New ratio to share tea price in small sector

The Tea Board of India has announced a change in the price sharing formula for the small tea sector of the country.

According to the new notification, growers in north Bengal and Kerala will receive 58 per cent of the sale proceeds (a reduction of two per cent) while BLFs will receive 42 per cent (an increase of two per cent). The lowest percentage (44 per cent), fixed by the board, is applicable to Bihar and Himachal Pradesh while growers of Uttaranchal will get the highest percentage (69 per cent) of the sale proceeds.

So long, small growers across the country, around 1.50 lakhs of them, used to get 60 per cent of the price of a kg sold through BLFs while the factory owners used to get the remaining 40 per cent. The ratio was even throughout the country except in the Nilgiris, where it was changed to 65 and 35 per cent last year.

In the notification, which has become effective from February 16 this year, the new sharing percentage is different in each state. The move, tea board sources said, follows a study undertaken by experts from the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI).

“The ICWAI study had revealed that cost of production of growers and BLFs are different in different states. That is why the sharing percentages are also different,” H.N. Dwivedi, the adviser to the tea board, said over the phone from Calcutta today.

Tea growers of the region, who had been insisting on the change, however, have alleged that the board imposed the new ratio without consulting them. “The board should have held talks with us instead of taking the decision based on the survey results only,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, vice-president of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Associations, an all-India body of the growers.

BLF owners said they had expected more increase. “For small growers, the price was steady throughout last season. We earned less and had expected the board to make changes in the percentage to bring parity,” said Prabir Seal, the president of the North Bengal Tea Producers’ Association.

Death stalks open garden - two teenagers die in 24 hours

Jaigaon, Feb. 27: Two teenagers of the struggling Bharnobari Tea Estate have died in the past 24 hours even as workers continue to succumb to diseases because of lack of medical attention in the garden.

One of the two girls, Urmila Kharia, however, had committed suicide. The other, Rima Oraon, had been suffering from fever for the past one week. She died at 6.30am today.

“There is no doctor in our garden. We could not afford a private doctor because we have not been paid wages for the past two weeks nor have we got our rations for 10 fortnights,” said Rima’s mother Sukurmoni, a garden worker. Her husband, Milu, is unemployed.

The Telegraph had yesterday reported the plight of the workers of Bharnobari, which, although open, had not paid the salary for January and might also default on February’s wages.

On the 19th of this month, a 26-year-old pregnant woman, Anastasia Oraon, died following complications. Her husband could not take her to Siliguri where she had been referred to by the Hasimara central hospital. “She died the day after I brought her home from the Hasimara hospital. I did not have the money to take her to Siliguri. She was six months pregnant,” said Nelson Oraon, the husband.

This morning, Urmila’s widowed mother, along with other garden workers and relatives, started from Soreng in West Sikkim, after cremating the body there. Urmila was found hanging in a room of a house in Timberbong where she had worked as a domestic help for a school teacher.

Raju Biswakarma, one of those who went to Timberbong to claim Urmila’s body, said over the phone that the 18-year-old girl had last come to the garden on December 24 on a seven-day visit. “After that, she returned to the house of the teacher, D.M. Subba, on January 1. She was forced to work there to supplement the family’s income. We do not see any foul play in her death,” Raju said.

Soreng police said Urmila committed suicide around 2pm yesterday, while Subba was in school and his wife was away attending a wedding ceremony.

“Subba returned home later in the afternoon and found the girl hanging from the ceiling. We have handed over her body after post-mortem to her relatives,” an officer of the Soreng police station said.

The condition of the other workers in Bharnobari, 10km from here, too, was serious. Sirnosh Kheria, 50, has been suffering from tuberculosis and does not have the means to get treated. “After the garden reopened on April 28, the doctor has not joined work. Since we are going without wages, the women go to the forest to collect roots and edible leaves so that we can survive,” the ailing man said.

Madan Sarki, a Citu leader and the former convener of the operating and management committee, said the workers had not been paid since January and no ration had been distributed for the past four-and-a-half months.

“The management has hung up a notice that wages for January will be paid between February 28 and March 2, but the manager, Jayanta Banerjee, left the garden 15 days ago and has not yet returned,” Sarki said.

Sarki had earlier alleged that from June, the employers’ share of the provident fund had not been paid and from September, the employees’ share had not been deposited.

R.R. Sundas, the block development officer of Kalchini, said he would soon convene a meeting to discuss the problems plaguing Bharnobari.Jaigaon, Feb. 27: Two teenagers of the struggling Bharnobari Tea Estate have died in the past 24 hours even as workers continue to succumb to diseases because of lack of medical attention in the garden.

One of the two girls, Urmila Kharia, however, had committed suicide. The other, Rima Oraon, had been suffering from fever for the past one week. She died at 6.30am today.

“There is no doctor in our garden. We could not afford a private doctor because we have not been paid wages for the past two weeks nor have we got our rations for 10 fortnights,” said Rima’s mother Sukurmoni, a garden worker. Her husband, Milu, is unemployed.

The Telegraph had yesterday reported the plight of the workers of Bharnobari, which, although open, had not paid the salary for January and might also default on February’s wages.

On the 19th of this month, a 26-year-old pregnant woman, Anastasia Oraon, died following complications. Her husband could not take her to Siliguri where she had been referred to by the Hasimara central hospital. “She died the day after I brought her home from the Hasimara hospital. I did not have the money to take her to Siliguri. She was six months pregnant,” said Nelson Oraon, the husband.

This morning, Urmila’s widowed mother, along with other garden workers and relatives, started from Soreng in West Sikkim, after cremating the body there. Urmila was found hanging in a room of a house in Timberbong where she had worked as a domestic help for a school teacher.

Raju Biswakarma, one of those who went to Timberbong to claim Urmila’s body, said over the phone that the 18-year-old girl had last come to the garden on December 24 on a seven-day visit. “After that, she returned to the house of the teacher, D.M. Subba, on January 1. She was forced to work there to supplement the family’s income. We do not see any foul play in her death,” Raju said.

Soreng police said Urmila committed suicide around 2pm yesterday, while Subba was in school and his wife was away attending a wedding ceremony.

“Subba returned home later in the afternoon and found the girl hanging from the ceiling. We have handed over her body after post-mortem to her relatives,” an officer of the Soreng police station said.

The condition of the other workers in Bharnobari, 10km from here, too, was serious. Sirnosh Kheria, 50, has been suffering from tuberculosis and does not have the means to get treated. “After the garden reopened on April 28, the doctor has not joined work. Since we are going without wages, the women go to the forest to collect roots and edible leaves so that we can survive,” the ailing man said.

Madan Sarki, a Citu leader and the former convener of the operating and management committee, said the workers had not been paid since January and no ration had been distributed for the past four-and-a-half months.

