The Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Association (CISTA), the national apex body comprising 11 state federations, has urged Union minister of agriculture and farmers welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan to recognise small tea growers as agricultural farmers.

This recognition, they argue, would enable small tea growers to benefit from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative, which promotes formation of Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) for traditional agricultural farmers.

Currently, small tea growers are excluded from these benefits because they fall under the jurisdiction of the Tea Board of India, which is overseen by the Union ministry of commerce. As a result, they are unable to access schemes such as the Kisan Credit Card (KCC), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Kisan Samman Nidhi, Soil Health Card, e-NAM, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and FPC incentives.

“Unfortunately, small tea growers in India have been left out of PM’s welfare schemes, even though they function much like traditional agricultural farmers,” said CISTA president Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty in a letter to minister Chouhan.

He emphasised that the formation of FPCs is a key strategy to enhance farmer incomes, as it provides various incentives under the Union farmers’ welfare department.

Chakraborty also highlighted the growing contribution of small tea growers to India’s tea production, stating that more than 2.5 lakh small tea growers now cultivate tea bushes and supply raw green leaves to tea factories. Since 2019, small tea growers have accounted for 53 per cent of India’s total tea production, marking a significant shift from the historical dominance of large corporate estates.

While the tea board has initiated efforts to support small growers through self-help groups and producer societies since 2004, Chakraborty pointed out that many central schemes remain inaccessible due to the ministry of commerce’s oversight of the tea industry.

He also mentioned that, in a rally in Siliguri on 12 February, PM Modi announced that small tea farmers would soon receive benefits under KCC, PMKSY, and PMFBY, with the tea board already working on weather-based crop insurance.

In his letter, Chakraborty called for the agriculture ministry to formally recognise small tea growers as agricultural farmers and include them in the FPC formation process. He also requested that the tea board’s issued smart identification cards be accepted by the ministry of corporate affairs’ portal, which currently only acknowledges identification cards issued by state agriculture departments.

“Our plea is simple – recognise small tea growers as agricultural farmers and allow the use of tea board-issued identification cards in the FPC formation process,” Chakraborty said.