Upasi seeks time to bring small growers under govt package

The United Planters Association of Southern India (Upasi) has sought additional time to bring in more small growers under the Special Coffee Package announced and closed recently by the central government.

Addressing the 112 annual conference of Upasi here at Coonoor, Anil Kumar Bhandari, president, said the central government had stipulated a deadline of June 30, 2005 for growers to qualify for the special package, by bringing their share of funds (one-third of interest).

While a vast majority complied and took advantage of this, a small number were not able to do so because they just did not have enough time to raise the money.

"From the date of the Cabinet decision and government announcement to June 30 was a little more than a month. Hence, we request the government to give those who were left out a little more time to take advantage of this facility. The money has already been allocated. Let us not allow anyone to slip through the cracks merely because they missed a deadline," he added.

For decades Upasi has been striving to achieve a level-playing field for tea producers with regard to the auction process. Some of the fundamentals of auctions that were being violated were not addressed or rectified, thereby, not protecting against cartelisation and price fixation.

"We at Upasi pointed it out to the Tea Board that without discontinuing the division of lots and ensuring anonymity of bidding, competitiveness and transparency at auctions would not be possible," he said.

"We hope that the Tea Board would remove all the glitches in the newly introduced electronic system. At the same time Upasi has categorically rejected any move to compulsorily channel all teas through the auction system, a move we feel would eventually do serious damage to the tea industry in India. Every producer must be given the latitude to access any type of marketing mechanism that he feels is advantageous to him," he added.

Thanking the central government for talking remedial measures to strengthen the plantation industry, Bhandari recalled that after the government assumed office, "we requested the commerce ministry to withdraw additional excise duty as an immediate measure."

The benefit is visible through increased production of orthodox tea and growing market share in the countries that matter. From the balance money in the AED pool significant sums were allocated to Upasi's tea research, he added.

About reorienting the plantation industry, Bhandari felt it should be tackled at two stages. The first is by restructuring and tackling the regulatory and legal framework that governs the planation industry. The second is through reforming the planning mechanism for this sector.

"We need to move from the soil to the marketplace. This is the place where for the foreceeable future we need to concentrate our resources to achieve cutting edge skills to survive the intense and sophisticated competition from foreign competitors," he said.