North Bengal’s economy, which is almost entirely dependent on the fate of the tea industry, is on a downward slide. Since the last few years, tea manufacturer’s of Terai and Dooars are finding it difficult to make both ends meet. The value of wages paid to laborers has shot up following the rise of the trade unions the past few decades.

Unfortunately, however, productivity has declined. In the past three years the daily wage has increased by more than Rs. 11. Also, the estate managers have to provide housing, electricity, ration, etc. for the laborers. This has led to an unprecedented increase in the cost of production.

However, the root problem of the crisis lies not so much in the rising cost of production as in an alarmingly sharp fall in the demand from the market. As retired estate manager Malay Sarkar points out, ‘

the young generation has shifted focus from the tea to soft drinks.

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But that is only one of the reasons. With globalization, low-priced tea from the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal have flooded the market. At the international maket, tea exporters of this region are facing stiff competition from countries like Indonesia, Kenya, and Uganda among others.

A lack of infrastructure and corporate governance is proving to be the bane of the tea estates of North Bengal-the reason why they cannot compete with the major payers at the national and international levels. Tea cultivation in this area dates as far back as the 19th Century. Most tea gardens are very old and need immediate re-plantation and soil-correction. This necessitates a sustained flow of finance. But most of tea growers in the area, who run estates more as a family business, have limited funds. Several corporate houses like the Tata Tea, who own estates in this region have opted for direct retail marketing rather than depending on the auction markets. The small tea growers have lost out on this count due to a lack of proper infrastructure and marketing proficiency.

Remarkably, over the past few years, several ‘bought-leaf-factories’ have cropped up all over the region. These, as the name suggests, are small ventures that buy tea leaf from other gardens and evidently, manufacture a very poor quality of finished tea. They sell mostly in private markets. Over the years, these factories have gained in importance, consequently the auction market demand for tea has declined steadily.

These factory establishments have been receiving sales-tax exemptions from the government, much to the chagrin of the estate owners. Many of them think there should be more restrictions on these ‘bought leaf factories,’ and that there should be more comprehensive quality control system in place. Sunil Krishna Paul, one of the estate owner, even suggests that like in Sri Lanka, private marketing of tea should be completely banned.

Obviously, the tea industry in North Bengal is in immediate need of a major capital injection. The union government allotted Rs 5oo crore for the tea, coffee, and rubber industries in the last budget. The import duty on tea has also been increased. Most tea growers in the area still feel that the provisions in the budget are not sufficient to counter their problems. In fact, the tea industry is in urgent need of strict supervision. Else, in a few years time a large number of estate owners could be looking down the barrel of the gun.