Cup of woes: tea growers on the streets

Resentment is simmering among the small tea growers in Assam in the absence of a viable market to beat the downward trend of tea price. The planters on Saturday suspended plucking of leaves and dumped green tea leaves on the NH-52 at Biswanath Chariali blocking it for two hours alleging government indifference. About three thousand small tea growers and their supporters blocked the road, Jitu Saikia general secretary of Sonitpur Small Tea Growers Association said. According to Assam State Small Tea Grower Association executive member Krishna Sankar Hazarika, the price rate of raw tea grown by small tea gardens in the north bank has been reduced from Rs 21 to Rs 10.