Siliguri, Jan. 4: The launching of the special purpose tea fund in Kerala tomorrow can in no way conceal the government’s failure to disburse the money under the same scheme in Assam and Bengal more than six months after it was introduced.

The scheme was launched in Guwahati and Jalpaiguri almost simultaneously— June 25 and 29. In Jalpaiguri, Union minister of state for commerce and industries Jairam Ramesh was present with senior cabinet colleague Pranab Mukherjee.

“P.K. Lahiri, the tea board secretary, had sat down on the stage itself on the day the scheme was launched to sign agreements with interested planters,” a garden owner recalled. “Ramesh, during his visit to Jalpaiguri in October, had affirmed that the funds would start flowing in from November, but nothing has happened so far.”

Disbursement of funds before the lean season would have helped planters start work on their gardens. “Maintenance work in tea plantations is usually undertaken in winter,” the planter said. “The re-plantation would have considerably progressed before the first flush if we had received the funds now.”

Tea board officials admitted having received a number of applications. “We have 479 eligible applications from Assam and Bengal,” G. Boriah, director (tea development), Tea Board, told The Telegraph over phone from Delhi. “This means we will be spending Rs 117.86 crore for re-plantation and rejuvenation of 6,642 hectares. Another 43 applications are yet to be scrutinised.”

Boriah said some problems had cropped up while processing the applications. “Once the scheme is launched in south India, we will concentrate on disbursement. The rectification of clerical mistakes in some applications took time.”

Under the scheme, Rs 4,761 crore will be spent over 15 years to replant tea bushes and rejuvenate the existing ones on 2.12 lakh hectares across the country. Of the total funds necessary for a garden, the planter will have to bear one-fourth of the cost. Fifty per cent would be sanctioned as long-term loan while the remaining 25 per cent would be a subsidy from the Centre.