New chairman appointed for Tea Board

The Commerce Ministry has appointed Chairman of Tea Research Association (TRA) Prabhat Jamal Bezbaruah as the Chairman of Tea Board.
Officials in the commerce ministry said the order had been posted on the website of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) yesterday.
Santiago Sarangi, an IAS officer, was looking after the affairs of Tea Board as its acting chairman.
Bezbaruah, who hails from Jorhat in Assam, owns tea gardens there and is the first non-IAS to become the chairman of Tea Board.
The Chairman of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, North East Initiative, Mahesh Saharia today welcomed the appointment and said "we are hopeful that Bezboruah will be able to guide to find solutions and help bring viability back to the ailing industry."

The Tea industry is passing through trying times with ever increasing input costs, labour wages and the prices remaining stagnant. The industry is further burdened with several social costs such as for arranging ration for workers at market price. Bezboruah will be able to highlight these issues, he said in a statement in Guwahati.