West Bengal: Tea growers in Darjeeling urge Centre to address their plight ahead of polls

The tea industry has been one of the main economic backbones of Darjeeling in North Bengal as a whole. Tea growers expressed their disappointment with the role of the centre in terms of its revival and urged the Centre to address their plight ahead of the polls. They said that Darjeeling tea is facing a crisis.
The planters said that although the Centre had taken some measures for the small tea growers, like crop insurance, tea promotion, and financial packages, it lacked focus for the entire industry.
Satish Mitruka, tea garden owner and producer, Siliguri said, “The tea industry is going through a bad situation. We have to look forward to it. The industry people had given many demands to the government. Now the government has given some allotment, taken appropriate steps to restore the situation, and again given some relief to the industry. We asked the government for tea promotion in India, and the government responded and allotted 72 crore and many schemes like crop insurance and subsidies.”
He further said that the Darjeeling tea industry needs to be revived.
“Darjeeling tea is facing tough competition from Nepal tea. The government should respond immediately. The Darjeeling tea industry is in ICU. If it is not focused, it will be finished,” he further said.
It is noted that the total tea production of India is around 1400 million kg every year, of which North Bengal contributes around 250 million kg of tea. More than five lakh workers are directly or indirectly involved in the industry.
There are around 300 tea gardens in Darjeeling, Terai, and Dooars.
The Lok Sabha elections in 42 Parliamentary Constituencies of West Bengal are scheduled to take place across seven phases, starting April 19.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured 22 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 18 out of the 42 parliamentary seats in the state. The Congress had to settle for just two seats.
In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) dominated the tally with 34 seats while the BJP bagged only 2 seats. The CPI (M) won 2 seats, while the Congress secured 4 seats