Particulars of its Organisation, functions and duties

Tea is one of the industries, which by an Act of Parliament comes under the control of the Union Government. The genesis of the Tea Board in India dates back to 1903 when the Indian Tea Cess Bill was passed. The Bill provided for levying a cess on tea exports – the proceeds of which were to be used for the promotion of Indian tea both within and outside India. The present Tea Board set up under section 4 of the Tea Act, 1953 was constituted on 1st April, 1954. It succeeded the Central Tea Board and the Indian Tea Licensing Committee which functioned respectively under the Central Tea Board Act, 1949 and the Indian Tea Control Act, 1938 which were repealed. The activities of the two previous bodies were confined largely too regulation of tea cultivation and export of tea as required by the international Tea Agreement then in force, and promotion of tea consumption.

The Tea Board is functioning as a statutory body of the Central Government under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry The Board is constituted with 31 members (including Chairman) drawn from Members of Parliament, tea producers, tea traders, tea brokers, consumers and representatives of State Governments from the principal tea producing states and trade union leaders as enumerated below :

• Three persons representing Parliament.
• Eight persons representing owners of tea estates and gardens and growers of tea
• Six persons representing the Government of the principal tea growing states namely, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh.
• Five persons representing persons employed in tea estates and gardens.
• Two persons representing dealers including both exporters and internal traders of tea.
• Two persons representing manufactures of tea
• Two persons representing consumers.
• Two persons representing other interests.

The Board is constituted on financial year basis every three years.

The functions of the Board are defined in the Tea Tea Act. The focus of the Board is directed towards development of the tea industry and trade especially in the sphere of production, extension of area under tea cultivation. Improvement in the quality of tea, promotion of co-operative efforts of growers, and research and development efforts in tea, undertaking promotional campaigns for increasing export of tea and regulatory functions such as issuance of Exporter’s Licence, Tea Waste Licence, Tea Warehousing Licence, etc. Tea Board also plays a major role in the collection of tea statistics and in the adoption of a few welfare measures for workers of tea gardens which are not covered under statutory provisions such as the Plantation Labour Act, 1951. The functions of the Tea Board are outlined in Section 10 of the Tea Act.

The functional activities of the Board performed by various departments of the Head office are as follows :

• Secretariat, Establishment and other Administrative work and Co-ordination of the activities of various departments of the Board’s office and also with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India are directly under the charge of the Secretary.
• The Development, including the administration of the Financial Assistance Scheme and Assistance to the Industry for procurement, distribution and movement of essential input is under the charge of the Director of Tea Development.
• Finance including accounts and internal audit is under the charge of Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts officer.
• Research both agricultural and industrial, is under the charge of the Director of Research.
• Regulation of production and export including issue of Export Licence and implementation of the Tea Waste (Control) Order are under the charge of the Controller of Licensing.
• Marketing including promotion of tea in India and abroad is under the charge of the Director of Tea Promotion (HQ).
• Labour Welfare is under the Charge of Welfare Liaison officer, North.
• Collection of Statistics including cost studies is under the charge of the Statistician.
• Legal matters arising in various functional departments mentioned above are handled by the Law officer.
• Implementation of the provisions of official Language Act and various measures in this respect are handled by the Deputy Director (official Language).

Functions of the Board :The Tea Board has wide functions and responsibilities under the direction of the Central Government. Briefly the primary functions of the Tea Board are as under :

1. Rendering financial and technical assistance for cultivation, manufacture and marketing of tea.
2. Export Promotion
3. Aiding Research and Development activities for augmentation of tea production and improvement of tea quality.
4. Extend financial assistance in a limited way to the plantation workers and their wards through labour welfare schemes.
5. To encourage and assist both financially and technically the unorganised small growers sector.
6. Collection and maintenance of Statistical data and publication
7. Such other activities as are assigned from time to time by the Central Government.

