Reviving the Tea Gardens of India: A Case Study of Jalpaiguri

Reviving the Tea Gardens of India: A Case Study of Jalpaiguri
Saumitra Mohan

The powder keg situation prevailing in the tea gardens of North Bengal, particularly Jalpaiguri, shot to news after the news of the massacre of 21 tea garden labourers owing to internecine struggle between feuding labour unions over recruitment was flashed all over the national media in November 2004. Reams of pages were written to discuss and analyze the entire episode and the issues involved. Against this background, it would be worth its while to explore the conditions of these tea gardens and find out the probable solutions to the smouldering problem over here.

Nearly 32 per cent land in the district is occupied by these tea gardens and nearly 25 per cent of total population lives in tea garden areas. The main economy of this district depends directly or indirectly on this industry. Total number of tea gardens in the district is 183. Of this, thirteen tea gardens have either been closed or abandoned owing to various reasons as we shall try to discuss here.

In the past few years, there has been a trend of closure of some tea gardens for various reasons, in the Dooars area of this district. These reasons include complex labour problems, excessive trade unionism, falling tea prices due to slump in the tea industry, poor quality of the produce because of very old tea plantation, poor management, poor production and manufacturing techniques and technologies and lack of motivation and initiative for better manufacturing and better marketing. Some of the tea gardens have been locked out or abandoned by the tea garden management. As a result about twenty thousand workers have been affected and presently they have no other means of livelihood. This has posed a threat to the entire economy of the Dooars area and, therefore, dangers of different dimensions seem to be lurking and a grim shadow is seen gradually enveloping the social life of this area.

While there is wide scale poverty among the tea garden workers, the situation was becoming increasingly alarming since these workers were also becoming victims to various privations and deprivations due to the recession in the tea industry resulting in sickening of many tea gardens and sudden closure of a quite few of these gardens. The problems were worse in the closed and abandoned tea gardens as the workers were sans safe drinking water facilities as the obtaining water supply system had gone haywire for want of maintenance and upkeep in the absence of any management.

As is well known that the international market is still not out of the slump. The recessionary phase still continues and the same has been severely afflicting the international tea market as well as resulting in poor and uneconomical pricing for tea which in turn negatively impacts the tea industry round the world, India being no exception. Consequently, many tea gardens in the country including those in Jalpaiguri have been reeling under crisis. While many of them fell sick, some of them were locked-out or were abandoned by the owners.

The problems were only aggravated by the extremist union activities, indiscipline and frequent labour unrest. Also, encouraged by some anti-social activities accompanied with veiled political support, a group of workers with vested interests has often tried against the larger worker interests to sabotage the regular garden activities. It has been noticed with concern that there is a lumpen minority in many of these tea gardens. This minority of people, with criminal penchant and proclivity, has a vested interest in the closure of these tea gardens, often at the expense of poor and helpless tea garden labourers. The vested interests seem hell-bent on creating one or the other problem in the tea gardens, leading to rise of many problems which when left uncared for, lead to gradual sickening of the tea gardens and eventual closure or abandonment of the same, leaving behind thousands of poor human beings to be fed, clothed and cared for. l

Hence, as emergency measures, district administration along with Zilla Parishad has taken some measures for alleviating the distress of the affected workers to some extent by way of creating employment opportunities in these areas, by extending the existing public health care facilities to these people and by augmenting drinking water facilities through sinking of new tube wells and making the already available water supply system workable.

A number of schemes have been taken up for providing employment opportunities to the jobless workers and their families and for creating some durable assets in the closed/abandoned tea gardens of this district. For giving health coverage to the jobless workers and their families, necessary health programmes have also been taken up including mobile medical clinics for health check ups and distribution of some essential medicines among the families in such gardens. All out efforts are also being made by the district health administration for preventing outbreak of diseases like diarrhea, dysentery and malaria.

The tea garden areas usually have their own health care and water supply system. Any mismanagement or failure in these areas causes high prevalence of malaria, diarrhea and other communicable diseases. The health care facilities in the tea garden areas are provided by the management and are very poor and have only worsened due to present economic crisis. Further, lack of the basic awareness about health and hygiene also creates problems as a substantive number of workers in these tea gardens have tried to have personalize the water availability by tapping from the common water system resulting in the break-down of water supply system and consequent out-break of water-borne diseases. Since, these areas are not included in the regular health care delivery system of the government, so a system for provisioning of basic health care needed to be developed particularly for the closed/abandoned tea garden areas as the health care in these areas was almost collapsing.

