SajeevJino
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India will declare Tea as its National Drink by
April 2013.
This was revealed by Planning
Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh
Ahluwalia at Jorhat, Assam on Saturday.
The drink would be accorded national
drink status by April 17 next year to
coincide with the 212th birth anniversary
of first Assamese tea planter and Sepoy
Mutiny leader Maniram Dewan, Ahluwalia
said while addressing the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Assam Tea Planters
Association here.
It was Maniram Dewan who was not only the
first indigenous tea planter but also involved
in the national movement, he said at the the
Tocklai Experimental Station. The other important reason is that half of the
tea industry labour comprises women and is
the largest employer in the organised sector,
Ahluwalia added. The deputy chairman said he would soon
take up the matter with Union commerce
minister Anand Sharma.
He said India is the largest producer and
consumer of black tea in the world. According
to ORG-India tea consumption study, 83 per
cent households in India consume tea and is
the cheapest beverage in the world after
water. Ahluwalia urged tea planters and producers
to emulate the path of coffee planters and go
in for producing more varieties. There are more than 20 varieties of coffee in
the market but there are only two varieties of
tea CTC and Orthodox and there was an
urgent need to bring in more varieties, he
said.
Ahluwalia stressed the need for brand
identification of different varieties of tea
which could be further popularised by the
private sector. He also announced that a tea-room of
international standard Chai Bar, the first of its
kind in the region, would be soon opened at
the Gauhati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC). The tea room with a world class ambiance
will have a tea lounge along with a retail shop
where more than 50 types of best quality tea
would be on display, he added. Ahluwalia asserted that economic growth of
the North East was healthy and the region
would soon witness a sea-change with
proper connectivity not only between
different states but also with South East Asian
and East Asian nations. Speaking on the occasion, Assam Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi said a special package
for the tea industry would be announced to
ensure its development. The tea industry is a village based industry
which has played a pivotal role in the states
economy. It is heartening to note that the
young generation in the industry is doing
very well, Gogoi said. There are many young tea planters and small
tea growers in the state and they should
come forward as we are ready to help them
in all possible way.
The meeting was presided by ATPA Chairman
Atma Ram Kesera. ATPA, formed in 1937, is
the oldest tea association of indigenous tea
planters in the country.
Do we need National animal or bird? Why hate national drink then
