Assam’s small tea growers storm Dibrugarh streets, demand fair pricing justice

Dibrugarh, Sept 16: In a powerful show of dissent, under the banner of the All Assam Small Tea Growers' Association (AASTGA), hundreds of small tea growers from Upper Assam stormed the streets here on Monday, staging a massive protest at Chowkidinghee to voice their growing despair over denial of fair price for their produced green tea leaves.

Protesters took aim at both the Assam government and the Tea Board of India, accusing them of turning a blind eye to the ongoing crisis. They criticized Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Industries and Commerce Minister Bimal Bo-rah for failing to enforce existing directives on fair pricing.

"The government talks about doubling farmers' income, but in reality, they've abandoned us," said Rajesh Kumar Dutta, general secretary of AASTGA. “Small tea growers contribute over 52% of the country's total tea production and yet, we are being pushed to the brink. If this continues, not just our livelihoods but Assam's tea heritage itself will be in peril." Dutta warned of potential widespread unrest in the region if the situation is not addressed immediately.

An 80-year-old Badri Prasad Sharma, a veteran tea grower from Gorudharia, Borborooah, who stepped forward to share his pain said: "Despite my age, I had no choice but to come out here today. The prices we get for our green leaf barely cover costs. How do I pay my workers? How do I feed my family? We are not begging. We are only asking for what is rightfully ours, a fair price for our hard work," Sharma told The Assam Tribune, his voice trembling with frustration.

Growers from districts including Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Charaideo, Sivasagar and near-by districts joined the rally. voicing outrage over the deepening crisis. They alleged that many private tea factories are blatantly ignoring state-man-dated benchmark prices and are offering as little as Rs 12-14 per kg today, far below the officially recommended price of Rs 26 per kg in Dibrugarh.

"We are selling at a loss. The cost of production is higher than what we are paid," said Rubul Hatibaruah, president of AASTGA's Dibrugarh unit. "This is unsustainable. The state government must intervene, enforce the benchmark price, and penalize violators."

Hatibaruah added that de-spite consistent global demand for Assam tea, factory owners, some with monopolistic influence, are driving down green leaf prices with impunity. "If situation persists, we will be compelled to seal the offices of the Tea Board in Guwahati as also of Dibrugarh," he warned, asserting that the department has become of no use.

At the end of the demonstration, the protesters submitted. a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister through the Dibrugarh district administration. Their demands include:

immediate enforcement of minimum benchmark prices, transparent price-setting mechanisms, strict penalties against tea factories violating government orders, to relieve small tea growers from the control of Tea Board and bringing them under separate ministry under the Assam government and to put a check on the supply of green tea leaves from outside the state among others.

Staff Correspondent