Powers and duties of officers and employees

Powers and duties of the Chairman — Notwithstanding anything contained in the Tea Rules, 1954, Tea By- Laws, 1955 and the Control Orders made therein, the Chairman shall,-

1. be the Head of the Board;
2. preside over Board meetings;
3. accept resignation, if any, of the Board members; and
4. exercise such other power as may be specified by the Government by order.

Powers and duties of the Deputy Chairman — Notwithstanding anything contained in any rule, by-laws made under the Act, the Deputy Chairman of the Board shall have the following powers and duties, namely:-

1. to act as the chief executive officer of the Board;
2. to exercise such powers as is required for smooth functioning of the Board;
3. to act as the appointing and disciplinary authority of the employees and the staff of the Board;
4. to issue no objection certificate, if any, for planting, replanting, rejuvenation and replacement;
5. to issue License, if any, to exporters, Brokers, Warehouse owners, Auction Organisers, tea residue holders including the power to suspend or cancel such license;
6. to issue registration, if any, to manufacturers, buyers, distributors, including the power to suspend or cancel such registration;
7. to cause inspection, monitoring of the tea estates including the power to call for records, documents, returns, data and information from owners of tea estates, tea factories, importers, exporters, brokers, licensees through any of the officers of the Board or through any agency;
8. to administer logo and word marks of teas of Indian Origin;
9. to empanel inspection bodies or agencies;
10. to act as controlling officer of the Board members and all officers of the Board in respect of participation in any meeting, convention, trade fair, workshops;
11. to delegate its power to any of the officers of the Board not below the rank of Assistant Director;
12. to approve, sanction and grant any advances, house building advance as per the House Building Advances Rules made by the Central Government in respect of Central Government employees;
13. to approve payment of provident fund, gratuity, pension including family pension; and
14. to grant to the officers and employees of the Board such concessions for medical attendance and treatment as are admissible to officers and employees of the Central Government under rules and orders made by the Central Government from time to time.

The Deputy Chairman and the Secretary of the Tea Board may exercise financial/administrative power in terms of the provisions contained in Tea Act, Tea Rules and Tea Board By Laws. Deputy Chairman, being the Executive Head of the institution and also the ex-officio Chairman of the standing committees, holds wider powers as compared to other subordinate officers working in the Tea Board. Tea Board, with its head office at Kolkata, has several regional and sub regional offices in the tea growing regions of the country for undertaking developmental work. Not only that, Tea Board has its offices abroad as well to undertake promotional work.

In order to run the day-to-day administration of the offices smoothly, effectively and efficiently, it has been felt necessary to distribute administrative/financial powers to various regional, sub regional and overseas offices depending on the status of the officers manning the office and requirements of the particular office in question including developmental and promotional work. Deputy Chairman also delegates power when such delegation of power is available in the Tea Act, Tea Rules and By laws. To that effect various orders are issued by the Board from time to time for implementation by the officers in question.

Notwithstanding anything contained above, various control orders like the Tea (Distribution and Export) Control order, Tea Waste (Control) order, Tea Warehouses (Licensing) Order and the Tea (marketing) Control order are issued by the govt. of India, in terms of relevant Section of the Tea Act. Under the said orders, Deputy Chairman/Executive Director ( Coonoor/Guwahati) is licensing/registering/certifying Authority.

In terms of sections 31(2) of the Tea Act, Tea Board shall carry out such directives as may be issued to it from time to time by the Central Government for efficient administration of the Tea Act.

Procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accessibility

The procedure followed in decision making process in Tea Board is classified broadly into four categories, namely:

1. issues relating to establishment/staff matters;
2. issues concerning regulatory measures;
3. issues covering developmental and promotional oriented; and
4. issues in respect of financial matters.

