GUWAHATI, May 20 - It is good news for the country�s tea industry. The NCERT has decided to place before its Textbook Development Committee the proposal for including tea as a chapter in its textbooks during the revision of the textbooks.
This has been stated by the NCERT in its letter {F No 10-68/2016-C&P (Part-3)} to North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) advisor Bidyananda Barkakoty on May 13, 2016.
The NCERT move came in the wake of a letter written to the Prime Minister and the Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister on December 14, 2015. The Union HRD Ministry sent the letter to the NCERT with a note.
The NCERT said in its letter to Barkakoty that the National Curriculum Framework (NCF)-2005 emphasises upon shifting away from rote methods, connecting knowledge to life outside school, enriching the curriculum to provide for overall development of children rather than remain textbook-centric and making examination more flexible and integrated to classroom life. The contents related to �Tea� have been included adequately at relevant places in all Geography textbooks from classes VI to XII.
Tea is an important beverage crop in India, keeping this in view, geographic conditions for cultivation of �Tea� and �Tea leaves harvesting� by woman have been illustrated through text and visuals. Moreover, distribution of �Tea� in India has also been shown through a map.
�However, the National Education Policy is in the process of formulation. As a follow up of the Policy, the Curriculum Framework and other teachinglearning material will be developed. This will be placed before the Textbook Development Committee during revision of textbooks,� said the NCERT in its letter.
Barkakoty in his December 14, 2015 letter had said, among others, that the tea industry is one of the largest employers in the organised sector in India. Tea is indigenous to India. India is the largest producer as well as the largest consumer of black tea in the world and it share is about 25 per cent in the total tea produced globally.
�Its 50 per cent workers are women and hence Indian tea industry is the singlelargest employer of women.
As per the 2008 ORG India Tea Consumption Study, the penetration of tea in Indian households is in the range of 96 per cent to 99 per cent in both urban and rural areas of the country.
Besides, �tea is a culture in Assam�a culture steeped in history and a history replete with highlights of development and contribution to the economic growth and social progress,� he said, adding, �the 190-year-old industry has a glorious past, which the students of the country should know.�
It needs mention here that the first Indian tea planter Maniram Dewan embraced martyrdom fighting the British colonial rulers during the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny.
Forwarding Barkakoty�s letter to the Human Resources Development Minister, Lok Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa said the tea industry provides direct employment to over one million people. Another 10 million people earn their livelihood through the forward and backward linkages of the industry.
