Nilgiris tea growers plan stir on July 17 to get back arrears

Some 60,000 tea growers are planning to stage protest, including fast, on July 17, seeking immediate disbursal of Rs 890 crore as minimum support price (MSP) arrears for tea for the past 17 months.
Speaking to reporters here, Nilgiris Tea Cultivators Association president Manjai Mohan said growers are being denied the MSP of Rs 14.15 per kg as fixed by the Madras High Court as factories pay Rs 6-7, thus resulting in arrears of Rs 890 crore, including the cost of production.
The growers are bearing nearly Rs 8 as cost of production for one kg and the total cost comes to around Rs 22 per kg, he said.

As part of the stir, Mohan said, growers won't send their wards to schools on July 17, shopkeepers will be asked to down shutters and vehicles will be off the roads.
To up the ante, tea leaves will not be supplied to factories on July 16-17 as "they owed a huge sum" to growers, who have been in financial trouble for the past few years, he added.
The association representatives had also met former prime minister, H D Deve Gowda, who had expressed his willingness to participate in the fast in support of the growers, Mohan said.