Panels appointed to probe sick tea estates in four States; small growers seek minister’s intervention

The Centre has sought a detailed report of the sick tea estates in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

It has appointed three committees to investigate the affairs of the estates notified in the gazette by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The report is expected to be submitted in four weeks. The investigation will encompass 25 tea estates in Assam, 12 each in West Bengal and Kerala, and four in Tamil Nadu

Those in the know of developments said these estates had turned sick due to mismanagement. Factory operations are at a standstill.

The report will include details of wages, gratuity and provident fund dues being paid and payable to the workers and their dependants and such other dues that the respective estate is under obligation to pay under law, and details of the action initiated by the authorities against the management or owners for non-payment of such statutory dues.

The Committee, consisting of C Paulrasu, Executive Director, Tea Board, Coonoor; CS Hariprakash, Deputy Director (Tea Development), Coonoor; and Georgy Samuel, Assistant Director (Tea Development), Peermade, has been appointed to study the estates in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

“This committee will visit the High Forest Tea Estate belonging to Mahavir Plantations in Valparai on August 25 to interact with the management, workers’ representatives and government officials,” a member of the Board told this correspondent.

The four sick estates in Tamil Nadu include High Forest, Liddelsdale and Prospect, Manjushree (New Hope and Glenvans) and Seaforth.

Meanwhile, the Nilgiris Small Tea Growers’ Association has sought the intervention of Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to get higher returns for the green leaf they supply to bought-leaf factories.

“We have informed her that after the rollout of GST, some teas are sold for less than ₹60 a kg at the Coonoor auctions. We are particularly concerned that two major picketers — HUL and Tata Global Beverages — have not been buying tea at the Coonoor and Coimbatore auction centres using an Advisory Note of the Tea Board as their armour, without caring that the High Court of Kerala has struck down this Advisory Note,” Association President H Thiagaraj told BusinessLine .

Since the implementation of GST, the price at the Coonoor auction has fallen to an average of ₹73.71 a kg from the pre-GST level of ₹94.45 a kg. At the Coimbatore auction, the price has fallen to ₹83.70 from ₹103.34, Thiagaraj said.

This followed some corporate buyers refusing to buy demanding changes in billing procedures following GST.

“While the prices fetched in other auction centres are higher, damage has been done to those offering their teas at Coonoor and Coimbatore auction centres,” Thiagaraj charged.

He said that following this, the Tea Board has reduced the average price to be paid to small growers by bought-leaf factories in The Nilgiris to ₹11.50 a kg of green leaf from ₹17 since the beginning of this year.

“Unable to meet both the ends, many small growers and their families are leaving the Nilgiris district. We seek your intervention to prevent the small growers from being treated as sacrificial goats by a handful of corporate buyers and exporters,” he has said in his memorandum to the Minister.

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