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Ravinder Sood
The tea industry in Kangra valley is passing through a serious crisis. Tea growers are finding it difficult to maintain their plantations as there is no buyer for their produce. The input and labour cost has almost doubled in the past 10 years and the tea price has come down.
The tea produced in India has failed to compete with that produced in African countries, Sri Lanka and China as the production cost of tea is much less in these countries, thereby reducing the demand of Indian tea.
Tea growers in the valley have made efforts to improve the quality in the past few years, but because of high production cost, only a few buyers came forward.
However, a plan to revive Kangra tea is in the pipeline. A detailed project report has been submitted to the Government of India for its approval. Under this project, all abandoned tea gardens would be revived by the Tea Board, which will extend financial assistance to the tea growers.
Area under plantation squeezing
The area under tea plantation is squeezing day by day. Thanks to the apathy of the state government that has failed to initiate any step for the revival of the century-old Kangra tea. A number of tea growers in Baijnath, Bir and Chauntra have abandoned their tea gardens as there are no buyers.
Cooperative tea factories fail to deliver
The factories set up by the state government in cooperative sector at Bir, Baijnath, Sidhwari and Palampur have failed to watch the interests of small tea growers. Despite the fact that the state government provided adequate financial assistance, these units could not come out of red and faced losses in crores. The cooperative tea factories set up at Bir, Baijnath and Sidhwari have been closed and the new owners in private sector have now taken over these units.
The state government has imposed a complete ban on the sale of tea holdings in Himachal Pradesh. This was done so that growers could avail the benefit of Himachal Pradesh Land Cealing Act, 1972, and they were allowed to retain excess land than the prescribed limit of 30 acres under the Act.
Violations aplenty, current scenario dismal
Many big tea growers have managed to get the permission for the sale of their tea holdings in gross violation of rules, while ordinary tea growers are moving from pillar to post to get permissions. In fact, after the enactment of the HP Land Ceiling Act, 1972, tea growers were allowed to retain excess land (more than 30 acres) only for cultivation. As per law, they are either caretakers or custodians of this land, but not the owners. They can neither sell the land nor change the land use without the permission of the state government.
However in the past, the government allowed the sale of tea garden in bulk. The major beneficiaries were Radha Swami Satsang, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, Tibetan monasteries and a number of Congress and BJP politicians as well.
Official sources reveal that over 5,000 kanals of tea gardens were sold in the past and most of the sales were effected, when the BJP was in power. While allowing the sale of tea gardens, the successive governments kept aside the provisions of the HP Land Ceiling Act and allowed the sale of tea lands along with the change of land use as well.
Even today, many files pertaining to the permission for sale of tea gardens are in the CM’s office waiting for his approval. These files have been recommended by the lower authorities in gross violation of rules after tampering with the original revenue records. It is a fact that the state government has no set policy in this regard and tea growers having political push are getting the nod for the sale of their land under tea plantation. The areas which were under tea plantation are being replaced with housing colonies, hotels, tourist resorts, shops and other religious places now and the state government is only acting like a mute spectator.
How it all began...