“The management has hung up a notice that wages for January will be paid between February 28 and March 2, but the manager, Jayanta Banerjee, left the garden 15 days ago and has not yet returned,” Sarki said.

Sarki had earlier alleged that from June, the employers’ share of the provident fund had not been paid and from September, the employees’ share had not been deposited.

R.R. Sundas, the block development officer of Kalchini, said he would soon convene a meeting to discuss the problems plaguing Bharnobari.

Solar power to end garden water woes

Workers of two closed tea gardens — Kalchini and Chinchula — will soon get drinking water to be drawn by solar powered-pumps, thanks to funds sanctioned by Joachim Buxla, the RSP MP from Alipurduar.

The MP has sanctioned Rs 25 lakh from his local area development fund for the project.

In May, the government had provided electricity connection to the closed gardens only to run pump sets to collect drinking water. But soon a problem arose in paying the bills.

While the zilla parishad had said the operating management committee of the garden would pay the electricity bill, the committee passed the responsibility on the zilla parishad. Ultimately, no one paid the money and the power dues from Kalchini alone rose to Rs 2 lakh, prompting the power company to threaten to disconnect the line.

Worried workers had approached Buxla in December to arrange for pump sets that would be run by solar energy to draw water. The measure would also save them from paying the power bill, they had said.

Kalchini, closed since September 2005, has 2,003 workers. Chinchula is closed since November the same year and has 1,250 employees.

Buxla “recommended” the proposal to construct two overhead tanks with a capacity of 60,000 litres each in the two gardens to the district magistrate. On why Kalchini and Chinchula were selected, the MP said workers mostly from these two estates had requested him to solve their water problem. In 2007, the parliamentarian had sanctioned a similar project for the Bharnobari tea garden.

“Within days of my recommendation, the district magistrate sanctioned Rs 25 lakh for the project from the MP’s local area development fund. The pumps run by solar energy will draw water throughout the day,” Buxla said.

The work for the project will start this month and within 15 days the garden employees will start getting the water, Buxla said. “Pure drinking water is essential for everybody. It is not possible for the workers of the closed gardens to clear the electricity bill.”

The representatives of the agency, which will carry out the project, have surveyed the gardens, he said.

Aseswar Jha, a guard of the Kalchini garden, has expressed gratefulness to the MP. “We will benefit a lot once the project is completed,” he said.

Shutdown fear haunts workers - Bharnobari relives nightmare: Wages, ration pending

Workers of Bharnobari are making a beeline for Jaigaon in search of jobs even though the garden has been open from April last year.

After the management of the estate, located 42km from here, failed to pay up the wages for January and rations for 10 fortnights, the workforce has been on tenterhooks.

“All these are tell-tale signs and reminds us of the days when the garden was locked. It is better to keep our options open. Some of us are going to Jaigaon to work as day labourers or else how will we manage without rations and wages,” asked Ashoke Sarki. He is not alone.

Shankar Baidar, Santu Damai, Nakul Damai, Sumitra Lama and Tara Lama to name only a few among the 1856 workers, are regulars to Jaigaon on the India-Bhutan border. Most of them earn Rs 90 a day at the construction sites.

When the garden opened on April 28 last year, Surojit Basu, one of the three buyers had said, electricity connection to the garden factory would be restored within three weeks. Till date, however, there has been no sign of any power connection.

From August-end to November, tea was produced with the help of generator and before that — from May to August— green leaves were sent to Radharani Tea Garden for processing.

Madan Sarki, a member of Bharnobari unit of the Citu-affiliated Cha Bagan Mazdoor Union, said: “The garden is open but only in name. Today we were supposed to receive wages but in the morning a letter arrived from Calcutta saying the workers would be paid on March 2. It means that the wages of two months will be due.”

Calls on Basu’s mobile went unanswered.

From June, the employers’ share of the provident fund had not been paid and from September, the employees’ share has not been deposited, the Citu leader alleged.

The district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, Vandana Yadav, said: “There is no arrangement to monitor open gardens, but the labour department usually keeps a watch.”

Rajat Pal, the deputy Labour commissioner of Jalpaiguri, said nobody had told him about the plight of the workers in Bharnobari. “Now that I have come to know, I will definitely look into it.”

Government to set up tea museum in Darjeeling

In order to support tea production and export, the government is going to set up a tea museum at the hill town of Darjeeling and a tea park at commercial centre Siliguri in West Bengal.

'The tea museum will be set up to showcase the development of the tea industry in India over the last two centuries,' Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh told the Lok Sabha Tuesday.

'The tea park will be the central place for meeting all service requirements of the tea industry including warehousing, packaging and blending of teas,' Ramesh added.

Apart from this, he said the government will also set up a centre of excellence at Kurseong, which will serve as a one-point stop for information relating to all aspects of tea production, tea marketing and intellectual property rights issues.

All three units will be set up during the ongoing 11th Plan period that ends in 2012.

India, it is estimated, will produce around 980 million kg of tea in the current fiscal.

Private sector tea major Tata Tea has set up a tea museum in Kerala that showcases teas from plantations in Munnar.

Tea: No rain, no gain

The first flush of tea ~ the season’s first since winter ~ is likely to be severely affected by the absence of rainfall in north Bengal this year. Experts predict that first flush tea production could fall by over 50 per cent.

The whole of north Bengal has not experienced rain since early October last year. As a result, agricultural and tea-growing practices in the region are at stake.
According to Mr NK Basu, the principal advisor to the Indian Tea Planters Association (ITPA), tea bushes across the plantations have been drying out in the absence of rainfall. There has also been a steep rise in insects which damage the leaves of the bushes.

“If this dry spell continues I fear north Bengal will not be able to pluck more than three to four percent of the green leaves during the first flush that commences towards the end of March,” Mr Basu said.

The region has about 305 registered tea gardens spread over the Darjeeling Hills, the Dooars and the Terai. First flush tea represents about 10 per cent of the total of around 230 million kg of tea that the region produces every year.

As the expected fall for the first flush looms, tea growers in the region are already finding that growing a kilogram of green leaves now costs Rs 1.50 more than before. “This is due to increased expenses in pest control and irrigation brought on by the lack of rain,” Mr Basu said.

The meteorology department has been unable to provide any further good news.
“There is no possibility of rainfall in north Bengal over the next two or three days. However, Sikkim is likely to witness a light to moderate shower in the next 24 hours,” the director of the Alipore meteorology wing Mr GC Debnath said.

Open-garden demand cloud on tea hike

The Bengal government’s decision to increase the financial assistance to workers of closed tea estates has evoked a mixed reaction in the brew belt.

While some have appreciated the decision saying that it would benefit the jobless workers, others have described it as a means to retain the vote bank in tea estates.

“We appreciate the decision that the workers in the closed gardens will receive Rs 1,000 under the FAWLOI (financial assistance to workers of locked out industries) scheme from next month instead of the existing Rs 750,” said Ajit Sarkar, the Darjeeling district secretary of the Citu. “We demand that the Centre extends similar assistance on regular basis, instead of occasional payments, and work with the state to reopen the estates.”

