|
Montek to push for declaring tea as India's
national drink
Saturday April 21, 2012 07:53:04 PM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
 Declare tea India's national drink
A Rajya Sabha member from Assam Tuesday demanded that tea be
declared India's national drink.
Birendra Prasad Baishya raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha,
saying tea consumption had become a way of life in
»
|
Guwahati: Deputy
Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Saturday assured the tea planters in Assam that he will take up
the issue of declaring tea as India's national drink with the
union ministry of commerce and industry.
Ahluwalia gave the assurance while attending the 75th anniversary
celebration of the Assam Tea Planters' Association (ATPA), the
first tea producers' association formed by Indian tea planters
during the pre-independence period.
"I have seen the proposal presented to the government of India for
declaring tea as the country's national drink. I'll definitely
take up the matter with union Minister for Commerce and Industry
Anand Sharma," Ahluwalia said while speaking at the celebrations,
held in Upper Assam's Jorhat town.
The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission also asked the ATPA
to incorporate in the proposal the fact that tea is a commodity in
India dating back to the pre-independence period of the country
and that there is a sentiment and history attached with tea.
Ahluwalia also referred to Maniram Dewan, the first Assamese tea
planter, who is also associated with the country's freedom
struggle and said that inclusion of these histories in the
proposal for declaring tea as the country's national drink will
make the case stronger.
Talking to IANS, Bidyananda Barkakoty, an executive member of the
ATPA and chairman of the North East Tea Association (NETA) said
the suggestions of Ahluwalia will be incorporated in the proposal
to declare tea as India's National Drink and will be re-submitted
soon.
The ATPA also appealed to the Planning Commission deputy chairman
to grant a comprehensive package on irrigation for Assam's tea
industry due to changing climate conditions.
"As we are entering into the 12th five-year plan period, the Assam
tea industry urgently needs a comprehensive policy on irrigation.
It is not only the total rainfall in a year that matters to us but
also the distribution of rainfall throughout the year that matters
more," said Barkakoty adding that a technical study on the
feasibility of drip irrigation in tea bushes is the need of the
hour in this part of the country.
"There is an urgent need to invest in HRD for the tea industry.
There is no institute in Assam for the development of human
resource in the tea Industry. As a result, skill developments at
all levels is lagging behind, thereby adversely affecting
production, productivity and livelihood enhancement. A
government-funded HRD institute for the tea industry at Dibrugarh
or Jorhat is a priority," he said.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 No witch hunt, PM assures civil servants
Asking
civil servants to take bold decisions, Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh Saturday said the government would not indulge in "witch
hunting" against them in the name of fighting corruption.
»
Policy paralysis? Govt, Opp fight over
economic advisor's remarks
Comment on reforms not linked to 2014
election: Kaushik Basu
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 Maoists abduct Chhattisgarh collector
Maoist rebels Saturday abducted the Sukma district
collector in Chhattisgarh and shot dead his two guards who tried
to resist them, police said. Alex Paul Menon, 32, an Indian
Administrative Service
»
|
|
Mamata gives Centre 15-day ultimatum on tax
moratorium
Reiterating
her demand for an interest moratorium for the cash-strapped West
Bengal government, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday gave
the central government a 15-day ultimatum and warned that its
"indifferent attitude" could become a "big issue".
"We have not enough income
»
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
Neither Congress nor BJP has the people's
mandate
Elections in India for even the panchayats and
civic bodies are seen as political barometers. Although they are
supposed to reflect local concerns, no party can afford to ignore
their outcome, not least because they
»
|
|
Sudan against holding talks with Juba over
oil
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has vowed neither to hold any
talks with South Sudan over the oil issue nor allow the latter to
transport oil through Sudanese territory, media reported Saturday.
"We will no longer allow South Sudan's
»
|
|
 Allama
Iqbal - The Greatest Poet of the East
“Let the Muslims proclaim a million times that Iqbal is
their. But I declare that Iqbal belongs to everyone of us. In fact, confining Iqbal
to a particular
»
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
India successfully flight-tested the Long Range Ballistic
Missile (LRBM) Agni-V (A-5) from wheeler’s island, in Odisha
on April 19, 2012. With the launch, India stormed into an
exclusive club of nations, including US, Russia and China.
(Photo: DPR (MOD))
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links