S A Shofiee, Sylhet

Sylhet’s tea industry is in a multifaceted crisis. At least 42 gardens are under threat in three districts of Sylhet division. Gardens can be closed at any moment. Again, payment of wages to workers in many plantations has become irregular. The workers are living inhuman life. The labor leaders say that if the wages are not paid before the puja, they will call for a collective movement.

On the other hand, garden management is becoming almost impossible as the expenses of the garden owners increase more than the income. In order to save this industry, urgent action must be taken. The dominance of syndicates in auctions must be broken. Loans should be made available from the banking sector.

Talking to the people related to the tea industry, it is known that commercial tea cultivation started in 1857 at Malnichara in Sylhet, the first tea garden of the subcontinent. Then it spread to several districts of the country including Chittagong, Rangamati, Panchagarh. In particular, out of 135 tea gardens in the three districts of Sylhet, there are 92 in Moulvibazar, 24 in Habiganj and 19 in Sylhet. There are more than half a million tea workers in these gardens. But, the stalemate created after the 2022 labor protests is yet to be overcome by the plantation owners. Due to the increase in production costs, tea plantations are struggling to manage.

The owner also claims that the crisis is increasing day by day due to selling at a lower price than the cost of production, power outages, interest rates on loans and adverse weather conditions. Also, low quality tea is being smuggled from India. Besides affecting the domestic market, the owners are also suffering. The brokers’ syndicate, adverse weather conditions and power outages are also affecting the quality of tea. Besides, the production cost of tea per kg is more than Tk 200, but the tea has to be sold at Tk 100 to Tk 150 in the auction. Bank interest rate has increased from 9 percent to 14 and a half percent. This 167-year-old industry will further collapse if no quick action is taken.

Recently, tea garden owners of Sylhet have submitted an application with 10 recommendations to the chief advisor of the interim government to overcome the critical situation of tea industry in Sylhet.
They said that currently the production cost per kg of tea is around Tk 250. The tea industry can be saved for the time being if the auction price of tea is fixed at the lowest Tk 300 in coordination with Bangladesh Tea Board, Bangladeshi Tea Parliament, concerned ministries, Bangladesh Tea Traders Association.

Besides, the auction price may be fixed according to the quality of the tea above the minimum price. Highlighting the demand to stop the smuggling of tea, they said that despite the increase in our national production of tea produced in Panchagarh, very low quality tea is being produced there without following any rules of tea production. Tea is being sold illegally from the factory without paying any tax-VAT. This low quality tea is creating a barrier in the auction market for quality tea in the Greater Sylhet, Chittagong region from fetching a fair price.

The owners also said that almost all small and big gardens take hypothetical loans from Bangladesh Agricultural Bank and the auction price of tea is directly deposited in Agricultural Bank and paid. The interest rate on this loan has been increased from 9% to 13% at present. It is impossible for the plantations to repay it in the present state. In special consideration, to keep the interest rate of loan repayment at 9% and to adopt a relaxed policy regarding the loan repayment period, it is necessary to provide loans under the supervision of the concerned authorities to the poor and developing tea plantations on easy terms. At the same time, the tea board’s mandatory 2.5% expansion of plantation activities has been suspended for the time being and emphasis has been placed on filling the gaps, the owners said.

Pointing out their helplessness in managing the gardens, the owners also said that currently the gardens do not have enough funds to invest in expansion activities. Therefore, it is necessary to postpone this expansion program for a few years and increase the production to fill the gap. Regarding the quality of tea, the owners say that frequent power cuts are hampering the processing of green tea leaves (which are perishable) in the factory. In particular, it is not possible to protect the quality of tea. Uninterrupted power supply was demanded in the tea factories.

Besides, considering the current critical situation of the tea industry, they appealed to the Chief Adviser to temporarily exempt the tea industry from VAT and taxes. It is also reported that some unscrupulous traders are trying to import tea. In this situation, to keep the tea industry alive, the plantation owners wanted to see the tea industry to save the tea industry, including taking measures to discourage the import of tea by increasing the import duty.

On the other hand, Sylhet Valley President of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union Raju Goala said that the condition of tea gardens in Sylhet is not good. The production of tea is much lower than before. Owners are giving various excuses including not getting government loans.

He said that out of 23 gardens in his valley, the wages and rations of workers are becoming irregular in 8 gardens. Raju Goala said that there has already been a protest in the Burjan tea garden. Raju Goala also said that there are about 12 thousand permanent temporary workers in his valley. Day by day their livelihood is threatened. He said, we want the owner to live and the workers to live. Government should come forward to save this industry.

Bijay Hazra, President of Balisiri Valley in Srimangal, Moulvibazar, said that 16 plantations of NTC in his valley can stop paying wages at any time. 42 gardens in the region are under threat. He said that the owner of a garden in Habiganj ran away because he could not pay the wages of the workers. As a result, the workers are fasting. Not getting salary. As a result, among the workers in the garden.