At present, over 13,000 workers in the 12 tea estates of the Dooars are covered under FAWLOI, said Rajat Pal, the deputy labour commissioner of Jalpaiguri. “We have heard the announcement but no orders have reached us so far.”

Those in the closed tea estates are, however, not so happy. “It is good that we will get Rs 250 extra but we doubt what will ultimately happen to us,” said Sania Bhumij, a worker of the closed Raipur tea estate. “The hike was announced after the government failed to reopen the closed gardens, even after declaring incentives for entrepreneurs.”

Samir Roy, the convener of the Defence Committee for Plantation Workers’ Rights, an apex body of tea trade unions, was harsh. “The state government has taken the easy route to please the aggrieved workers and provide some more alms before elections,” he said. “If the government would have used this fund for restructuring the gardens, the situation would have been much better today.”

Workers of Sikarpur and Bhandapur tea estates, who have been developing the garden, expressed contentment. “The hike will definitely reduce the workers’ woes, but most want their jobs back. We have decided to meet the district magistrate in Jalpaiguri tomorrow to press for reopening the garden,” said Phanindranath Das, an employee.

Leaders of the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Workers’ Union, the trade union of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, however, are not ready to believe the government. “Unless we get something in writing, we are not ready to buy the announcement,” said Suraj Subba, the general secretary.

India making efforts to increase presence in Egypt,Pak: Jairam

Determined efforts are being made to increase the presence of Indian tea in markets like Egypt, Iran and Pakistan, besides its traditional markets, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has said.

'In addition to our traditional export markets of Russia, UK and the UAE, we are making determined efforts to increase presence of Indian tea in countries like Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. Trends are promising and very soon, the Tea Board and UPASI will reopen the India Tea Promotion Centre in Cairo', the minister said in a message sent to India International Tea Convention, which concluded here on Saturday.

While India remains an overwhelmingly CTC-tea producing country, in some markets there was growing demand for orthodox tea due to which the government has embarked on an ambitious programme of increasing the orthodox tea production share in total tea output from the present level of 8-9 per cent to around 12 per cent over the next three-four years, he said.

With India coming more and more under the ambit of the geographical indications (GI) legislation,the country has domestic and 'NBSP GIs' for Darjeeling tea, Kangra Valley Tea, Assam Orthodox Tea and Nilgiri Orthodox Tea, besides a recognised logo for Dooars-Terai tea.This will ensure improved quality and traceability as well,he said.

Stressing on value-addition in tea exports,the minister said the first important initiative in this regard was being started for the export of Darjeeling tea where the value-addition presently takes place outside of India.

The tea industry in India has gone through troubled times and was now in the midst of profound changes. Massive productivity-enhancing programmes have been launched. New research projects to develop better tea varieties suited to different agronomic conditions have been started, he said.

Marketing was receiving a new thrust.The Centre was also examining ways and means of sharing the cost of providing social infrastructure in tea garden areas so that the burden on tea garden owners themselves reduces and their competitiveness is enhanced.

Small tea growers are an important and growing part of the tea industry and their special needs and concerns are being addressed in a focussed manner. Energy efficiency schemes in tea manufacture have been introduced keeping in view the imperatives of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.

Flush delay in rainless Dooars

The absence of rain during this winter has posed a threat to the tea industry in the Dooars.

Tea bushes have dried up because of scanty rainfall and insects have damaged the bushes. Experts apprehend that the first flush will not be available and second may be delayed for the dry weather.

According to Met office, the rainfall in the Dooars was 0.3mm in December 2007, 12.4mm in January 2008 and 9.6mm in February that year. But there has absolutely been no drop of rain in the region during the corresponding period this year (see chart).

Not only the rainfall, the minimum and maximum temperatures are also two degrees above what it should be now.

The planters are worried about the absence of rain. Amitangshu Chakroborty, the secretary of the Dooars Branch of Indian Tea Planter’s Association, said: “The situation is alarming because of the inadequate rainfall. The first flush is in the first week of March every year and the plucking as well as manufacturing start in the gardens immediately.”

Chakroborty said even if the gardens resorted to artificial irrigation — the process is so costly that only few estates can afford it — the first as well as second flushes would be delayed by at least one month.

According to a garden manager, the demand for tea in Pakistan (the country is one of the “prime” buyers of the Indian brew) has decreased because of political disturbances. On the other, the wages of workers have also increased. In such a situation, the inadequate rainfall has added to the worries of the garden authorities.

Pradeep Ghosh, the chief advisory officer of the Tea Research Academy in Nagrakata, voiced a similar concern. “Normally, rainfall should be two centimetres in February and three centimetres in March. But in this season, the last shower was on October 8. If it does not rain within the next 15 to 20 days, the situation will turn grave,” he said.

Ghosh suggested that the garden authorities should not go for plucking in such a situation, but instead concentrate on artificial watering.

“Insects like red spiders and loopers have eaten up the bushes. To prevent the attack, strong pesticide is usually sprayed but that delays the flushes,” he said.

4 Dooars gardens find buyers

A meeting held in Calcutta today raised the hopes that at least four of the 12 closed tea estates in the Dooars would be taken over and reopened soon by new entrepreneurs.

At the meeting held at the Tea Board of India headquarters, the representatives of the closed gardens briefed the officials of various central and state government departments on the progress they had made in finding new owners to take over the plantations.

“Many prospective buyers are holding negotiations with the current owners of the closed gardens and it appears that at least four of them are interested in acquiring and reopening different estates,” G.Boriah, the director (tea development) of the board, said over phone from Calcutta.

Boriah said the representatives of Samsing, Chinchula, Sikarpur and Bhandapur and Dheklapara had informed the meeting that they had found new buyers who were ready to reopen the gardens.

In the case of Sikarpur and Bhandapur estate, the person, who expressed the willingness to buy it, put forward a condition that he should be allowed to earmark 1,000 acres to develop a knowledge city.

“Although there are many issues which are yet to be sorted out, the presence of investors has left us hoping that the closure of the gardens will end soon,” Boriah said.

On the remaining eight plantations, Boriah said the government was likely to issue an advertisement soon, inviting expression of interest to take over Kanthalguri. Regarding Ramjhora, there are still some pending cases that need to be disposed of before a move could be made for its sale. Kalchini, Raimatang and Redbank estates did not send any representatives to attend the meeting.

What impedes the speedy reopening of Chamurchi and Raipur is that their owners are yet to make final settlements with their bankers. “Officials of these banks were present at the meeting and detailed the liabilities of the closed gardens,” Boriah said.

The representatives of Bamandanga-Tondu — the last estate to be closed in the Dooars — said they were hunting for a new owner.