Already, under SGRY-I, SGRY-II (Swarnajayanti Gramin Rojgar Yojna), IAY (Indira Awas Yojna) and NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme) Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samities with the active initiative of Zilla Parishad have started execution of a number of schemes like land development, creation of community kitchen gardens, construction of kuccha roads and construction of kuccha drains within the closed tea garden areas with a view of creating man days for the jobless workers and at the same time for encouraging them to utilize the community kitchen gardens for vegetables production for their own consumption and for commercial purpose in the future. Ingenuous and innovative ways have been resorted to save each and every tea garden thus abandoned or closed.

In the meantime, schemes like watershed development by constructing water reservoirs for irrigation purposes in the lean season at the convenient places or slopes on high lands where technically such schemes would be feasible and adjacent to cultivable lands/community kitchens have been taken up.

More over, till date millions of rupees including the cost of food grains have been utilized for execution of different schemes at the closed tea gardens under SGRY-I, SGRY-II, IAY, Swajaldhara and NREGA and as a result, new employment opportunities have been created for the jobless. But it has been observed that to cope up with the economic distress, the jobless workers should further be ensured more such opportunities to the tune of , at least, two weeks a month. Keeping this in view, new programmes and schemes like development of plantation areas, coverage of further fallow lands with community kitchen gardens and provisioning of water reservoirs and social forestry etc have been launched.

In addition, cooked mid-day meals scheme for school children have been started for the school children in these areas. For providing nutrition to the adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, a programme is being executed under the auspices of Social Welfare Department as a pilot scheme for such people. More attempts are being made for providing safe drinking waters to these areas.


Measures already undertaken to deal with the hardship of closed tea garden workers:

1. Quick processing of the cases for grant of subsistence allowance to the eligible employees of closed tea gardens under Financial Assistance to the Workers of Locked-out and Sick Industrial Units Scheme.
2. Tougher action against the defaulting gardens, particularly where the indifference/uncaring stand is more of attitude in conjunction with the banks/financial institutions.
3. Appointment of Receivers or under the provision of Cr.P.C. or formation of Joint Management Committee (JMC) and extending help to them to manage and operate the gardens in the interim.
4. Initiation of action for cancellation of lease in suitable cases and if necessary, grant of short-term lease in the interim, in favour of willing parties. Some of these gardens include Ramjhora and Chamurchi. In many of these gardens including Kalchini, Raimatang and Chinchula, judiciary has ordered for attachment of property and appointed Receiver for the same.
5. Issue of special ration cards for workers and dependent members of families, at least, in gardens closed for more than a year.
6. Extension of coverage of all rural development schemes to the closed tea gardens as the lands belong to the government and garden workers now in those gardens. The infrastructure to be created will be for common good and use and if necessary, will be utilized for providing services to the adjoining non-tea garden areas such as water supply, roads etc. Additional allotment of food grains for the workers in the most distressed situation.
7. Extension of SCP/TSP programmes of backward classes department in the closed tea gardens.
8. Initiation of conciliation process with individual closed tea garden managements by high powered committee comprising representatives from Labour Department, concerned financial institution, Tea Board of India, District Administration and other concerned institutions and experts by the government in this field.

Activities already undertaken:

a. Rural development programmes.
b. Distribution of cash relief.
c. Health care activities in the garden.
d. Augmentation of drinking water supply.
e. Community kitchen gardens (horticulture project).
f. Three mobile clinics for health check-ups.
h. Pilot project for nutrition to the pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls under PMLM Programme.
i. Supply of cooked mid-day meal to the age group from 6 years to 11 years.
j. Kerosene oil distribution.
k. Distribution of subsidized food grains under specially initiated schemes for tea gardens.
l. Electricity connection and generator lighting scheme.
m. Check-dams for water harvesting.
n. Inauguration and operationalization of the Jalpaiguri Tea Auction Centre.

Recently, as obvious from the above-enumerated works being undertaken in the tea gardens, the situation has been looking up with the district administration involved more keenly in the revival of these tea gardens. With many government schemes and many special schemes being extended to these tea gardens, the socio-economic situation is much better now with many abandoned/locked-out tea gardens having been reopened recently. But still a lot more needs to be done including the re-opening of the thirteen tea gardens which still remain closed. The Supreme Court of India has appointed a Special Monitor to supervise and look after the various relief activities going on in all these tea gardens. The district administration is in constant touch with the Special Monitor to further streamline the relief activities.

One feels that further initiatives need to address the deteriorating labour problems, labour-management relationship, for improving the production-manufacturing-marketing in the tea gardens so that local economy gains to the benefit of the economy as a whole. Besides, a conciliation process has also been commenced with individual closed tea garden managements by high powered committee comprising representatives from Labour Department, concerned financial institution, Tea Board of India, District Administration and other concerned institutions and experts’ institutions by the government.

