Rawat directs opening of 4 new tea factories & attempts to restart closed Pvt factories
In another measure aimed at development of summer capital Gairsain, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has directed that the headquarters of the Uttarakhand Tea Development Board (UTDB) be established in Gairsain. He also directed the Chamoli district magistrate to search for land for this purpose. The CM issued these directions while chairing a meet of the board here on Thursday during which various important decisions were taken.
Rawat further instructed that four new factories be set up in order to provide a market for the farmers. He also ordered formation of a committee to fix the minimum sale price of green tea leaves harvested from tea gardens. Stating that this committee will decide the minimum sale price for every year, he said that it should be farm gate value. The CM said, “The board should develop a tea garden and hand it over to the farmers. A practical model and work plan should be prepared for this in the next one month.The suggestions of cultivators should also be taken for this model. After handing over the developed tea garden to farmers they should also be provided with technical expertise.”
The CM further said that attempts should be made to restart the closed private tea factories. If the owners of such factories are incapable to operate them, the board should attempt to do the needful. This will generate employment opportunities for the locals and provide them with means of livelihood, he said. Stating that the UTDB meeting should be held four times a year, he said that this will enable the board to get more chances for learning the issues of farmers. Rawat also directed the district magistrates to focus on tea tourism too.
Officials informed in the meeting that the board is currently cultivating tea on 1,387 hectare area in various places. The tea plantation has been done in nine mountainous districts of Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pauri and Tehri. About 4,000 workers – 70 per cent of them women- have been involved in the tea plantations. Currently, the board is selling the tea it produces under the Uttarakhand Tea brand. The board prepares orthodox black and green tea and sells it through its local showrooms, shopkeepers, postal service and Kolkata auction house.
The State’s Agriculture and Horticulture minister Subodh Uniyal, UTDB vice chairman Govind Singh Pilkhwal, additional chief secretary Manisha Panwar, principal secretary Anand Bardhan and horticulture secretary Harbans Singh Chugh were also present in the meeting.
Friday, 18 December 2020 | PNS |Dehradun
