Lifting food subsidy will affect tea production
Garden owners, labour union say
Iqbal Siddiquee, Sylhet
A government decision to withdraw the subsidy on wheat for tea garden labourers has caused a commotion in the sector. About one lakh labourers with their 3.5 lakh dependents will face hardship, which will create unrest and affect production in the foreign exchange earning sector, sources said. Government gives a subsidy of Tk 9.50 per kg wheat and the garden owners supply it to labourers at Tk 1.30 per kg. Food subsidy in the sector was introduced in 1956. The food ministry in a letter to Bangladeshiyo Cha Sangsad (BCS), an association of tea garden owners, in mid-February said the subsidy will be withdrawn after the current six-monthly wheat allotment is exhausted in June. The BCS and Cha Sramik Union (tea garden labourers union) have expressed grave concern over the decision and demanded its reversion. Earlier, subsidised wheat allotments to gardens were made on monthly basis. In 2003, the government stopped the monthly allotment. Following a representation from BCS, the food ministry in July 2003 introduced six-monthly allotment. The allotments made in January will be exhausted in June. An official of Cha Sramik Union said each labourer gets a weekly allotment of 3.5 kg wheat, which somehow meets the demand of a family. The sudden suspension will put the labourers in hardship. Most of the tea garden owners will not be able to continue the subsidised supply and this will brew unrest in the labour sector, he said. A BCS official yesterday said tea is a foreign exchange earner, which is mainly dependent on labour. Tea gardens are located in remote and hilly areas in Sylhet and Chittagong. There are two gardens in Brahmanbaria. The sector is facing a lot of problems and is surviving anyhow in the competitive world market. There is no alternative to increasing production, which is mainly dependent on labour management. It will not be possible for most of garden owners to supply wheat to labouers at subsidised rate if the government subsidy is withdrawn, he said and urged the government to revise the decision. "We have already sent letters to the food ministry expressing grave concern", the BCS official said. Bangladesh earns around Tk 150 crore annually in foreign exchange from tea export. Besides, the government earns Tk 18 crore in VAT on tea sale and Tk 3 crore in land development tax.
| 
