Glimmer of hope for ailing plantation sector in Kerala

Manjumala, Kerala, May 31 (UNI) In a glimmer of hope for the ailing tea plantation sector in Kerala, four tea gardens, spread over 953 hectares, were formally reopened in the presence of Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh here today.

Describing the reopening of the Manjumala, Nillikad, Pambanar and Thengakal tea gardens, operated by the RBT Group, as a positive first step, Mr Ramesh hoped that this would augur well for the other closed tea gardens in the State.

A total of 17 tea gardens were lying closed in Kerala for the past five to eight years, affecting almost 8,000 families. The nine closed tea gardens of the RBT group alone accounted for almost 50 per cent of the total area under the closed tea gardens in Kerala, he said.

Mr Ramesh said that under a special initiative launched by the Centre, a tea garden run by the Mahavir group was reopened in Thiruvananthapuram district last month and four of the RBT Group have been reopened today.

Another three, also run by the Mahavir group, were to be reopened on June 11. Talks were on with another faction of the RBT group to reopen the remaining five tea estates of the group, he said.

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