Assam wants tea board HQ shifted to Guwahati

Guwahati: Assam agriculture minister Atul Bora on Saturday said that the headquarters of the Tea Board of India should be shifted to Guwahati from Kolkata and asked the tea planters to take a decision on bringing tea from commerce ministry to agriculture.

Pointing out that Assam produces 53 per cent of tea produced in India, Mr Bora while addressing the biennial general meeting of the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) said, “Tea Board must shift its headquarters from Kolkata to Guwahati.”

It is significant that shifting of the tea board office from Kolkata to Guwahati has been a long pending demand of the plantation industry.

However, a move to shift the office was foiled due to opposition of the Trinamul Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

There are five statutory Commodity Boards under the commerce ministry — Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Spices and Tobacco. Except Tea Board, all other Boards are headquartered in the state where the product is mainly produced.

Mr Bora pointed out that Karnataka is the birthplace of coffee in India and Coffee Board is headquartered in Bengaluru, rubber cultivation in India has been traditionally confined to Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Rubber Board is headquartered in Kottayam, Kerala, and Spices Board is headquartered in Cochin, Kerala, Tobacco Board is headquartered in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Bora also asked planters to decide if tea should continue to be under commerce ministry or for some valid reasons it should be shifted to agriculture ministry. “Planters should discuss this issue and let me know,” said Mr Bora.

“I know, with change in climate, tea plantations in Assam cannot survive without irrigation. I am exploring the option of extending the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) to the Small Tea Growers (STGs). This scheme is aimed to extend the coverage of irrigation and improving water use efficiency on pattern of more crop per drop policy,” said Mr Bora.

While referring the recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, the agriculture minister also advocated that tea should be declared as the National Drink of India.

Mr Bora who is also the president of regional AGP assured to take up the issue of declaring tea as national drink of India with the Prime Minister.