Changes in policy for sale of tea gardens to hit small farmers

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 18

The changes in policies for sale of tea gardens will hit small farmers while big land owners will stand to benefit.

The state government is now proposing allowing sale of tea gardens. However, about a year ago, the state government imposed a ban on sale of tea gardens in Kangra district. The state government took the decision after ruckus was created regarding the sale of tea gardens in Kangra district to the education society owned by civil rights activist and lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

Now the decision, being mulled by the state government to allow sale of tea gardens, is also being viewed as an appeasement to big tea garden owners.

The government has banned change in nature of tea gardens in Kangra district without the permission of the state government. Owners of tea gardens are exempted from the land ceiling Act. They are allowed to retain more than 300 kanal but with a condition that they cannot sell the tea gardens.

However, the Act is a bane of small land holders and farmers living in Palampur and Kangra. Many farmers in the district own just a few kanals. They cannot grow tea to sustain them on a few kanals.

Though their land is now valuable, they cannot sell their land due to restrictions on them. Such farmers alleged that the benefit of exemption in land ceiling was taken by a few big farmers.

During the stint of the present government also, the sale of tea gardens has been allowed for construction of a few hotels and schools.

The small farmers, who did not take benefit of the land ceiling, are not being permitted to sell their land as they do not have influence to pursue their cases.

Many religious cults have taken over hundreds of kanal tea garden land in Kangra district and have raised pucca structures over them. Everything is being done openly under the vigilant eyes of government officials.

However, till date none of the officials or politicians in the state has spoken against them.