We are pleased to share a recent post from one of our former India China Fellows Mahendra Lama (2008-2010). In his latest article in the Kathmandu Post, “The Gradual Decay”, he discusses the past and current political dynamics of Darjeeling tea in India and the 1951 Tea Plantation Act.
Darjeeling tea gardens located in the core of the Eastern Himalayas are one of the oldest and most famous tea ventures in India. Darjeeling brand which adorned Harrods in England to Kinokuniya in Japan and Beijing-Frankfurt-Yangon-Chicago airports to Thamel in Kathmandu, consistently fetched the highest international price, earning millions of hard currency for India for more than 155 years. Today, this orthodox darling of connoisseurs is dithering and wavering even to survive. It is fatally sick with problems ranging from low yield to poor health of workers; steadily falling prices to fleeing management; old and fledgling tea bushes to competition from other sources including nearby districts of Nepal and falling production due to militancy among the workers. All these have not only dislocated thousands of workers but also brought about very visible social and political tensions in the region. Its decay is a classic case of mulching to death by the estate owners, governments and the trade unions.
You can read his full article here.