The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Rangpur

The growing tea sector has been boosting faster changing the overall socio-economic condition of common people and economy of Panchagarh predicting a brighter prospect of tea sector there.

Local tea growers, chamber leaders and officials opined for setting up of more tea processing industries, competitive markets for tea, resolving problems like gas supply and power crisis to accelerate boosting of the tea sector.

At the same time, hundreds of Panchagarh females, who lived in utter miseries due to abject poverty, are now changing their fates and achieving self-reliance by earning wages as plucking workers in the tea gardens.

The boosting tea sector has ushered in a new hope for further enhancing the standard of their socio-economic life and women empowerment if some problems including just wages were resolved, the female workers said.

Presently, over 7,000 skilled and unskilled workers, mostly women, have been working in 246 tea gardens, including 18 big estates, 13 medium-sized and 215 small-scale gardens set up on more than 2,200 acres of land in Tentulia and its surrounding areas.

Nearly 2,300 workers, mostly women, are working at the giant Kazi and Kazi Tea Estate (KKTE) which has earned reputation at home and abroad by producing the famous Mina Organic Tea and earning foreign exchange.

Small-scale tea farmer Mozahedul Hassan while talking to BSS said he has been farming tea in seven Bigha land after selecting 20 Bighas for the purpose and lifting 100 kg tea leaves every week from his garden.

"I am selling tea leaves at Taka 11 per kg to the tea processing factory of Tentulia Tea Company Ltd (TTCL) and earning almost no profit because of the lower prices and I had to sell the same at only Taka 9.50 per kg last year," he added.

Small-scale tea farmers, Abdur Rahman, Esahaq Ali Mandal, Raju Mia and Motiar Rahman of different villages in Tentulia and Sadar upazilas expressed similar views and demanded green tea- leave price at Taka 15 per kg.

Development Officer of Panchagarh Regional Tea Board Amir Hossain said that there are tremendous scopes for expansion of tea farming area in Panchagarh and Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) has been providing trainings and supports to the farmers.

"The total tea production by the major companies like the TTCL, KKTE and Kartoa Tea Associates Ltd (KTAL) might be over five lakh tonnes by this year in Panchagarh district," officials said today.

Assistant Manager of TTCL Manjur Hassan said smooth supply of 220-volt power with stable voltage could further help processing and producing tea and tea productioncosts might reduce substantially if natural gas was supplied to the area.

According to the local officials of BTB, the government has taken steps for expanding newer Tea Zones for further increase of tea production in the country to meet the growing demand.

Bangladesh Small Tea Garden Owners' Association (BSTGOA) has been working relentlessly for further develoment of tea sector in Panchagarh by resolving all prevailing problems including the wage problems of the female workers.

"The growing tea sector would emerge as one of the most prospective sectors in sub-Himalayan Panchagarh and its adjoining areas to contribute a lot in the economic develoment of the northern region in near future," he predicted.