TEA BOARD 14, B.T.M. Sarani ( Brabourne Road ) Kolkata- 700 001 P.O. Box No. 2172 :: STD Code : 033 ::::::::::::::::: Tele-fax No. :: (033) 2221—5715 Tel. No : 2235-1411-12, 2235-1414-16 ::::::::::::::::: Website : www.teaboard.gov.in. Ref.No.3(3)/Sectt/2010/1874 Date : 29-09-2010. To : BY SPEED POST ALL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD & SPECIAL INVITEES OF THE BOARD. Sub:- Minutes of the Meeting of the Board held at Shillong, th Meghalaya on 10 September, 2010. Dear Madam/Sir, I am directed to forward herewith a copy of minutes of the meeting of the Board held at Shillong, Meghalaya on 10th September, 2010. In case you have any comments to offer on the minutes, please communicate the same by 13th October, 2010 to this office. Yours faithfully, Sd/- ( Kaushik Halder ) Enclo: As stated. Secretary. Copy forwarded to: 1. The Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Deptt. of Commerce, Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi – 110 011. 2. The Addl. Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Deptt. of Commerce, Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi – 110 011. 3. The Addl. Secretary & Financial Adviser to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi – 110 011. 4. The Director (Plantation) to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Plantation (A) Section,Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi – 110 011. 5. The Director to the Government of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Deptt. of Commerce, ‘Udyog Bhawan’, New Delhi – 110 011. 6. All Head of the Departments of Board’s H.O./Regional/Sub-Regional Offices and DTPs’ Abroad [By E-mail OR by Post ] 7. Board’s Website [ www.teaboard.gov.in ] [ Ref.File No.3(3)/Sectt/2010 ] sd/- Secretary. 1 Minutes of the 213th meeting of the Tea Board held at Shillong, Meghalaya on the 10th September, 2010. Members present: 1. Shri Basudeb Banerjee, Chairman, Tea Board, 2. Shri J.L.Butail, Chairman, Kangra Tea Planters Association, Kangra Valley Tea Estate, Kangra 176059, H.P. & Vice-Chairman, Tea Board, 3. Shri Rajen Gohain, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, 185, South Avenue, New Delhi 4. Shri Saman Pathak, Member of Parliament, 507, VP House, Rafi Marg, New Delhi 5. Shri D.P. Roy, MLA, Natun Para, P.O. & District Jalpaiguri, Pin Code 735 101. 6. Shri Koshy Baby, 11/157 Puthumana, Chambala, Calicut Road, Gudalur Bazar -P.O., PIN - 643 212, Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu 7. Shri Rajinder Singh Thakur, P.O. Khalet, Teh. Palampur, District Kangra.H.P. 8. Shri Vijay Jagannath, M/s.McLeod Russel India Ltd., 4 Mangoe Lane, Kolkata 9. Shri A.K. Moni, Ex-MLA, Top Station Road, Munnar, P.O. Idukki, Kerala Pin 685612 10. Shri Mani Kr. Darnal, General Secretary, Indian National Plantation Workers Federation, Sudash Pally, Birpara, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, Pin 735 204 11. Shri Shiv Kumar Saria, Managing Director, Soongachi Tea Industries (P) Ltd., 17 Ganesh Chandra Avenue, 2nd Floor, Kolkata 700 013 12. Shri Rajiv Krishan Puri, MD, Parcon (India) Private Ltd., Siliguri, West Bengal, 13. Shri P.V. Balachandran, Chandra Estate, P.O. Narikundu, Ambalavayal – 673 593, Wayanad , Kerala State. 14. Shri Peter Mathias, Chairman, UPASI Tea Committee, UPASI, Coonoor 15. Shri S.C.Das, Dy.Director (Tea Development)- representative of the Commissioner & Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce, Govt. of Tripura, Agartala Special Invitees attended : 1. Dr.C.O.Rangad, Director of Horticulture, Govt. of Meghalaya, Shillong 2. Dr.Jayram, ISRO, Karaghpur Leave of Absence granted: The following member regretted their inability to attend the meeting and leave of absence was granted to them:- 1. Shri T. V. Alexander, President, UPASI, Coonoor, 2. Shri Shankar Malakar, President, Darjeeling Dist. Congress Committee, Member AICC, Babupara, Siliguri, Darjeeling Dist., 3. Shri Kapil Kapoor, 6A, Alipore Avenue, Kolkata-700 027, 4. Ms. Bobbeeta Sharma, Sangeeta Advertising, Anuradha Complex, Bamuni Maidan, Guwahati -781021, Assam, 5. Shri Aloke Chakraborty, Secretary, INTUC West Bengal Branch, Putul Ghar, Durgaguri, P.O. Pradhannagar, Siliguri, 730 001, West Bengal 2 6. Shri Rajib Chandra Barooah, Hollonghabi Tea Estate Pvt.Ltd., P.O. Mohanaghat, Dibrugarh 786 008, Assam Members absent: The following members did not attend the meeting:- 1. Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, 82, South Avenue,New Delhi - 110 011 2. Shri Aditya Khaitan, Chairman, Indian Tea Association, Royal Exchange, 6, N.S. Road, Kolkata-700 001 3. Shri Karan Paul, Chairman, Apeejay Surendra Group, Apeeja House, Park Street, KolkataThe Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department, Government of Assam, Dispur, Guwahati-781006, 4. The Principal Secretary, Commerce & Industries Deptt., Government of West Bengal, Kolkata-700017 5. The Principal Secretary to the Government, Industry Department, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram-695 001, Kerala, 6. Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Government of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla – 171 002, Himachal Pradesh. 7. The Principal Secretary, Micro, Medium & Small Industries Department, Government of Tamilnadu, Chennai -600 009. 8. Shri Subrata Mukherjee, President, INTUC, Kolkata , West Bengal, 9. Mrs. Deepa Dasmunsi, 6A, Rani Bhavani Road, Kolkata-700 026. 10. Shri Nivedith Thomas Alva, No.253, 2nd Block, 5th Cross, Rajmahal Vilas II, Bangalore Chairman welcomed the members to the meetings of the Executive Committee and the Board. He said that meetings of the other Committees viz., Labour Welfare Committee, Development Committee and the Tea Promotion Committee were not being held as it was felt that more time was needed to be devoted by the members on certain important issues being placed before the Board. Item No. To confirm the minutes of the 212th meeting of the Board held in Kolkata on 30th A-1 June, 2010 Chairman said that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 30-6-2010 were circulated on 4-8-2010. No comments were received. The minutes could be confirmed if agreed to. Shri D.P.Roy mentioned that he did not receive the minutes sent by the Tea Board by post. However, he got the same by email after his contact with Chairman’s office. He therefore requested that the minutes henceforth be circulated well in time. Chairman said the minutes would be forwarded to the members by either Speed Post or through courier services. He further requested the members to intimate the Secretary, Tea Board their e-mail IDs so that minutes could be sent by email as well. Shri Saman Pathak said that it would be desirable to send the agenda, minutes etc. in hard copy to the members so that they could go through the same even at remote places. Shri D.P.Roy said some of his observations made during last meeting of the Board have not been recorded. He recalled having mentioned that there were large number of small tea 3 growers in Jalpaiguri and they were not getting assistance from the Tea Board for want of registration with Tea Board. As those growers were not having requisite land documents, efforts should be made to bring them under the ambit of SHGs. Tea Board might consider engaging some NGOs for organizing such small growers into SHGs. Chairman said that observations of the members were duly recorded and those issues if not recorded properly, the same may be brought to the notice of Secretary, Tea Board by the concerned members in writing or e-mail for incorporation in the minutes. He further said that all possible steps would be taken to bring more small tea growers under SHGs. The Board confirmed the minutes of the 212th meeting of the Board held in Kolkata on 30th June, 2010 as circulated. Item No. To note the action taken by the office on the main decisions/conclusions A-2 reached by the Board at its meeting held in Kolkata on 30th June, 2010 Chairman said that action had been initiated on various decisions taken at the last meeting of the Board as detailed in the agenda note. Shri R. Gohain enquired about the status of his proposal for construction of sanitary latrines and drinking water wells in selected tea estates and also for capital grant of one school. WLO (N) informed that participation in SPTF scheme is one of the prerequisites for extending any other benefit. Out of the 6 gardens referred to by the Hon’ble Member four were found to have applied under SPTF. Therefore all the four tea gardens would be eligible and they have been asked to intimate their willingness to share part of the expenses. On receipt of their consent further action would be taken To a query on the subject of standardization of tea grades, Chairman said that based on the inputs received from all stakeholders, the Board had prepared two documents for standardization of grades. Few more suggestions have been received lately and the Board is in the process of finalization of the documents. Pointing to the difficulties being faced by the tea gardens particularly in South India due to acute shortage of labour, Chairman said that it had become necessary to look into ways and means for overcoming this limitation. It might be worthwhile to look into the feasibility of developing some labour saving devices. Shri D.P.Roy said that during the last meeting he raised the issue of declaration of holidays for festivals of the tribal workers in North Bengal and wanted to know the action taken by the Board. Chairman said that the declaration of holidays in the tea areas was not within the purview of the Board and any decision in this regard was to be taken by the State Government in consultation with the tea industry. He, however, mentioned that the issue would be referred to the Producers’ Association for consideration. The Board noted the action taken by the office on the main decisions/conclusions reached by the Board at its meeting held in Kolkata on 30th June, 2010, as indicated in the agenda note.