As for issue

1. is concerned, it may be stated that Tea Board has its own Recruitment and promotion rules. These rules along with the rules and orders issued by the Govt. of India from time to time are followed appropriately. Promotion and recruitment to certain posts sanctioned by Govt. of officer’s cadre require approval of the Executive Committee and Board of the Tea Board. Relevant orders of the Govt. of India in respect of reservation of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, physically handicapped person, OBC are followed as well in Tea Board. However, for certain senior posts like Dy. Chairman, Executive Directors, Secretary, Financial Adviser & Chief Accounts officer, Director of Tea Development, Directors of Tea Promotion, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India, being the administrative Ministry of Tea Board, is the appointing authority. These posts, are filled up by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry taking into consideration various related factors including the Govt. of India’s notifications and directives issued in this regard from time to time.
2. Issues concerning regulatory measures by and large refer to Tea (Distribution & Export) Control Order, 2005 Tea (Waste) Control Order, Tea (Warehousing) Order and Tea (Marketing) Control Order, 2003. All these orders were issued by the Govt. of India in terms of subsection (3) and (5) of Section 30 of the Tea Act, 1953. These orders are modified/amended as and when needed to suit the best needs of the Tea Industry in India.

The Licensing Deptt of Tea Board is implementing the various provisions of these orders. This apart, Export/Import Policy announced by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry is also implemented by the above noted Department.

As far issues relating to Development and Promotion oriented matters, it may be pointed out that these two Departments particularly Development Department is the livewire of the Institution. Development Department monitors the various schemes concerning the tea development in respect of improvement in production in terms of quantity and quality too both for big growers and small growers sectors. These schemes are formulated by the Development Directorate in consultation with Executive Directors located in North-East and South India as well as Producers’ Associations in North India and South India. Once the scheme in terms of concerned policy is drafted out, it needs the final approval of Deputy Chairman, after which the scheme proposed to be placed to Development Committee of the Board for approval or otherwise. Once it is approved, it is conveyed to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry for final clearance before its implementation by the said Directorate of Tea Board, through its offices located in various tea growing regions of the country. All these schemes are partially funded by the Plan Budget as sanctioned by the Govt. of India.

It may not be out of place to mention that no development, can effectively take place without any Research in this regard. Tea Board has Research Directorate to undertake liaison job with research institutions in North-India (TRA) and South India (UPASI). These tea research institutions are funded by Tea Board from Plan Budget in terms of funding formula as agreed to between Tea Board and Research Institutes, and approved by Ministry of Commerce. This apart, Tea Board has its own Research Centre in Darjeeling (Darjeeling Tea Research and Development Centre – DTR& DC), especially set up to look after the specific interests of Darjeeling Tea Industry. Various research programmes are formulated by Research Directorate for DTRC. Not only that various research institutions including Universities are also funded by Tea Board where Directorate of Tea Research has a prominent role to play. Research proposals of these institutes are placed before Ad-hoc Tea Research Committee with eminent scientists as its members for approval of the proposal or otherwise including the modification of the proposal and even extension of the existing research projects, if so needed. The schemes require approval of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry before its implementation. Progress of the schemes is maintained by the Directorate of Resea

As far promotional oriented schemes are concerned, it may be stated that the procedure is almost same as that of Developmental and research oriented schemes as outlined above. In the case of promotional schemes, the proposed schemes require approval of Export Promotion Committee/Board and thereafter of the Ministry of Commerce before its implementation by Directorate of Tea Promotion in Tea Board at Kolkata as well as by its overseas offices in London, Dubai, Moscow and New York. This apart with the approval of Export Promotion Committee, Board and also Ministry of Commerce, the Directorate of Tea Promotion in India and abroad participate in various Fairs and Exhibitions with particular emphasis on liquid tea sampling, display of promotional posters and distribution of promotional literatures etc., so as to popularize Indian tea amongst foreign buyers. “Buyers-sellers meet” is another instrument of the Promotion Directorate to increase the global share of Indian export. To explore the new markets is also being done on regular basis through Buyer-Seller meet, participation in Fairs & Exhibitions and by sending tea delegation from India. The entire promotional expenditure is funded by budget under Market Development & Export Promotion (MDEP) which contains the foreign exchange component. The assessment of the progress of various schemes is done by Promotion Directorate and Export Promotion Committee. The help of external experts is also taken for formulation of strategic programmes to improve the export of tea both in short term and long term.