Tea relief for hills

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today squeezed out an assurance from Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to enhance the relief package for workers in the closed Dooars tea gardens.

The demand for Gorkhaland was not raised at the meeting — the third with the chief minister this year — in Writers’ Buildings but the Morcha did not withdraw the hunger strike at Gorubathan. “If the government gives us the assurance (to reopen the gardens) in writing, we may lift the fast,” said Raju Pradhan, assistant general secretary of the Morcha in Darjeeling.

The team also demanded the release of arrested members of the party in Siliguri, Kurseong and the Dooars where they had been arrested after incidents of violence. “We want the government to compensate us for property damaged (in the violence) and to ensure our safety,” said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri.

Bhattacharjee repeated the situation in the Dooars was not suitable to hold rallies.

Tea workers’ plight causes concern

National Commission for Schedule Tribes (NCST) chairperson Ms Urmila Singh has expressed utter dismay at the distressed condition of the tea garden workers of the Terai region of north Bengal.

The NCST chairperson, who alighted at Bagdogra airport today leading a four-member delegation, expressed disappointment after visiting the Subal Vita tea plantation at Khoribari in Siliguri this afternoon. Subal Vita happens to be a division of the erstwhile Chandmoni tea estate, which has now been converted into an urban housing hub by the Bengal Ambuja, adjacent to Siliguri town.

“We have visited Subal Vita and feel very sorry to say that the workers there are living in utter distress in the absence of proper drinking water, housing, roads and healthcare facilities. In fact, the condition of the hospital there is so dilapidated that it is unfit even for treating animals,” Ms Singh said at a Press conference at the Siliguri Circuit House.

The distressed condition of Subal Vita has given a “gloomy” start to the NCST team’s three-day long Terai-Dooars visit, she said, adding that these issues would be raised during her meeting with the state government in Kolkata on 16 and 17 February.
Ms Singh declined to comment on the recent spate of clashes between the Adivasis and the Gorkhas over the latter’s push for Gorkhaland agitation in the Dooars. “This matter is related to the home department and is beyond our jurisdiction,” she said.
Meanwhile, the NCST members today met a delegation of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP) led by its Terai president Mr Nicodim Minz at the Siliguri Circuit House and heard their grievances against the backdrop of recent violence in the Dooars.

The Central team also held a separate discussion with a three-member delegation of the Lepcha Tribal Association from Kalimpong, the agenda of which could not be known.
In the next two days, the NCST delegation will visit places like Malbazar, Birpara, Banarhat, Nagrakata and Kachini ~ all in the Dooars ~ and will take stock of the socio-economic condition of the tea-growing populace there.

Dues: Garden buys time

Kurseong, Feb. 11: The management of Jog Maya Tea Estate has asked for seven days to clear the dues of 178 workers who have not been receiving salaries for the past three months.

The plea for extra time was made at a meeting held today between leaders of the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union, an affiliate of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, and subdivisional officer, block development officer and the assistant labour commissioner of Kurseong. No one from the management side was present.

The meeting was held at the BDO’s office here.

The management left the garden, located 20km from here at Ghayabari, in December after it had failed to give salaries to the workers. The total dues have now accumulated to around Rs 9 lakh.

“When I spoke to the representatives of the management, they asked for seven days to pay the wages,” said the BDO Manish Verma. The officer also informed the meeting that the 100-day work scheme would begin on February 16. He said another meeting would be held on February 18.

“If the management fails to keep its words within the stipulated time, we might form a co-operative committee to run the estate,” said Verma. He added that representatives of the workers would also be in the committee

Earlier in the day, the labourers organised a blockade on NH55 for three hours, demanding for their dues.

“The SDO has told us that the owner will clear our dues within seven days. We will wait and if the management fails to deliver on the promise, we will revive our agitation,” said Satish Chettri of the union. “However, we are happy that the 100-day work scheme will start from Monday.”

Dooars row may hit ‘first flush’ tea

The ongoing political upheaval in Dooars may soon hit the high-quality and highly valued ‘first flush’ tea trade there. Dooars contributes over 15% to the all India tea production.

“Undoubtedly, the charged environment has created uneasiness among planters here. If the trouble continues for long, the next ‘first flush’ business
will be severely affected,” said Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA) principal advisor NK Basu.

According to experts, tea bushes remain at the best metabolic state and yield the best quality tea between 18 and 32 degree Celsius in post-winter and pre-peak summer season. After the two- month long no-plucking winter season, the new batch of leaves, normally plucked in March, comes in heavy quantities. Known as ‘first flush’ produce, it brings in the highest price. Out of around 920 million kg all-India tea production, Dooars produces 145 million kg. But its higher price makes the industry highly sensitive to the ‘first flush’ output in Dooars like all other tea producing areas.

“The political crisis in Dooars is yet to touch our management activities. But, the growing rift between Gorkhas and the tribals, two major communities in our workforce, will badly impact the overall operation, including production in all Dooars gardens,” said a senior tea garden manager.

While the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha is demanding the tea-producing Dooars and Terai be included in their proposed Gorkhaland state, tribals, under Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad banner, are strongly against this. The ongoing tussle has already claimed two lives.

Source: The Economic Times

‘Tea workers to be weaned away from divisive politics’

The convener of the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers, West Bengal, Mr Chitta Dey today said that the platform would organise a convention of the tea workers of the Dooars, Terai and the Darjeeling Hills to ward them against any divisive movement.

According to Mr Dey, the ongoing political turmoil in the Dooars, Terai and the Darjeeling Hills has hampered the tea plantation workers most. “Many of the tea plantation workers have been victimised as they participated in the movement. Houses of many trade union leaders have been torched during the movement. The workers have been exploited by some divisive power and by the demand of a separate state, disrupting peace and harmony in the region,” he said.

The leader also said that the workers’ unions have failed to generate awareness among the tea workers against such divisive powers. “The unions needed to organise small group meetings to aware the workers of the problem. They failed to perform their role. Under the circumstances, the Coordination Committee, which is a platform of 17 workers’ unions, met in Jalpaiguri today and resolved to organise the convention,” he added.

Peace on tea union lips

A conglomerate of garden workers’ unions has decided to launch a campaign against violence and spread the message of peace, keeping in mind the fact that most of the people involved in the recent clashes are estate labourers.

The Co-ordination Committee of the Tea Plantation Workers, an apex body of 18 garden unions, including the Citu and Intuc, convened a meeting in Jalpaiguri this afternoon to stem the rift among different communities.

The leaders of all constituents of the committee have unanimously decided to launch the campaign, disseminating the message of peace among tea workers of different communities, and to discourage them from extending support to any organisation indulging in violence in the name of supporting and opposing the Gorkhaland demand.

The unions will rather ask the labourers to concentrate on the political struggle to improve their socio-economic condition.

