Small tea growers are on a warpath in Assam. They have threatened agitation under the banner of the Assam Small Tea Growers Association (ASTGA) on issues such as land pattas, abolition of green leaf cess and reduction in land revenue among others.
With small tea growers accounting for around 29 per cent of the tea output in the state and 14 per cent of the total produced in India, any agitation by them is expected to cast a shadow on the overall tea production in the state as well as in the country.
Cheniram Khonikor, president of ASTGA, said that the issuance of land pattas has been a long-pending demand of small tea growers, as its absence has been depriving them from getting benefits from the Tea Board and financial assistance from banks and other institutions.
On March 25, the district committees of ASTGA had submitted a memorandum before the state government asking it to take note of these demands at the earliest. But Khonikor said that there has been no response from the government till date.
“If we have to pay the same amount of land revenue and also green leaf cess, then what is the difference between a small tea grower and a big tea grower,” said Khonikor.
The average land revenue a bigha that small as well as big tea growers pay is Rs 22 in the Brahmaputra Valley and Rs 16 in the Barak Valley. The big tea growers pay a green leaf cess of 32 paise a kg in Brahmaputra Valley and 29 paise in Barak Valley, while the small growers pay 20 paise.
He said that it has become difficult for many micro tea growers, falling under the small tea growers category, to sustain production. In the absence of land pattas, they were deprived of the various benefits provided by the Tea Board.
Only 9 per cent of the total small tea growers of the state currently has land pattas. There are more than 65,000 small tea growers in Assam, employing around 9 lakh people.
ASTGA has demanded immediate withdrawal of the 20-paise cess on green leaf and a reduction in land revenue. “We are not opposed to paying land revenue, but yes, there should be some concession for the small growers,” said Khonikor. Though, the imposition of green leaf cess was intolerable, he added.
Further, Khonikor alleged that the state government has not taken up any scheme for the benefit of the small growers in recent years.
Moreover, he said that for the last two years, the Tea Board, too, has not given any grant to the small growers for undergoing training at the Tocklai Tea Research Centre or Assam Agriculture University, which would have helped them to improve quality.
“The state government has not been giving as much importance it should have, given our contribution to the Assam tea industry,” said Khonikor.
He added that the state government should have taken the small tea growers into confidence before imposing any new tax on it.
