CM annoyed over plan to wind up Tea Board from Bengal

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her annoyance over the attempts made to wind up the Tea Board with its headquarters in Kolkata.

Banerjee, who at present is in Mumbai, has expressed her annoyance over the attempts of the Centre considering it as a move to take away a crucial organisation from Bengal.

In a press conference, Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said in this connection that: "The Centre is trying to showcase its powers by depriving the state by taking such steps. But I would like to say that one cannot insult the people of Bengal like this."

The plan of the Centre to wind up the board as soon as possible came to light when its non-executive chairman Prabhat Kumar Bezboruah reportedly stated that he would be the last chairman of the board as there is a plan to divide the board and merge it with certain agricultural boards. At the same time, the governing bodies as will be shifted out of Kolkata.

The Chief Minister had also opposed when there was a plan of shifting the headquarters of the board to Guwahati in Assam in August 2016. The tea of Darjeeling is famous worldwide and Bengal also produces a good quantity of tea. So according to senior officials of the state government as well, the attempt of winding up the Tea Board could be a political one.

It may be recalled that a separate directorate has been created by the Mamata Banerjee-government for tea gardens in North Bengal and a fund of Rs 100 crore were allotted to provide benefits to tea garden workers.