Jalpaiguri, Jan. 9: The government has decided to waive the mutation and conversion fees for small tea-growers.

“The government has taken the decision to fix a cut-off date for the growers. Gardens, whose inquiry for granting of no-objection certificate was conducted within October 30 last year, would be spared from this fee. But other gardens will have to pay the fee as usual,” said Jalpaiguri land and land reforms officer Rajiv Kumar.

The decision was taken after a meeting between the administration and the small planters at the office of divisional commissioner Debaditya Chakraborty.

The government had imposed the fee last year on gardens which used agriculture land as plantations.

With the price of tea rising at the end of the last decade, several agriculturists started plantations on farming land.

The government, which was taken aback by this change in crop pattern, declared June 30, 2001, as the cut off date for considering plantations as valid ones.

The government specified that holdings having an area within 10.12 acres would be considered small tea gardens.

Faced with a severe funds crunch, the land and land reforms department decided that the small growers would have to pay a mutation and conversion fee of Rs 2,200 per acre for converting the land officially and also to obtain a no-objection certificate from the department.

The small planters, however, expressed inability to pay such an amount. Bijoy Gopal Chakrobarty, the spokesman of the committee of small-growers, said: “Our members were worried how to pay such a high fee. We were also worried as without the no-objection certificate, it was not possible for us to avail the subsidy of the Tea Board.”

The small tea-growers went to meet the district land and land reforms officer with the problem.

After talks between both sides, it was decided yesterday that those plantations whose owners have submitted the application for no-objection certificates and who have faced the inquiry conducted by the block land reforms officer by October 30, 2002, year would not be required to pay the conversion and mutation fees.

Other planters, who have not yet submitted their application for the no-objection certificates or who have not been subjected to the inquiry, would, however, have to pay the fees.

“At least 70 per cent of our members have enjoyed the waiver. We have also asked the administration to provide a date for the planters who have not yet submitted the application and waive the fees for them, too. If anybody skips that date, then the administration is free to charge the fees from him,” Bijoy Chakrobarty said.

The small planters have now raised the demand for waiver of the salami for the leasehold land. “One needs to pay 40 per cent of the market value to obtain 30 years’ lease. It is tough for those who have started plantations on unregistered land. The government must think about it,” the spokesman said.