With the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries deciding to make SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) a reality and with many countries including China, Germany, Russia, Iraq and European Union evincing an interest in Indian tea, Indian tea industry’s fortune is set to change for the better. Emergences of new export destinations, qualitative and quantitative improvement in tea, new proposals for revival of the tea industry and provisioning of bank and other finances have kindled a new hope among the commercial tea planters. Today, as big a tea market as Pakistan, which imports about 140 million kilograms of tea every year, imports the same from such countries as China, Kenya and Sri Lanka but not India notwithstanding the fact that Indian tea is qualitatively much better, cheaper and involves much less transportation cost. With new openings in such countries as China (market size being 120 million kg), Iran, Iraq and Russia being in sight, Indian tea industry is hoping to expand its global exposure and catch a bigger share of global market pie.

A need is being felt to impart more specialized and professional training to the upper and middle echelons of management of the industry. The National Productivity Council (NPC) together with the Tea Board of India and other concerned tea associations has already started a development programme for capacity building and skill upgradation in the tea gardens. The development plan aims at not only improving the overall condition of the ailing tea industry but also attempts to work at capacity building of the supervisory staff as to how to minimize wastage and prevent transportation and such other losses. The Tea Board of India along with West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and ICICI Bank has drafted experts to carry out a feasibility study for establishing an industrial park exclusively for tea in Kolkata port area. One more has been proposed in Siliguri. These industrial parks would have a single window cleaning, blending and packaging facilities. Physical proximity to port is believed to be helpful in spurring tea exports. The Central Government has also been approached for finances and special attention to the tea industry and it seems the Centre is seriously deliberating revival plans for tea industry with the various parties concerned. Some financial package has already been announced but industry watchers and stake-holders are clamouring for more.

The Tea Board of India has also come up with a set of proposals to improve the conditions of tea garden workers in closed/abandoned tea gardens in Dooars area. The measures include providing medical facilities to garden workers and their families, releasing educational stipends for their wards, deliberating setting up of mini tea factories where leaves of closed/abandoned tea gardens could be processed. Board is also thinking of providing support to self-help groups (SHGs) in these gardens. The Board will continue its upgradation programme for small tea growers and has also introduced price share formulae in the unorganized sector of tea to end the chronic problem over pricing that crops up between small tea growers and bought-leaf factories. Plans are also afoot to implement a price subsidy scheme for small tea growers having plantation of 10.12 hectares or 25 acres of land. The state land and land reforms department has been instructed to issue NOC to small tea growers spread across four districts of North Bengal to help them enroll their land as tea plantation to be eligible to get subsidies from the Tea Board of India.

In a high level meeting including officials from Department of Commerce and Industry, Govt of India, NABARD, RBI, other financial institutions and representatives of planters’ association, there has been proposal to extend financial assistance to planters and providing them with special term loans from banks. The Food Department of Government of West Bengal is also pondering over the idea to provide tea through the Public Distribution System (PDS) at rates lower than the market rates as recommended by Sabysachi Sen Committee. Decision has been taken and implemented by the State Government to bring all casual tea garden workers under BPL category so that they can avail the facilities of PDS. Another important development is the proposed provisioning of single point electric connection to all the workers of the tea gardens by the State Electricity Board.

With the Central Government announcing a spectrum of price for tea, the planters can expect to get some financial relief in the event of market fluctuation. This price spectrum is calculated on the basis of seven years’ average international and domestic price and is categorized under ‘boom’, ‘normal’ and ‘distress’. The Commerce Department has also launched a Price Stabilization Fund Scheme in 2003 and the planters are free to subscribe to it during normal times or withdraw from the same in a distress year. The Central Government is also actively considering of providing a new revival package for tea industry, which will be a comprehensive one and would include several fiscal incentives including tax relief for the crisis-ridden tea industry. The package will also aim at raising productivity level and increasing cost effectiveness of the production process. The Central Government has constituted a Tea Advisory Committee to monitor the implementation of 25-point recommendation made by a two days’ stakeholder conference in September 2004. Conference proposed a Special Purpose Fund with a revolving corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore for replanting or rejuvenating tea bushes.

In the meanwhile, the State Bank of India has already reviewed and restructured its loan packages for the tea industry. As per the revival package prepared by Indian Bank Association, the different capital and loan related issues confronting the large tea growers and manufacturers are being considered on a case-to-case basis. There is also a fast track scheme for approving projects above Rs. two crores. In fact, all the banks and financial institutions including Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) have reviewed and restructured their loans to the tea industry in a bid to provide some sort of succour to the ailing industry.

