India's tea industry is facing significant challenges, from labor concerns to declining production. A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the supreme audit institution in India that enjoys the same status as a judge of the supreme court, highlighted the meager wages of tea garden workers in Assam, while Tea Board figures show a nationwide decline in production.
Treatment of Tea Workers
The CAG report stated that wages of tea garden workers in Assam are inadequate, with several shortcomings and areas of concern in implementation of labor laws and worker welfare provisions.
The report also found the state government’s intervention in fixing wages as per the Minimum Wage Act is insufficient, noting that efforts to improve the lives of the workers have fallen short of making any substantial change.
The performance audit on ‘Implementation of Schemes for Welfare of Tea Tribe’ for the period 2015-16 to 2020-21, maintained that low income and lack of education have been major barriers to the overall development of the workers in the state, which produces more than half of India's tea production. India produced over 1.37 billion kgs of tea last year.
The audit was performed in 390 tea estates out of more than 800 big tea gardens in the state. The exercise also included interviews of 590 workers.
The report said the Tea Tribes Welfare Department tried to address the issues of the workers, but without basic socio-economic data, their initiatives were implemented haphazardly.
It also said that workers were not a part of scheduled employments notified by the state government, as a result of which they do not get benefits of minimum wage standard and variable dearness allowance.
The secretary of the Labour and Welfare Department had informed the CAG that when the state government came out with initiatives to increase pay as per the Minimum Wage Act, it got challenged in the court, and hence, the wages could not be increased as desired.
Dhiraj Gowala, a leader of the Assam Tea Tribes Student Association, told World Tea News that the condition of the workers of the state-owned Assam Tea Corporation gardens was worse. "Workers in the ATCL gardens are not even receiving regular pay, forget about other benefits," he said.
ATTSA is an influential organization of the tea community in Assam.
The CAG report also highlighted a significant wage disparity between workers of Barak and Brahmaputra Valley, the two major tea growing areas in Assam. Notably, the workers in the Barak Valley have been consistently receiving at least 10 percent lower wages compared to their counterparts in the Brahmaputra valley. The labor department is also unable to justify the differences.
Declining Tea Production in India
On the other hand, India's tea production has seen a significant decline in the first seven months of 2024, with a nationwide drop of 13.4 percent compared to the same period last year. West Bengal was particularly affected, with production going down by 20.8 percent. The Indian Tea Association has expressed concern over the development.
The North Indian tea industry, comprising Assam and West Bengal, is facing a production shortfall of 60 million kgs till June of the current crop year over the corresponding period last year due to adverse weather conditions, according to an estimate by the Tea Association of India (TAI).
The loss of the first and second flush crops, which produce the highest quality teas and fetch the best prices of the year, will undoubtedly impact the producers' revenue and may push tea prices higher, according to tea industry experts.
The states of Assam and West Bengal are experiencing a precarious situation with excessive heat coupled with a rain deficit in May, followed by excess rainfall and a lack of sunshine, which has severely impacted production.
"As reported by the member tea estates of the association, the tea estates of Assam and West Bengal are estimated to be behind by around 20 percent and 40 percent, respectively, during May 2024 compared to last year," said TAI President Sandeep Singhania, as quoted in The Business Standard.
Data released by the TAI indicates a drop in production of around 8 percent in Assam and around 13 percent in West Bengal up to April 2024 compared to the same period last year.
Meteorology department data showed significantly less rainfall between 50 and 80 percent in the major tea-growing districts of West Bengal and between 10 and 30 percent in Assam compared to the normal rainfall for the period.
The TAI also noted that the tea-growing districts of Assam and West Bengal received the southwest monsoon a week earlier and during the first half of June, so they experienced significantly higher rainfall. According to data, West Bengal received 15-66 percent more rain than usual, while Assam saw an increase of 3-20 percent compared to the average for the month, Singhania said.
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