“I had not ever witnessed such rift and tension among the working class before in my 52-year-old trade union life. Instead of fighting together for economic and social development, they are against each other now, indulging in attacks and arson. They should be stopped immediately,” said Chitta Dey, the convener of the committee.

“Considering that the discord among the workers can have disastrous ramifications, we have decided to start the campaign from tomorrow, countering the issues raised by the divisive forces,” he said.

At the meeting, the leaders expressed concern over the incidents of violence being reported from different tea estates in the Dooars.

“Violence and creation of rift among the workforce will have a negative impact on the tea industry as a whole,” said Dey. “After years of recession, the industry has shown signs of improvement in the last season. We expect things to improve further in the season that will commence from the first week of March. But if the situation continues to be volatile and normal activities in the estates are affected, the sector will stagger again, and it will be workers who will suffer ultimately,” he added.

“It is thus important that peace is maintained and the labourers give attention to their work instead of getting swayed away by the divisive forces which are hardly concerned about poor people,” said a leader.

Asked about the role of the trade union floated by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in the gardens, Dey said it did not have any presence in the Terai and the Dooars and was not a constituent of the committee.

Apart from the micro-level campaign to be carried out by the trade union leaders in tea estates, a workers’ convention will also be organised by the committee at Birpara on February 23.

At work for better tomorrow - Workers in closed Darjeeling Garden attend duties without salary

Jog Maya Tea Estate (Ghayabari, Darjeeling) Feb. 9: Dilmaya Mangar trudges 1.5km everyday from her house, does her work at the garden and returns home in the evening. The 46-year-old worker has been following the routine for the past three months, although she has not been paid any salary for the period.

Like Dilmaya, the 178 workers, who include the garden office employees also, come to work everyday hoping that the management will return to the estate soon and clear their dues and wages.

The garden authorities had abandoned the estate in December after they failed to clear the workers’ dues that have now accumulated to around Rs 9 lakh.

“We are attending to our duties everyday so that the management does not shut down the garden. We are hoping that they will come back soon and pay our dues. For the past three months, we have been somehow managing with the credits given by the local grocery shops. But our children’s schools are set to begin and we hope the situation will improve,” said Dilmaya who used to earn Rs 1,100 a month to feed five members in the family.

D.K. Chettri, another worker, echoed Dilmaya. “Now the grocery shops, too, are urging us to clear the dues before replenishing our stocks on fresh credits. We do not know what we are going to do,” he said.

The workers had last received their payment in November. The management had then distributed Rs.1.29 lakh as wages for October.

“On December 23, estate manager Purna Tamang left the garden saying that he would come back with the money after talking to the head office in Calcutta. But till today, we have not heard of him. Whenever we call up his cellphone, he does not answer. There is no official notice that the garden has been shut down,” said Pradeep Chettri, an office employee at the factory. “Since this is not the plucking season, the workers are doing pruning work and watering the tea bushes.”

The Telegraph’s repeated call to the manager in his cellphone went without response. In October, the garden workers had gone for an indefinite strike and had gheraoed the manager several times after the management failed to pay their dues. The garden is owned by Pradeep Kumar Sinha, an entrepreneur based in Calcutta.

Satish Chettri, a leader of the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union, affiliated to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, said the situation had been brought to the notice of the subdivisional officer and the block development officer of Kurseong. “Since the workers solely depend on this garden, it has become difficult for them to eke out a living at this moment. We have urged the officers to start the 100 days work scheme,” said Satish Chettri.

Since the garden has been shut without notice, the workers are not entitled to Rs 500, a monthly stipend under the Financial Assistance to Workers of Locked Out Industries scheme.

Dipyendu Das, the subdivisional officer of Kurseong, said he had ordered the 100 days work scheme to start in the garden. “I have also sent a report on the situation to the district magistrate.”

The labour department in Darjeeling has admitted receiving complaints from the workers and the union. “We will call a meeting between the management and the union soon,” said Reena Kwok, the assistant labour commissioner.

Till then, Dilmaya and her lot are striving for a better tomorrow.

From The Telegraph

Garden worker fights off leopard

Jaigaon, Feb. 8: A worker in Carron Tea Estate was attacked by a leopard while cutting grass, but managed to fight the animal off with his sickle.

Both the man and the beast suffered severe injuries. While the injured garden worker was admitted to hospital, the animal melted into the adjacent Diana forest.

Around 12 noon, 22-year-old Ajay Asur had gone out to cut grass for his cows with a gunny bag and a sickle. Two hours later, the leopard attacked him from behind while he was working in Section 17 of the garden, 65km from here.

Ajay hit the head of the leopard with the sickle. The leopard left him for a moment but attacked him again from the front. The fight continued for more than 10 minutes.

But then, Ajay had hit the animal on its eye. It fled into the forest, leaving its prey in the garden.

Ajay walked over 500 metre to reach the garden hospital. When he came to the main road, about 300 metres from the spot where he was attacked, he met Dipak Asur and Sania Proja, two garden workers who helped him reach the hospital.

“It was a horrible sight. Blood was oozing out from all over his body. He had been badly mauled and he was groaning in pain,” said Kandra Oraon, another worker.

Dr S. Debnath, who examined Ajay, said he had to be given stitches. There were deep wounds below his left eye, behind the right ear, on the forehead and different parts of the body.

“The patient’s condition is critical and he has been referred to the government hospital,” Dr Debnath said.

The assistant manager of the tea garden, P. Bhadra, said this was not the first time that a leopard had strayed into the garden. He alleged that requests to the forest department to drive away the animal from near the garden had gone unheeded.

“In the past few days, it has taken away poultry. But this was the first time that it attacked a man,” said Bhadra.

The ranger of Khunia wildlife wing, Nitendranath Saha, said there was “nothing unusual” in a leopard straying into a garden from adjacent forests.

“We shall have to keep watch on the animal. We have to keep the leopard under watch,” the ranger said.

Demand for quality teas at Kolkata sale

Kolkata: Last week, the selected CTC liquoring teas maintaining quality sold around last levels, while those showing a decline in quality were lower, according to tea auctioneers. Hindustan Unilever was active while there was selective enquiry from Tata Tea and other packeteers. Western India dealers operated for liquoring sorts while other internal sections were more active.

Darjeeling offerings tended lower following a decline in quality and were largely absorbed by the local market.

Nominal quantity of clean Orthodox teas met with better enquiry. Remainder sold irregularly lower following quality. Fair enquiry was seen from West Asia & CIS. North India operated on the whole leaf.

Mujnai Tea Estate co-ordination committee to interact with management

Alipurduar, Feb. 4: Workers of Mujnai Tea Estate have decided to form a co-ordination committee in the garden to interact with the management.

The decision was taken yesterday, keeping in mind the frequent altercations that have been hindering the smooth running of the garden. There have been at least three altercations between the workers and the management since November 1, when the estate opened after 11 months of shutdown.

