Building a Wider
Horizon With Labour
The more the merrier is not applicable for the small tea growers in upper Assam, the main tea producing zone of the State. Despite having a good production by these small tea growers in this month, they are facing huge losses due to very low market prices they are currently getting by selling raw tea leaves. The situation has so much deteriorated that several small tea growers in Golaghat district were compelled to throw huge amount of raw tea leaves in front of the office of the Golaghat deputy commissioner last night in protest against their plight. In the last few days, some big tea companies and bought leaf factories in upper Assam, most of which are run by gas, have cut their production due to falling gas supply. Some of these big tea companies also allege that tea leaves produced by these small growers are not of good quality. As a result, these factories have refused to buy raw tea leaves from small tea growers, which has depressed the market for raw tea leaves. It needs be mentioned that while big tea companies do not show keen interest in buying raw tea leaves from small growers, the brought leaf factories are generally their reliable customers.
