NEW DELHI, May 4 ? Alarmed at the plight of the tea workers, Assam Government has decided to expedite the process of leasing out the Assam Tea Corporation (ATC) gardens, even as Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi asked the Commerce Minister to organise a national seminar on the predicament of the tea industry. The order to immediately start the process of leasing out the 14 tea gardens was issued by Chief Minister, Gogoi after two separate meetings with the State Legislature Forum of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and officials of the Commerce Ministry here.
The Chief Minister disclosed that few parties had shown keen interest to take on lease ATC gardens. ?I have now instructed the concerned department to expedite the process and lease out the gardens,? he added. The INTUC delegation led by Etuwa Munda, MLA pleaded with the Chief Minister to lease out the ATC gardens immediately in the face of the acute financial crisis plaguing the State-owned tea company. They complained that the workers faced acute hardship as no salaries were paid for the last two months. The Congress-affiliated INTUC delegation that also included Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly, Prithibi Majhi and Dileswar Tanti, MLA, had earlier alleged on Union Minister of State for labour, Minni Lal and Minister of State for Commerce, Rajiv Pratap Rudi seeking Central intervention in reviving the tea gardens. The delegation demanded 100 per cent waiver of excise duty on tea besides a further hike on custom duty on tea.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister told this newspaper that the State Government had also requested the Commerce Ministry to work out a package for revival of the tea industry without further delay. The package, it was urged, should stress modernisation of the tea factories and re-plantation among other measures. He said a specific suggestion was made to the Commerce Ministry to organise a national-level seminar on the issue. An additional secretary in the ministry led the Commerce Ministry team of officials. The Chief Minister said revenue earning from tea, which at one time was around Rs 111 crore, had shrunk to Rs 15 crore. And State-owned ATC has become all liability, with the State Government having to shell out Rs 100 crore recently.
Sri Gogoi said, while he was confident that measures proposed by Commerce Ministry would bear fruit in about three-four years? time, what was worrying him was the gestation period. ?The steps for revival of the industry should have been taken couple of years back but unfortunately nobody showed any interest,? he lamented. He rued that even now a few big tea companies who have managed to earned profit, have been keeping away from joining hands in addressing the problem. The all-party Assembly delegation that visited the capital last week had also pleaded with the Prime Minister and the Union Commerce Minister to intervene and resolve the problems faced by the tea industry, including promotion of export market. They had also urged the Central leaders to request the tea companies including the Tea Board to shift their head offices from Kolkata to Guwahati.