POLICY - 1 ::

TEA GROWERS URGE PM TO RE-CONSTITUTE TEA BOARD

BY P S SUNDAR

                    

              Tea growers have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to re-constitute Tea Board and provide for electing the Chairman from the new members.

The term of the last Tea Board expired on March 31, 2014 but the new Board has not yet been constituted.  Likewise, the Board does not have a full-time Chairman for over a year now.

“Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has voiced her concern on Tea Board’s efficiency.   She has underlined the need to revamp the Board”, Samir Roy, President, National Federation of Small Tea Growers of India, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, told me.

He had been a member of Tea Board for over 30 years.

Samir Roy

“Prime Minister Modi is showing direct concern on developing the tea industry.  Last month, at the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs which he chaired, a sum of Rs 1,425 crore, including Rs 200 crore for small-scale sector, was allotted to tea industry based on Commerce ministry’s proposal.   Tea Board should utilise this fund before March 31, 2017, but there is neither a properly constituted Board nor full-time Chairman.  So, whether this will benefit the industry is doubtful”, he noted.

“We have, therefore, urged Prime Minister to re-constitute the Board immediately.   We have also urged him to amend the Tea Act to provide for electing the Chairman among members and appoint full-time IAS officer as Deputy Chairman.  As per present practice, Chairman is an IAS officer while members elect a Vice Chairman”, Roy added.

Although every top official I had spoken to In the past few months had confirmed that that the re-constitution of the Board and appointment of full-time Chairman would happen soon, rumours are afloat that all Commodity Board would be revamped as Directorate and a political bigwig would be appointed as Chairman of all these Directorates put together. 

"Politicians already have representation on the Board in the form of MPs and if need be, their number can be increased.  The Chairman has to be elected from among the members and the need of the hour is a strong Board that gives leadership to all segments of the industry", Roy noted.