“At least five persons from every registered trade union would be members of the committee. In case of any dispute, the committee will talk to the manager. It will be formed next week, but on Friday when the garden starts functioning, we will tell the workers to maintain discipline and behave well with the managers,” said Sukha Oraon, the secretary of the garden unit of the Citu-run Cha Bagan Mazdoor Union.

On January 13, a section of workers without wages for a month had forced N.N. Chakroborty, a senior adviser to Mujnai Tea Company, to leave the garden on foot. They forced 70-year-old Chakroborty to walk 5km and then board a bus from Rangalibazna.

Oraon said the January 13 incident had saddened his union. “But at the same time it is also true that the workers had been told that they would get their wages and ration in due time at a tripartite meeting in Calcutta in October. But they did not get the wages for December and it was almost mid-January. This agitated a section of workers and they protested. Unfortunately, none of the union leaders was present at that time.”

The garden will reopen on Friday and the next day, the wages for December would be distributed. “The management has to clear lot of dues. But our only demand is that the workers be given their wages and ration on time. Otherwise, how will the workers lead a normal life,” said Oraon.

Chakroborty said over the phone that only a small portion of workers was creating problems in the garden. “The majority of them are fine. Several of them, especially women, had urged me to open the garden. That is why I attended the meeting at the district magistrate’s office where the deputy labour commissioner was also present. The leaders said in the meeting they were sorry for the incident.”

The manager said running the garden smoothly would be a challenge. “On January 13, I told them to wait for a day for the wage but they refused and forced me to leave the garden.”

From The Telegraph

A fresh cuppa

Duncans Tea Ltd has announced its expansion of ‘Taste of Life’ series by entering the Darjeeling tea category. The expansion comes with the offering of two products — Darjeeling Tea and Indian Treasure. Darjeeling Tea is available i n a 250 gm pack at Rs 120. Meanwhile, Indian Treasure packed in a wooden chestlet is priced at Rs 85 for a 100 gm pack.

Govt move to reopen Dooars tea gardens

The Bengal government has come out with a series of measures to woo prospective entrepreneurs and existing owners to reopen the closed tea gardens in the Dooars.

Of the 158 tea gardens in the region, 12 are closed.

The measures — under the West Bengal State Support Scheme for Reopening of Closed/Abandoned Tea Gardens, 2008 — have been announced by the state commerce and industries department in a notification (No.-384-CI/O/T-Ind/010/07/PI) by its principal secretary Sabyasachi Sen on December 15.

“Whereas the Governor is of the option that it is necessary and expedient to extend certain concession/benefits/relief to the tea sector so as to enable the owners/proprietors of the closed/abandoned tea gardens to reopen them and also to protect the interests of the tea garden workers as well as the dependant members of their families and to ensure long-term sustainable viability of the tea industry in the overall industrial development of the state…,” reads the notification.

The scheme is valid for two years. A garden, registered to a tea company for not less than five years and has remained closed or was abandoned for over one year, will be considered under the scheme.

Tea industry sources said the scheme also defined the benefits and eligible criteria of entrepreneurs, both existing and new, contemplating of reopening the closed gardens.

During the recession in tea industry in the first half of the decade, a number of tea estates had closed down primarily because of shortage of working capital.

“The proposal to reopen or revive the gardens must have the support of any intending financial institution or bank in respect of working capital requirement. It should also include commitment for a substantial investment on the part of the entrepreneur,” said the notification

Chitta Dey, the convener of the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers, the apex body of trade unions including the Citu and the Intuc, said: “It is important for the state government to judge the potential and economic background of the willing entrepreneurs.”

“There are instances that new companies and individuals, who had entered into an interim arrangement with old owners, had failed to meet the financial requirements after a few days, leaving the gardens inoperative again,” he said.

The list of benefits (see chart) include waivers on electricity duty and payment of an employment and education cess to be paid by an owner at the rate of Re 0.12 per kg of tea from the date of production.

The notification, however, said that some of the central and state schemes would be withdrawn after reopening the gardens. “This can be discouraging to some extent. For an entrepreneur who is planning to reopen a garden having a steady workforce and their dependents will always want some other income generating options,” a planter said.

Others, however, appreciate the government’s move. “It is good that the state has come out with a scheme, clarifying the benefits. We expect entrepreneurs to turn up now,” said N.K. Basu, the principal advisor to the Indian Tea Planters’ Association.

From The Telegraph

Darjeeling tea: now savour the flavour of Gorkhaland

The best-known teas of India are acquiring a political flavour. When aficionados of tea from the gardens of Makaibari, Castleton or Orange Vallee sip their morning cuppa after March 7, the flavour will be the same, but the branding may change - from 'Darjeeling' to 'Gorkhaland'.

This is the demand being made by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is agitating for a separate Gorkhaland state carved out of the hills in northern West Bengal.

'The packs should carry the line 'Darjeeling Tea - The Flavour of Gorkhaland',' GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told IANS.

'Our people are talking to tea garden owners and it will be labelled differently from March 7,' Giri asserted.

Darjeeling, often referred to as The Queen of the Hills, boasts of around 87 tea estates spread across 16,000 hectares with an approximate workforce of 150,000, he said.

Darjeeling accounts for seven percent of India's tea exports, with the region churning out about 10 million kilograms of high-quality brews.

'Around 10-11 million kilograms of Darjeeling tea is produced every year, out of which six to seven million kilograms is exported,' S. Patra, joint secretary of tea garden owners' body Indian Tea Association, told IANS.

Darjeeling tea is widely exported to Britain, the US, Japan and Germany, besides many other destinations.

India exported total 189 million kilogram tea worth Rs.18.89 billion (Rs.1,889 crore) in 2007-08 and it has set an export target of 195-200 million kilograms in the current fiscal.

The GJM also demanded that the 'tea tax', which is now paid by the tea garden owners to the West Bengal government, be paid to the GJM from March 7.

'They have to pay us the tax from March 7, which they till now paid to the state government. We will use that fund for our democratic movement,' Giri said.

Asked how much tax they intend to levy on tea traders, he said: 'We haven't chalked out any figure yet. We will do it soon.'

However, the Darjeeling tea industry denied receiving any such diktat from the GJM.

'Their demands are preposterous. The Darjeeling tea logo cannot be altered under any circumstances. While we got to hear about such demands being raised about two weeks back, no formal intimation has come from the GJM,' Sanjay Bansal, chairman of Darjeeling Tea Association, told IANS.

He also ruled out any move by the industry to negotiate with the agitators.

Bansal said the planters in Darjeeling are meeting the labour unions mid-February to discuss labour-related issues.

'If the agitators have some demands, they can tell us at the meeting, which could then be taken up with the state government,' Bansal said.

The GJM has also demanded that the tea auction centre in Kolkata be shifted to Darjeeling.