In so far as issues relating to financial matters are concerned, it is pertinent to note that under Section 25(1) of the Tea Act, 1953, tea cess used to be levied on all teas produced in India at the rate of 50 paisa per kg., except Darjeeling teas for which only 20 paisa per kg used to be levied. However, after implementation of the GST, the said cess on made tea has been subsumed with the GST and consequently clause (c) of section 3, section 25 and 26 and clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 27 have been repealed vide Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2017 (No 18 of 2017) published in Part II Section I of official gazette of India. Now, the Department of Commerce, Government of India, being the administrative Ministry of the Board, releases fund to meet the non plan as well as plan expenditure.

The other sources of income of Board are grants, subsidy and loan released to by the Government of India under Section 26A of said Act. The Board has also some other minor sources of revenue such as fees on licenses, interest on loans and advances and miscellaneous receipts such as sales of liquid tea, sale of green leaves and sale of publications, renting out vacant office space etc. Plan funds are then applied to the functions of Board as enshrined in Section 10 of the Tea Act. The utilization certificates for funds so released by Government are regularly forwarded to Government. Tea Board has a Finance Department to supervise and monitor the expenditure. This Department is also accountable to prepare the Annual Accounts of the Board. The Annual Accounts of the Board are submitted to C & AG audit after adoption by the Executive Committee marinating the deadline of submitting the accounts by 30th June as prescribed by the Government. The said accounts then audited by audit team of C & AG. On receipt of the audit certificate on the accounts the same is placed before the Board for its approval. Thereafter, the audited Accounts are sent to Ministry for laying in both the houses of Parliament.

The Budget papers are also placed to the Board for approval before sending it to Ministry of Commerce for final approval and allocation thereof. The budgetary allocation is also made by Govt. of India, for the purpose as explained earlier.

Assessment of expenditure vis-à-vis receipt is made by the Govt. of India for which utilization certificates are forwarded by Tea Board on regular intervals so as to obtain further instalment of fund from Govt. of India. Tea Board has a Directorate of Finance to supervise and monitor the expenditure, including closing of Accounts by the end of June of each year. The un-audited account so closed requires adoption by the Executive Committee after which the said accounts are sent to CAG for observation. CAG thereafter send the audited accounts to Tea Board within a specified period for its approval by the Board. At the same the budget papers are also placed to the Board for approval, before sending it to Ministry of Commerce for final approval and allocation thereof.

The aforesaid narration provides a fair idea about procedure adopted by Tea Board in decision making process including channel of supervision and accountability.

Norms set by it for the discharge of its functions

The various functions of the Tea Board have already been outlined in Section 10 of Tea Act, 1953.

In order to discharge its various functions, the Board has the following set up Rules/By-Laws:

1. The Tea Rules, 1954
2. The Tea Board By Laws, 1955
3. The Tea Board (Write off Losses) Rules, 1996
4. The Tea Board (Recruitment And Conditions of Services of officers Appointed By Government) Rules, 1971
5. The Investigation of Tea Undertaking/Tea Units (Procedure) Rules, 1981
6. The Tea Board (Provident Fund) By-Laws, 1960
7. The Tea Waste (Control) Order, 1959
8. The Tea Warehouse (Licensing) Order, 1989
9. The Tea (Marketing) Control Order, 2003
10. The Tea (Distribution & Export) Control Order, 2005
11. Tea Board (Recruitment, Promotions And Conditions of Service of officers And Staff) By- Laws, 2015

On other aspects of official procedures the Board follows the norms set by the Government of India by way of rules/regulations/guidelines formulated by the Government of India on administrative matters and in the matters relating to disciplinary proceedings and Vigilance activities. The Board also follows the financial rules/norms as applicable to the Central Government departments/organizations.

The norms for operating various schemes form a part of the schemes.

