Small tea farmers seek MSP of Rs 30, warn of continuous protests

Udhagamandalam: A group of farmers staged a protest at Jakkalodai village near Kotagiri on Monday urging the Centre to fix minimum support price of Rs 30 for green leaf tea and give ‘Scheduled Tribes’ tag for the Badaga community.

The protesters, who belong to the Nakkubetta Farmers’ Welfare Association, said around 50,000 small tea cultivators have been demanding a minimum support price for green leaf tea for more than a decade, but in vain.

While the Madras high court had directed the Centre to fix the minimum support price above the production costs, nothing has been done yet, they said.

President of the association Ramanan said the price fixed by the tea board for green leaf tea is between Rs 12 and Rs 13 per kg. “Even the labour cost could not be compenstated with the price. Then there are the maintenance cost and money for the farmers to run their family,” he said.

While the processed tea is sold minimum at Rs 400 per kg, it is only the farmers who are the receiving end, he added.

The Indian Institute of Plantation Management, Bengaluru, conducted a survey in 2013 and submitted a report to the government. It stated that the minimum cost of production of green leaf tea would be around Rs 17. After adding 50 percent of that to the social cost of a farmer, the minimum support price should fall between Rs 25 and Rs 27 per kg.

Besides, the protesters also urged the Centre to give ‘Schedule Tribes’ tag for the Badaga community, whose members are mostly small tea farmers. “The Badaga community came under Schedule Tribes before the Independence. However, after the Independence the community was classified as the backward class for reasons not known,” he said, adding, “It is a blunder made by the government. We have been fighting to regain the status for the past 30 years.”

Ramanan warned that protest will continue in every village in the Nilgiris until the Centre heeds to their demands and said a massive district-level rally would also be conducted soon.