North Bengal producers demands to declare tea a national drink

Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], May 21 : North Bengal Tea Producers' Welfare Association (NBTPWA) demands tea be declared a "national drink" on International Tea Day.
The producers demanded to declare tea a national drink while they are celebrating Tea Day at Siliguri in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal today.
Promoting the habit of drinking tea, the producers have distributed around 5000 cups of free tea to the common people of Siliguri. The drive has also been conducted to attract the younger generation to tea.
Niraj Poddar, secretary of the association, said, "The Britishers started harvesting tea in the region. They left, but still, we are continuously running the culture of tea drinking and we can tell, after water, that tea is the second beverage in India. You can get tea everywhere. But our younger generation slightly turned their faces from tea to fancy beverages. People in the tea industry are trying hard to make tea more attractive so that they start taking tea again."
Sathish Mitruka, former president of the association and planter from Siliguri, said, "They are trying to increase the consumption of tea. Along with the Tea Board of India (TBI), many organisations like them spread the message, 'drink more tea.'"
The association demanded a special status for tea as a national drink for the state as well as the Union government.
There are 500 tea gardens in North Bengal, especially in the Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars regions. More than four lakh people are directly or indirectly engaged in this major industry in this region.
The world's best-flavoured tea is also produced in Darjeeling district, with a rich abundance of CTC tea to be found in the Dooars region of Jalpaiguri district.
It is noted that the total production of India is around 1366 million kg, of which North Bengal shares around 650 million kg of tea and Darjeeling is 6.08 million kg.