The government is now armed with production database of green leaf in each tea producing districts.

Tea Board to assist small growers set up tea processing unit

From Economic Times of India, 1 June, ET Bureau

KOLKATA: In a bid to promote small tea-growers of India, the Tea Board has decided to assist a group from West Bengal in setting up the country's first tea processing unit by small tea-growers.

The Panbari Small Tea-Growers Society of Assam, a self-help group, which was formed a few years ago, in Panbari village, has decided to go ahead with setting up of a tea processing factory in the village for which it acquired two hectares of land and pooled an amount of Rs 65 lakh. The board is assisting these growers and one of the nationalised banks has decided to provide loans.

A senior official in the Tea Board confirmed that the proposal has been pending for a long time and it is only now being implemented because of the initiative by Panbari tea-growers. "The small tea growers in the tea growing regions of north India have become a force to reckon with," the official added.

Assam Tea used in winning Scottish chocolate

Wonder what Grandad Blake would make of this use of Assam tea.

From Scotland of Food and Drink Friday 27 May, from Visit Scotland.

The Highland Chocolatier was announced as the recipient of VisitScotland’s Food Tourism Award at last night's Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards in Dunblane.

Based in Grandtully in Perthshire, The Highland Chocolatier is a chocolate maker with a dedicated chocolate exhibition.

The business was praised for its continuous growth over the past five years and its innovative expansion to provide a well rounded and year round visitor experience. Above all, the judges were impressed by the obvious passion and quality of the chocolate produced.

Owner Iain Burnett said: "It is extremely rewarding, not just for me but for our entire team in Grandtully, to be recognised by such a prestigious and respected organisation as Scotland Food & Drink.

"Our concept is unique, not only in Scotland but in the UK and although it is tough in such an unsteady financial climate, we are very pleased to be able to fulfil our dreams and win awards whilst we are at it too!"

Representing the diversity of applications for the award, the two other finalists were Waterfront Bar and Seafood Restaurant from Argyll, and Craigie’s (farm delicatessen and cafe) from West Lothian.

The awards were announced at a ceremony for the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards at the Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro Hotel, where guests enjoyed a special menu designed by renowned Scottish chef, Nick Nairn.

Presenting the award, Riddell Graham, director of Partnerships at VisitScotland, said: "Food and drink is integral to the experience of visitors to Scotland and these awards have been a wonderful opportunity to build on Scotland’s Year of Food & Drink and our EatScotland quality assurance scheme by highlighting some of Scotland’s food heroes.

"It’s been great to see so many quality food and drink producers welcoming visitors in such enthusiastic and imaginative ways."

Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink runs up to the end of May 2011 and VisitScotland sponsors the Food Tourism award in recognition of the importance that food and drink plays in supporting tourism.

Figures show that £1 in every £5 spent by a visitor in Scotland is on food and drink-related activity, equating to more than £500 million for UK visitors alone. In March a survey (HPI Brand Tracker survey) showed that, between October and December 2010, there was a 6.5 per cent surge in the number of people who agreed that "Scotland is a country of great food and drink experiences".

To enter the award, businesses needed to be a quality Scottish food or drink business with authenticity, quality and passion at the centre of their product, as well as emphasising their visitor’s experience.

In selecting the three short-listed finalists, the judges were delighted to see the range of food and drink visitor experiences across the length and breadth of Scotland and were impressed with the level of sophistication and excellence in food and drink provision and visitor experience, particularly across rural Scotland.

Earlier this month, The Highland Chocolatier swept the board at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in London with its Velvet Truffles awarded an exceptional two Gold, two Silver and one Bronze for Best Truffle and Best Filled Chocolate categories.

The winning recipes included the pure Mild and Dark varieties of the Velvet Truffle, and infusions with Assam Tea & Green Cardamom, Crushed Raspberries & Black Pepper, and White Lime & Chilli.