Raja Banerjee, owner of Makaibari Tea Estate, also spoke on similar lines. 'We have no official intimation from the GJM on both the issues yet,' he told IANS.

Regarding paying tax to the GJM, Banerjee said: 'There are many ifs and buts into it. But we can only decide once we hear from the GJM in this regard.'

The 150-year-old Makaibari tea estate is located at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains in Kurseong across 636.99 hectares (1574 acres). Tea is however grown only on 222.585 hectares and the rest is primary virgin forest, he said.

The annual production from Makaibari is to the tune of 120 tonnes, out of which 70 percent is exported, Banerjee added.

From: Darjeeling Information

Closed tea garden issue forces cadres to join GJMM

The CPI-M is in for a jolt. Even as the party launched a campaign against the Gorkhaland cry in the district yesterday, its Samsing unit in the Dooars has revolted against the party leadership. The unit leader, Mr Rajen Lohar, along with 90 CPI-M activists has deserted the party to join the GJMM citing the CPI-M’s failure to reopen the locked out tea plantations of the Dooars.

Mr Lohar claimed today that he and 90 others went to Garubathan to meet the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha president, Mr Bimal Gurung, and joined his party. “Several years have passed since the closure of the tea plantations in the Dooars but neither the Centre nor the CPI-M led state government succeeded in opening those while the workers, who are mostly of Adivasi stock, suffer. We met the district CPI-M leaders several times on the issue but to no avail. The GJMM is fighting for our issues and so we decided to support them leaving the CPI-M,” he said.

The new entrants organised a procession from the Samsing Tea Estate to Meteli Bazaar today.

“The revolt proves that the tribal people are with us,” said the GJMM chief, Mr Bimal Gurung. “We assured them to fight for their demands and also to work for their development. Their joining us proves the tribal are withdrawing support from the CPI-M,” he added.

The CPI-M leadership is still hopeful it can stem the rot. “I have heard of the development and have sought a meeting with Mr Lohar tomorrow. I am sure the problem can be solved,” said the CPI-M Jalpaiguri district secretary Mr Manik Sanyal.

From: The Statesman

Tata Tea to restructure US operations

KOLKATA: Tata Tea Ltd is in the process of restructuring its US operations with a view to bringing down costs substantially, a top official of the company official said on Monday.

The company is consolidating its manufacturing facilities, which would be run under a unified entity, Tata Tea Managing Director Percy Siganporia told reporters here. Tata Tea markets brands like Tetley, Goodearth and 8'o Clock Coffee in the US market.

He said that the company's strategy towards the US market is that of cost management. Tata Tea is following different strategies in the various markets of the US, Britain, Canada and India, he added.

In Canada, the strategy followed by Tata Tea is that of product innovation. In standalone operation in India, he said that the company had been able to protect the bottom line while the towline growth was followed aggressively.

India contributed to nearly 26 per cent of Tata Tea's overall revenue. He said a top executive team of Tata Tea has been relocated to the UK. "The chemistry works better when the top executive team stays at the same location.'' Siganporia would relocat e himself from Kolkata to the UK.

From PTI

India set for a record with tea e-auction

The face of tea auction in India, which accounts for 53 per cent of total sales, is set to change.

The electronic auction of tea would be the first in the world and there is apprehension from stakeholders as it calls for a complete overhaul of a system, which dates back to 1861. The pilot in Kolkata is slated for introduction over the next few weeks though there is leeway up to the first week of April, which is when the new season teas would come up for sale. In South India it would be launched within a month.

Though the government has not made e-auction mandatory, it has made it clear that this would be the preferred route that it would want to see functioning. Inaugural e-auctions have been held at all six centres, Kolkata, Siliguri, Guwahati, Coonoor, Coimbatore and Cochin.

A major buyer said, “Hope the e-auction does not drive the buyers towards private sales, which in any case is half of the sales now.” The contention is anonymity in the process. “If I don’t know what my competitor is buying, how do I get the feel of the market. The current physical auction system is a barometer to prices and demand. For the seller, if he does not know who the buyer is, he could be underselling,” said another industry representative.

The industry appears to be divided over the merits and demerits of e-auction. Kiran Desai, who heads the blending and buying at Tata Tea said, it was too futuristic for the present. Tata Tea buys about 50 million kg tea from the auctions. However, Aditya Khaitan, MD, McLeod Russel India, the world’s largest bulk tea producer said, it was step in the right direction.

His only apprehension was whether the system could take on the workload of the auction system. In 2007, of a total production of 945 million kg, 503 million kg were physical auction sales.

Stress on quality tea for growth

Silchar, Jan. 31: Tea Association of India president Shashank Prashad today underscored the need to produce quality tea for the industry to thrive, particularly in the CTC tea-producing Brahmaputra Valley and the Cachar region.

He was speaking at the 38th annual general meeting of the Barak Valley branch of the TAI here today.

The Inter-governmental Group on Tea, an international lobby, in its ruling in China last year, had said there should be no expansion in the tea-producing areas worldwide, particularly in the Brahmaputra Valley and Cachar region.

Against the backdrop of the ruling, Prashad said the tea plantations in the Brahmaputra Valley and the Cachar region should focus on a qualitative increase in the productivity of land and labour.

The TAI president attributed low land productivity as a root cause for sickness in the tea plantations. He urged the planters to reorient their strategies to produce quality teas.

Prashad underlined the need to weed out complexities in the procedural formalities and inordinate delay in the sanction of funds by the Centre under the Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) scheme.

He thanked the Centre for amending the loan terms under the scheme by including the Cachar gardens within the ambit of loans with heavy subsidy for the rejuvenation of the old tea bushes.

From The Telegraph

Tea and tete-a-tete With Debu Bhattacharya

Debu Bhattacharya articulates through anecdotes, and sportingly plays ball when we pitch back and forth in time. “You can ask me anything you
want,” he says with an infectious smile that sets the tone for our conversation. The low-profile managing director of Hindalco most often lets his work do the talking, but we were privileged to hear it from him. Even if deflected via anecdotes.

Quiet confidence is his hallmark and we learnt he had it from his college-days. “The stint at IIT Kharagpur changed a lot of things for me. The standard of education was phenomenal and the opportunities to take part in things were enormous,” says Bhattacharya, an alumnus of the chemical engineering class of 1970, who interestingly, first finished his graduation from Kolkata’s Presidency College.

“It was camaraderie of a different kind. You lived on campus and made some great friends,” he recalls with a tinge of nostalgia. Nor was it just about books and academics. “We had a lot of extra-curricular activities and I was pretty good at football and cricket.” Queried on what was the most useful thing he picked up at IIT, his quick reply was, “I can say that we learnt a lot from each other without any shame!”

Back then, a good job meant a long stint in an organisation. In 1970, Bhattacharya had the option of going to the US. Instead, he chose to join what was then Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL). “It was a prized job those days and they were paid us Rs 1,000 a month,” he says with a laugh as we try to calculate how much that would buy 40-odd years ago.

