Villagers engaged in the construction of a shed for saplings. Picture by Monideep Boro

Udalguri, Oct. 30: When a group of 11 educated unemployed Bodo youths established the Brotherhood tea firm in the Udalguri subdivision of Darrang district in 1992 — in defiance of both job scarcity and militancy — they did not have the faintest clue that they had initiated a renaissance of sorts.

But with a precedent set, in 1994, another group of 15 educated unemployed youths set up the Amjuli Youth Farming Co-operative Society as a tea firm. Since then there has been no looking back with tea plantations growing from strength to strength across the countryside.

At present there are about 100-150 tea gardens stretching over the Indo-Bhutan border in Darrang district, providing not only bread and butter to many educated youths but also aiding community development. What is missing though, claim tea entrepreneurs, is encouragement and financial support from the government. “No doubt the tea plantation revolution got a headstart after the formation of the Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) which sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for the Amjuli co-operative in 1995. In early 1996, the BAC again sanctioned grants-in-aid of Rs 31 lakh — a landmark assistance,” said Pronoy Basumatary, president of All Bodoland Small Tea Growers Association.

The All Bodoland Small Tea Growers Association, a group of growers in Darrang and earlier known as the Hirimba Small Tea Growers Association was set up in 1998. The Brotherhood tea growing firm, later renamed the Moiderbari tea garden, is the leading light of the revolution — which produced a record 3,65,000 kg of green leaf last year. This year the target is 4 lakh kg.

“It acts as a motivator among the Bodo youth to turn to tea entrepreneurship which is both unique and profitable. But we are not getting due attention, recognition and encouragement,” said Basumatary who is adviser to the Moiderbari garden.

Agreed Pelios Basumatary, proprietor of the Gatsenani tea firm, “Tea is a profitable business that has aided self-sufficiency in the Bodo belt. Unfortunately, the government pays scant attention to the problems of small growers. Various associations are demanding that the government fix a reasonable price for green leaf and this demand should be heeded.”

“We are sanguine that the government, corporate tea houses and the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council will play a role in providing necessary financial support to Bodo tea planters who have brought unutilised lands under productivity and helped a turnaround in the socio-economic profile in an insurgency-dominated region,” Basumatary said.

According to Bipin Wary, secretary of the Jangapha tea garden, more than 70 per cent youths in the area are directly or indirectly involved in the tea business. “The government should come forward with financial aid in order to boost the moral of the youths who are shunning the path of militancy in favour of development,” Wary added.