Many other measures have also been taken to facelift the tea industry. Very soon, hopefully by December 2005, the national tea trade would become fully electronic. Except for the recently opened Jalpaiguri Tea Auction Centre, others at Cochin, Cooner, Kolkata and Siliguri would soon go online. It is notable that centres like Coimbatore and Guwahati are already online. Indian tea could soon be auctioned in Dubai if local producers are allowed to set up a trading platform in West Asia’s financial hotspots like Dubai. In fact, tea majors are already considering setting up such a Centre in Dubai and would take the proposal to the Tea Board. The Tea Act of 1953 allows the Board to set up an Auction Centre outside the country either alone or in partnership with a corporate body based overseas. If Tea Board clears the proposition, the Dubai Auction Centre will be the first such overseas venture.

The United Planters Association of South India (UPASI) has decided to launch futures in tea. Futures are exchange-traded contracts that require delivery of commodities or other assets at a specified price at a specified date in future. Future trading would help all members of the tea industry to contract a deal, at least, a month ahead at fixed price thereby regulating, to some extent, the frequent speculative ups and downs in tea prices.

The Post Master General of North Bengal and Sikkim have announced a new scheme namely ‘The Tea Garden Express’ with a view to deliver a consignment in a day from tea gardens to Kolkata. Planters can avail this service to get their tea tasted by expert professionals within 24 hours.

An 11-member team of tea traders from the United States recently visited the tea gardens of Darjeeling with a view to getting an idea about the quality of tea produced in the region. The tour was sponsored by Speciality Tea Institute, a subsidiary of Tea Association of USA with 350 members and 85 per cent market share of the tea industry, to promote drinking of Indian tea in the United States.

After all these governmental initiatives and positive interventions, the situation now is much better than what it had been earlier but a lot more would require to be done to have the industry completely out of woods. First and foremost, the Tea Board of India has to be adequately equipped to be in a position to provide financial help to sick and closed tea gardens. As per a Government of India directive, Tea Board can grant soft loans to planters for upgradation of watering and processing systems, better bush management or even extend the plantation area in order to increase production and reduce production costs. So, the present Tea Board has to be more proactive to fulfill its duties properly.

The tea prices are plummeting also because there has been allegation, and not without justification, that sub-standard varieties of tea from the Bought-leaf-factories are flooding the market slackening both demand and prices in auction centres. Producers are quite averse to improve the tea production by replacing the worn-out machines, as there is no guarantee that increased production would find suitable market for the tea produced. The indiscriminate use of pesticides and weedicides along with a higher dose of chemical fertilizers has also had an adverse impact on demand because of increased awareness regarding the ill-effect of such chemicals on health. European Union and countries like Germany and Russia are asking for details about the chemical character of Indian tea. European Union import over 40 million kilograms of Indian tea annually most of which go to UK, Germany, Ireland and Poland. Countries like Netherlands and France are good market for the Indian tea but the closure of the Tea Board office in Hamburg and increased objections over use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in these countries are definitely going to affect the Indian tea industry negatively.

While there is always a need for a healthy trade unionism to preempt the vested interests from taking over, there is also a need for some confidence-building measures between the management and the workers which can only come about from regular and patient hearing of each other’s problems and stances. The management also needs to ensure a stake for the workers in the better functioning of the gardens so as to elicit maximum support from them. Not only this, the management also needs to get over its carpet-bagger attitude towards the tea gardens where a planter fleeces and exploits the gardens at his/her sweet will as long as it remains a milch cow and abandons the garden at the first sign of trouble. They also need to make the requisite investment in their gardens from time to time rather than just siphoning the earnings and not nurturing the gardens with a view to a longer time-frame and extended sustainability. Apart from ensuring high land-worker productivity and capacity building or skill-upgradation for the workers, there is also the need for a professional and responsible management, which can ensure a diversified manufacturing and innovative marketing with value-addition thrown in good measure.

Recently, as obvious from the above-enumerated works being undertaken in the tea gardens, the situation has been looking up with the district administration involved more keenly in the revival of these tea gardens. With many government schemes and many special schemes being extended to these tea gardens, the socio-economic situation is much better now with many abandoned/locked-out tea gardens having been reopened recently. One just hopes that with the problems of the ailing tea industry in the country catching attention of the Central Government, further initiatives would be taken to address the deteriorating labour problems, labourer-management relationship and for improving the production-manufacturing-marketing in the tea gardens so that local economy gains to the benefit of the economy as a whole.
*Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and does not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.