As a result, the production of quality tea is declining with each passing day and so are prices.

Though a Technical Tea Board (TTB) has been set up for the promotion of tea cultivation, the tea planters are suffering for want of a concrete policy to promote tea cultivation in Kangra valley. Rather, the government has imposed various restrictions like change in land use.

Despite the fact that the state government is giving minimum support price to other crops in the state, tea, which provides livelihood to several hundreds of families in Kangra valley, has been ignored.

Besides 14 big tea estates of about 50 acres, the rest all are small estates. About 1,600 people have tea gardens between one acre and 2.5 acres. The number of those having five-six acres under tea is about 50.

Sachin Butail, who own tea garden at Gopalpur, alleges that in the absence of a proper mechanism for leaf gradation, planters are being exploited by factory owners. “The factory owners fix the grade of the tea leaf according to their sweet will because the government has not evolved any foolproof mechanism for it,’’ he says, adding, “Had I not had other sources of income, it would have been difficult for me to make ends meet.”

“Even after waiting for over a year, the small tea planters do not get their payments,’’ rued Suksham Butail of Nagri village.