Tea brings fortune for distressed women

Tea gardens in the sub-Himalayan Panchagarh district have created jobs for over 12,000 people, including 8,500 extremely poor and distressed women, to make their fortune in this sector.

Even a decade ago, these unemployed rural women had to live in utter misery but now they are earning their living through plucking tealeaves in the third officially recognised tea zone of Panchagarh in the country.

According to the tea garden workers, including young girls, housewives, widows and divorcees, the prospective tea sector is growing fast and creating jobs for females every year.

Talking to the news agency, labourers Merina, Afroza, Aklima, Shukla Rani, Motahera and Kulsum of Tentulia upazila said they are earning a daily wage of Tk 250 on an average.

Other workers Mahfuza, Sonali, Shyamoli, Swapna and Kulsum said they are now having three meals a day, using sanitary latrines, drinking safe water and receiving health care services whenever needed.

Supervisor of Moynaguri Tea Company Ltd Nazrul Islam said each of the female labourers generally plucks 80 to 100kg green tea leaves per day.

According to Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) sources, tea production has been increasing by 1,00,000kg every year on an average since 2005.

Tea is now being cultivated on about 3,500 acres of land in 526 gardens, including 26 big estates, 17 medium and 483 small gardens in Panchagarh, and its cultivation is also expanding in the adjoining districts.

Assistant Tea Development Officer at BTB's Panchagarh Regional Office Minhajur Rahman said 14.21 lakh kg of fine quality tea was produced in 2014 while 14.55 lakh kg in 2013 and 11.41 lakh kg was produced in 2012 in Panchagarh.

Former President of Panchagarh Chamber Iqbal Kaiser Mintu said commercial tea cultivation on “small-scale gardening basis” has become popular in Panchagarh as the small, marginal and medium farmers are earning better profits through selling green tealeaves to the six tea-processing factories.