Centre should support revival of tea industry: Amin

West Bengal labour minister Md Amin said the Center should take initiative to revive the tea industry.

Addressing the 71st annual general meeting of the Oriental Chamber of Commerce (OCC), the minister said that the state government "was not in a position to help revive the tea industry" without support of the Union government.

He said the government has tried its bit by forming a committee in association with the Tea Board. The committee has recently submitted the report. "We are yet to take a decision on the basis of the report as no revival measure, suggested by the committee, falls under our purview," he added.

"The centre should take greater responsibility for reviving the tea industry because most of the factors affecting the tea industry was under the Centre's jurisdiction, " he explained.

He also informed that the state had distributed nearly 33 lakh bighas of land to the landless. Several lakh bighas of land could further be distributed once the litigations involving them could be resolved. "This can help increase the average income of a section of rural population," Amin added.

Meanwhile, Samar Mohan Saha, OCC president, has urged the state government to reduce the state cess on green leaf. He said although the cess was only 12 paise, it had a cascading impact. The ultimate effect of the cess was estimated to be 54 paise a kg.