Also norms by way of targets are set in the plan and budget documents.

The Rules, Regulations, Instructions, Manuals And Records Used By Its Employees For The Discharge of Its Functions

1. The Tea Act, 1953
2. The Tea Rules, 1954
3. The Tea Board By Laws, 1955
4. The Tea Board (Write off Losses) Rules, 1996
5. The Tea Board (Recruitment And Conditions of Services of officers Appointed By Government) Rules, 1971
6. The Investigation of Tea Undertaking/Tea Units (Procedure) Rules, 1981
7. The Tea Board (Provident Fund) By-Laws, 1960
8. The Tea Waste (Control) Order, 1959
9. The Tea Warehouse (Licensing) Order, 1989
10. The Tea (Marketing) Control Order, 2003
11. The Tea (Distribution & Export) Control Order, 2005
12. Tea Board (Recruitment, Promotions And Conditions of Service of officers And Staff) By- Laws, 2015

Regulations are being followed in its functioning In respect of other areas not covered by these, the Board follows the rules, instructions, manuals and guidelines issued by the Government of India for Central Government employees.

On other matters, the Board follows the rules, regulations and other instructions applicable to the Govt. of India departments, eg. provisions of General Financial Rules, Central Treasury Rules, Fundamental Rules, Supplementary Rules etc.

Statement of the categories of documents /information that are held by it or under its Control

Tea Board has already have the following documents published annually/periodically as the case may be :

1. Tea Board Manual
2. Tea Statistics
3. Annual Report
4. Tea Directory
5. Book on study on Domestic Tea Consumption in India
6. Booklet on Various logo’s of Tea
7. Promotional Posters & other promotional literature
8. Booklet on various developmental schemes run by Tea Board
9. Annual Account

Tea Board has a library having books concerning Tea and other tea related subjects for use by its employees and other Research workers on tea.

Particulars of Any Arrangement That Exists For Consultation With, or Representation By, The Members of The Public In Relation To The Formulation of Its Policy or Implementation Thereof

Tea Board as and when needed holds discussion with the representatives of Tea Industry and Trade which is now in the hands of Private Sector. Such discussion is felt necessary especially at the time of formulation of certain policy and planning including implementation. Though no time and periodicity has been fixed for such discussions, it almost becomes a routine matter to discuss the issues pertaining to the tea industry and trade to sort out the problems, if any and advise further.

Statement of Boards, Councils, Committees And Other Bodies Consisting of Two or More Persons Constituted As Its Part or For The Purpose of Its Advice, And As To Whether Meetings of Those Boards, Committees, And Other Bodies Are Open To The Public or The The Board consists of:

1. Three persons representing Parliament.
2. Eight persons representing owners of tea estates and gardens and growers of tea
3. Six persons representing the Government of the principal tea growing states namely, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh.
4. Five persons representing persons employed in tea estates and gardens.
5. Two persons representing dealers including both exporters and internal traders of tea.
6. Two persons representing manufactures of tea
7. Two persons representing consumers.
8. Two persons representing other interests.

The Board meets once in each quarter.Various Statutory Committees of the Tea Board are:

1. Executive Committee
2. Tea Promotion Committee
3. Labour Welfare Committee
4. Development Committee
5. Licensing Committee for North India
6. Licensing Committee for South India

Deputy Chairman, Tea Board is the ex-officio Chairman of all the Committees.

Members of such committees are elected from among Board Members on annual basis.

Ad-hoc Research Liaison Committee is also formed having members from the Board as well as eminent Scientists from outside.

The functions of the Committees are enumerated in the Tea Rules. All the decisions of the Committees are to be approved by the Board.

The minutes are prepared separately for each Committee based on the proposals approved by the Committee. Similarly, the minutes of the Board are prepared based on the approval of various agenda by the committees. The minutes of the Committees are circulated to all Committee members concerning the Committee, while the minutes of the Board are circulated to all members of the Board including the Committee Members.

