Tea industry tepid on panel suggestions on Board

Baren Bhattacharya in Kolkata

The Prabhu Committee’s hard-hitting suggestions on the future of the Tea Board has evoked a tepid response from the industry, with very few parties bothering to reply by the specified date of August 14.

The one-man Committee of former Union Commerce Secretary KN Prabhu had made very strong recommendations, including closure of foreign offices and scrapping of all subsidy schemes, in the interest of cutting costs.

But only four or five of the 31 Tea Board members and tea associations and trade unions have sent their remarks, according to the deputy chairman, Mr Basudeb Banerjee.

The Prabhu Committee had been formed by the commerce ministry earlier this year to take stock of the functioning of all the commodity boards and make recommendations to streamline their functioning.
Mr Prabhu has suggested that the Tea Board be transformed from a bureaucratic centre to a knowledge centre. According to him, the board should focus on research, productivity improvement, training of labour and small growers and improvement of cooperatives and bought-leaf factories.

The Committee feels that the Tea Board should discontinue its subsidy schemes and shut down the Chennai and Kochi administrative offices gradually.

The board should also shut down its offices in London, Hamburg and New York immediately, it says. The ones in Moscow and Dubai should be phased out since they have not done much to increase exports or promote Indian tea in the markets there.

According to Mr Prabhu, the Board should discontinue all licensing and registration schemes for exports and planting. All this will also help reduce the workforce, he feels.

Mr Banerjee of the Tea Board said some members feel that the Kochi, Chennai and foreign offices should not be closed down. They have pointed out that Kochi port has been playing a very important role in exports and imports of teas, and the Board should have an office there.

Mr Banerjee said the members have not given a detailed response, and nor have they made observations on all the recommendations.
On the foreign offices, one member said they have an important role to play in the backdrop of changing demand patterns for beverages, especially among the new generation.

The responding members have supported the proposals for simplifying auction procedures and rules on tea trade.