Guwahati, Oct 5: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday unveiled the bust of the first Indian tea planter and freedom fighter Maniram Dewan at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre and participated in a special charity tea auction that raised Rs 2.26 crore for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
Speaking on the occasion, Sarma said it was fitting to honour Dewan as Assam celebrates 200 years of tea.
The bust was unveiled at the centre as a tribute to Dewan’s legacy, he said.
"In Assam, we continue to honour Vikas and Virasat," Sarma said.
The chief minister also took up the hammer at the special charity tea auction, which raised Rs 2.26 crore for flood relief in the state.
The Tea Association of India (TAI), in a release, said the auction raised Rs 1.61 crore, while Hemant Bangur contributed an additional Rs 65 lakh, taking the total to Rs 2.26 crore.
The proceeds will go to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to help families who lost their homes, crops and livelihoods in the floods.
"The tea industry has thrived along the Brahmaputra for over a century, and when the floods came this year, the families affected were our own -- on the gardens, in the villages and in the towns around them. Today, the industry gathered under one roof to stand with them," the release said.
Sarma took up the hammer first and sold 12 ceremonial lots that fetched Rs 99.51 lakh, setting the tone for the bidding that followed.
Minister for Transformation and Development, Labour Welfare, and Tea Tribes and Adivasi Welfare Rameswar Teli, Chief Secretary Ravi Kota, Additional Chief Secretaries J B Ekka and K K Dwivedi, and All India Tea Traders’ Association (FAITTA) Chairman Paras Desai also hammered lots.
The charity auction drew participation from outside Assam, with Goomtee, a Darjeeling tea garden, also contributing its teas.
Buyers travelled from Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad and Delhi to support the cause.
Society Tea purchased teas worth Rs 26.10 lakh, Wagh Bakri Rs 24.04 lakh, Today Tea Rs 15.10 lakh, Jivraj Tea Rs 13 lakh and Uphaar Rs 12.24 lakh.
TAI senior vice-president Mohit Agarwala said the response to the auction had been overwhelming.
"The chief minister’s presence and active participation created tremendous excitement across the fraternity. We are especially grateful to the buyers who travelled from different parts of the country and bid so generously. This was the entire tea fraternity coming together for Assam," he said.
Agarwala said no one in the chain kept anything for themselves, with producers donating the tea, brokers waiving their brokerage, warehouses waiving their charges, GTAC facilitating the sale without earning anything from it and buyers paying for the lots.
TAI expressed its gratitude to the CM, state government, Tea Board India, GTAC, and every producer, buyer, broker, warehouse and auctioneer who made this possible, the release added.
