New national tea body formed to unite Assam, North Bengal, & South India manufacturers

Dibrugarh, April 29: With the motto of 'one association, one vision and shared future', bought leaf tea manufacturers from Assam, North Bengal, and South India have converged and formed an all-India body called the 'Federation of Indian Tea Manufacturers Association' (FITMA).

In a meeting organised at a resort here on Friday, the representatives of three organisations Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers Association (ABLTMA), North Bengal Tea Producers' Welfare Association (NBTPWA), and the Nilgiris Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers Association (NBLTMA) - facilitated the formation of FITMA with an aim to collectively voice their grievances and advocate for common aspirations through the single platform.

The Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers Association, which proposed the idea of forming an all-India body, has five members in the newly formed FITMA. Deven Singh, the advisor to ABLTMA, was selected as its chairman while Sanjay Dhanothi (North Bengal) and Dhananjayan Krishnamoorty (South India) were selected as vice chairmen. Vikash Agarwal (Mandhania) was selected as its secretary.

The formation of FITMA was followed by the annual general body meeting of ABLTMA, which was held on Saturday. An interaction between the manufacturers and buyers was also organised at the same venue.

At the annual general meeting, ABLTMA chairman Chand Kumar Gohain, vice chairman Chandrajit Baruah, secretary Gautam Beria, assistant secretary Deepak Pithani, and coordinator and publicity secretary Aslam Khan were unanimously retained as office-bearers. Further, the executive body of ABLTMA was expanded from seven to 21 members during the meeting. The members also retained Deven Singh as their advisor.

On the occasion, the family of the association's founder, late Narendra Tibrewal of Dibrugarh, was felicitated in recognition of his contribution in the formation of ABLTMA.

The evening's programme - 'Ek Shaam Chai Ke Saath' - began with offering of shraddhanjali to victims and offering of prayers for the family members of the recent heinous terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

Arunita Phukan Yadav, executive director of Tea Board of India, North Eastern Zonal Office, along with Dr Jesto George, joint director, FSSAI, Venkatesan Selvaraj, director, Tea Research Association, Prabhat Kamal Bezboruah, former chairman of Tea Board of India, and Bijaygopal Chakraborty, advisor, CISTA, also attended the opening session.

Rameshbhai Patel, a leading packager of Maharashtra, was awarded the 'Axom Binandini Award' by ABLTMA for his support to Assam's tea industry over the past 50 years. Jadav Payeng, the Forest Man of India, was awarded the 'Prakriti Ratna Bota' by ABLTMA for single-handedly creating a forest.