Jorhat, Feb. 21: The chairman of the Assam Tea Planters Association (ATPA), Prabhat Bezbaruah, today said the tea industry should restructure the perks enjoyed by the executives in view of the stiff challenge from small tea growers.
Addressing the 114th annual general meeting of the Assam Branch of the Indian Tea Association at the Gymkhana Club here, Bezbaruah said: ?The working methods of the organised gardens have to be restructured to compete with the stiff challenge from the small growers and bring down the cost level.? The present managerial structure, especially in the organised sector, offers a lavish lifestyle with sprawling bungalows to the executives.
Bezbaruah, a senior planter, said the working style in the tea gardens has to be more cost effective because of the continuing slump in the market and competition from the small growers.
He said the productivity level in large gardens have been bogged down by the hierarchical system of depending on a chain of command from the top executives to the lower-level ones and the whole process eats away a lot of time.
The small growers do not face any such problem because their estates are spread over a tiny area, giving them more time and authority to look after their gardens. Figures released by the Tea Board revealed that a bulk of the production comes from the small sector, which accounts for only 15 to 20 per cent area-wise.
Bezbaruah told the tea captains that the lavish perks enjoyed by the executives could become a bone of contention if corrective steps were not taken immediately.
Outgoing chairman of the ABITA, N. Singh, also expressed concern over the low productivity level of the workforce and urged the labour unions to inculcate work culture in the estates. ?Work culture is a necessity today because 50 per cent of the production cost is directly attributable to labour wages,? he added.
On steps taken by the Tea Board to revive the industry, the executive director of its zonal office in Guwahati, Chandrajit Saikia, said that the board has disbursed Rs 18 crore during 2002-2003 fiscal for the Northeast. He said the total area under tea production is 2.76 million hectares across 30 countries. India?s share is 19 per cent of the total area, which is second only to China.
The government has announced price subsidies and other modalities were being worked out to encourage the small tea growers in the country.