Once the approved minutes are received, the extracts are taken for necessary action by the concerned Departments of the Board. Neither the minutes nor the extracts are open to the public, except those where decisions are to be informed to the concerned Tea Associations for information and required action at their end.

Non-disclosure of the information contained in the minutes is due to apprehension for its misuse which may cause damage to the Indian tea industry and trade as well as institution in question.

The Budget Alloted To Each of Its Agency Indicating The Particulars of All Plans, Proposed Expenditure And Reports On Disbursement Made

The Board prepares the Budget Estimates and Revised Estimates in respect of Plan Schemes and Non-Plan funds scheme-wise and head-wise and send to the Government for approval. On the basis of the Budget allotment and funds released by Government the expenditure is met. It may be mentioned that monthly progress report i.e. disbursement made in respect of Plan schemes and Non-plan funds is regularly sent to Ministry of Commerce. The following Books are enclosed in the regard : Annual accounts

The particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations granted by Tea Board

Board has introduced online licensing system from April, 2018 onwards for issuance and renewal of all kind of licensing applications under various Control Orders. This online licensing system has replaced the existing manual process of submitting hard copy of licensing applications with improved and transparent online process, timely disposal of applications, online status tracking etc.

Click Here to download the number of licenses issued across the country for the financial period 2018-19 along with the quantum of revenue generated.

The Manner of Execution of Subsidy Programmes, Including The Amounts Allocated And The Details of Beneficiaries of Such Programmes

Details Schemes are as follows: Click Here

Details In Respect of The Information, Available To or Held By It, Reduced In An Electronic Form

Most of the activities of the Board have been computerized. The Board has launched its Website at www.teaboard.gov.in containing all information about Indian Tea and the Board’s activities.

Information available in Databases

1. Tea Auction data
2. List of various Licensees
3. List of Factory Registration
4. List of Gardens

Promotion Department

1. Tea export data
2. List of leading Tea exporters

Development Department

1. Tea yield data
2. Garden survey data
3. Details on Area and production of tea cultivation in India

Finance Department

1. Monthly Salary
2. TDS
3. Pension/NPS
4. Form 16
5. Budget /account wise Receipts and Expenditure

Establishment Department

1. List of employees
2. Leave records
3. Location wise details of Regional/Zonal offices of the Board
4. Details of consumable issue, receipt & stock

Statistics Department

1. Country Wise Export
2. Year wise Export
3. Factory Production
4. Tea Exported
5. Details on Area and production of tea cultivation in India

Research /Quality Control Lab

1. OPs, MOAs, MOCs and other Quality Records
2. Details of Sample receipts, work allocation, analytical results and its deliver
3. List of parameters, sub parameters, fees, requirements quantity and time for analysis.
4. Details of Analytical Procedures followed
5. Catalogue for documents control
6. List of Exporters/Customers from whom samples are received for Analysis
7. Equipment calibrations and services

Particulars of Facilities Available To Citizens For Obtaining Information, Including The Working Hours of Library or Reading Room, If Maintained For Public The requisite information are uploaded in the Website of the Board from time to time for information of the stakeholders including public in general.

Booklets about various teas of Indian origin are also published and distributed during fairs and exhibitions to promote India Tea.

Monthly/Quarterly bulletin on tea export/production issued for information of the stakeholders.

Annual report/Annual Account are also published for distribution.

Tea Directory is published at regular interval for distribution.

The services of Libraries and Reading Rooms are available in the Head office of the Board to the public including students and researchers from various organizations.

The monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations

A statement showing the names of the officers, employees and monthly remuneration received by each of the officers and employees of the Board is enclosed. As per compensation package Board’s officers and employees are eligible for retirement benefits at the time of superannuation attaining the age of 60 years etc. as applicable to the Central Govt. Employees. By and laws, the Board’s employees are entitled to similar facilities/compensation as enjoyed by the Central Govt. employees.

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RTI Details

Click Here to view the details of RTI Applications disposed of in the year 2019.