Well, it was certainly enough for the technical trainee to find accommodation in Mumbai’s YMCA, then in the upmarket Wodehouse Road. “I spent two years at the YMCA. We had a five and half day week at Levers and weekends were a lot of fun,” Bhattacharya adds as tea and cakes arrive alongside some rather tempting pizzas.

We ask him gingerly if he recalls his first car and it comes to him like a flash. “Of course I remember. My first car was a Fiat that was 14 years old,” he says. It wasn’t the best car to have but there was a positive fallout. “It conked out without a warning every week so I became a real good mechanic at the end of it,” he says, recalling that it faithfully acted up on the day he had to pick up his mother-in-law from the station.

Bhattacharya made the most of his 28 years at HLL. “I think we worked with a sense of purpose,” he says even as he recounts a couple of interesting events during his tenure with the Anglo-Dutch major. One was during an overseas trip which incidentally was Bhattacharya’s first ever. “It was to attend a course in London where I had a chance to interact with a lot of other Indians. I saw first-hand the brightness of Indians and what they were capable of,” he points out.

That trip to London started his romance with the city as well. “I have a lot of memories from that first trip and London, to this day, remains my favourite destination. I just feel at home there,” he says.

In the midst of a rather grueling work schedule — which he confesses to enjoying tremendously — he has had some incredible moments. Over the last decade that he has spent with the AV Birla Group, he is immensely proud of the acquisition of Novelis – which to his mind is a case study – and the buyouts of Indal and Pennar . Naturally we ask what made him change jobs after almost three decades with HLL.

It was at an All India Management Association event in Mumbai that he met Kumar Mangalam Birla. “He has this ability to charm you by not speaking very much. He is a visionary,” says Bhattacharya. He soon succumbed to overtures and decided to take up the offer with the AV Birla Group where he started off as MD of Indo-Gulf and head of the Aditya Birla Management Corporation. “If HLL was a great place to develop one’s professional acumen, the best thing about the AV Birla Group is that one becomes an entrepreneur,” he says matter-of-factly.

Those who know Bhattacharya say he is at work by 7am and puts in long hours that eat into his weekend too. “I believe in a few things. I do not attend a meeting unless I can add value. I do not do anything unless I can excel. And I maintain that it is important to keep one’s word,” he says categorically. The the tinge of regret is also hard to miss when he says he’d like to spend more time with his family.

Once off work, there’s films for relaxation. “Primarily, I watch English films. A recent one that I enjoyed was Lions for Lambs where Tom Cruise plays a senator,” he says. Music is another stressbuster and Bhattacharya lists songs by Tagore and Kishore Kumar as among his favourites. A voracious reader, he actually goes through at least two books at a time. One at present is Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. “I avoid reading management books!” he says with a grin. After working for close to 40 years in a developing corporate scenario like India, he could write a few management books himself!

From Economic Times

Tea exports - low hanging fruit for forex earnings

Tea exports, which are Sri Lanka’s mainstay in agricultural export topped the US$1 billion mark in 2007 thus showing the sector’s potential after government divested the plantation in 1992. These earnings were a tremendous boost to the industry that also plays a key role in employment generation and social welfare. When the global turmoil was spreading the belief was that Sri Lanka was immune due to its limited connectivity and capital account controls.

However from October, Colombo auction prices began to decline rapidly with huge quantities of tea remaining unsold due to lack of demand. This resulted in a vicious circle of debts from exporter to producer thus sending shockwaves in a industry poised for record earnings. With 60% of the production coming from smallholdings the effect on the rural economy was devastating. The average auction price at the last sale of 2008 was Rs 225/kg as against Rs 340 in the previous year thus losing nearly $1 per kilogram.

New Year brings hope
The New Year seems to have brought some hope to the industry with auction prices showing a steady improvement. The first two auctions lit up a depressed tea sector with significant price gains. The second sale of the year averaged to Rs 274 improving from the Rs 253 recorded in the first. Price gains were recorded from all elevations and the trend has been consistent. The industry should not be complacent and must continue with cautious optimism. During the tough depressed times the industry reacted well by taking certain crucial steps that paid dividends. The authorities decided to restrict private sales and ensured that the auction is stronger and quality was emphasized.

Emphasis on quality
Strict surveillance on quality must be pursued with the Tea Board along with brokers and the auction authorities to ensure poor quality teas doesn’t reach the auctions. During the peak price levels there has been a tendency for quick gains and quality has been the casualty. It is also no secret that thefts and adulteration carried out on a large scale and stealing tea in the highways of Colombo too has been reported. A few years ago the Tea Board was able to initiate legal action and expose such crimes. Since such operators have a tendency to re-emerge every effort must be made to enforce the law to protect the good name of Ceylon Tea. Since independence the industry has weathered many storms to become stronger. During the insurrection periods of 1971 and 1989 many tea industry personnel sacrificed their lives, some factories were burnt and the employees and their families lived in fear. Even though the land reform legislation had good intentions politicization saw great losses to the industry and the economy along with mass exodus of expertise.

New look industry
Price fluctuations in commodities is nothing new and perhaps the tea sector should emerge stronger from the present crisis. Vast improvement made during the last two decades in quality enhancement (ISO, HACCP) improved living conditions for plantations workers, surveillance by the ethical tea sourcing partnership and continuing investments by the companies have given strength and a new look to the industry. Tea smallholders have become a major force with high productivity and lower cost of production.

Minimize negative factors
Declining reserves and the persistent macro economic deficiencies will pose a major problem to the Sri Lanka economy in 2009. These could worsen with a decline in worker remittances. In this situation assisting the export sector is a priority and a necessity for the government, and tea has the potential to enhance foreign exchange earnings than any other source. As agitated by exporters, a competitive exchange rate is more than a necessity in the background of devaluations carried out by our competitors during the last six months - Kenya (19.8%), India (12.1) Vietnam (3.8%) and Indonesia (18.2%). Apart from these, negative factors in taxation in ESC, proposal for a Nation Building levy and the export CESS needs to be reviewed. The tea cess was raised during the peak market conditions and an adjustment is opportune to suit the present needs and increase competitiveness.

Recovery in sight
The price levels of the last two years are unlikely to be repeated due to a decline in petroleum prices and next to CIS our major buyers are from such countries where there are credit limitations due to banking problems. On the positive side increasing consumption in India would lead to curtailment of exports and the rise in black tea consumption. China is another opportunity. Kenya, Sri Lanka’s main competitor, experienced a significant production decline in 2008 as against Sri Lanka’s increase. Demand for black tea could rise due to export shortfalls.Most importantly unlike in most other beverages the share of tea in the disposable income of consumers is not significant to anticipate a cut down. These factors do indicate that tea exports could stage a recovery in 2009.

From The Sunday Times