Smuggled Tea leaves from Nepal to be stopped

Tea smuggled in from Nepal and finding its way to some bought-leaf factories has always been a major source of worry for the small tea growers of the region. Although the authorities acknowledge the problem, not much has been done to rectify the conditions.

The conditions are likely to change now following a meeting convened by the state industry and the commerce ministry in Kolkata yesterday. Senior bureaucrats of several state departments, the chairman of the Tea Board and representatives of the tea associations, small tea growers and workers’ unions attended the meeting.

The secretary of the United Small Tea Growers’ Association Mr Bijoygopal Chakrabarty said: “To stop Nepalese tea finding its way surreptitiously to a section of bought-leaf factories, a proposal to introduce special policing along the border was mooted during the meeting. The proposal, which got the support of the Tea Board chairman, was endorsed by the industry and commerce minister Mr Nirupam Sen.” In addition to this, the policy makers also took some major decisions pertaining to the small tea growers sector, such as the allotment of no-objection certificates to the small growers and need-based permission for setting up bought-leaf factories, if required.

The state government has decided to protect agricultural land against the proliferation of tea plantations. “No more tea plantations or projects will be allowed on agricultural land. On the contrary, those that came up on agricultural land after the announced cut-off date of 30 June 2001 will be discouraged,” the USTGA official said.

According to him, it was decided that the Tea Board would finance an immediate survey to be conducted jointly by the land department, the district administration and the small growers to identify the land cultivated by small tea growers in the state, the volume of production and the date on which small tea plantations were set up.

Mr Chakrabarty informed: “As the state government declared tea plantations that came up on agricultural land after 30 June 2001 as illegal, all those plantations that have been set up after that date will have to be uprooted at the owners’ own cost following the proposed survey.” Though the state government has stopped allotting licenses for more bought-leaf factories, there is an outside chance that some may be allowed in the coming days if there is a tea glut. A decision to allot no-objection certificates to bona fide small tea plantations on a time-bound scale was also adopted at the meeting.

Source > The Statesman