GUWAHATI, Oct 1: "The fragile peace brokered between the Assam Gana Parishad Government and the tea industry in the State, three weeks after the two sides traded charges of jeopardising Assam's security, does not signal the end of the tension between them.In what both sides later termed as an ``ice-breaking session'', Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and his senior officials had dinner with the captains of the tea industry on Monday. Despite this, the relations between the Rs 2,200 crore tea industry and the State remain strained.The tea industry, which has been accused of aiding and abetting separatist forces, is yet to be absolved of the charges by the State Government. While Brojen Gogoi, Tata Tea's senior manager in charge of community development, is still in police custody, the general manager, S S Dogra, has been released on bail. But the court has withheld his passport.Senior officials said it was highly unlikely that the charges against some of the tea companies would be withdrawn. In fact, while assuring the tea industry that the State would take all possible action to beef up security in the plantations, Mahanta also warned that those indulging in anti-national activities would be dealt with a firm hand. ``We have nothing against the tea industry, we want it to prosper so that our backward state can also prosper along with it,'' he said. In its efforts to tame the tea industry, the AGP Government, which has the support of the CPI and CPI(M) - known for their anti-tea lobby stance - also has another card to play: the non-payment of agricultural income tax by the industry.Within one year of assuming office, the Mahanta Government had accused the tea companies of not paying their taxes on time. This triggered off a major controversy, which is yet to settle down. According to official estimates, the total amount due as arrears from the various tea companies stands at over Rs 35.07 crores.Besides, the State Government's proposal to raise various taxes and land revenue rates, which have remained unrevised for several decades, is also pending for a long time. The AGP Government had first proposed an increase in the existing rates in 1989. However, nothing materialised as the industry approached the court. The subsequent Congress regime withdrew the proposal. But the AGP Government again revived it, although the increase rates have been kept lower this time.Moreover, the State can also rake up the issue of encroachment on government land in its battle for supremacy over the tea industry. The plantations have been accused of encroaching on government land for quite some time now. According to the latest official statistics, over 1.76 bighas of land has been encroached upon by the tea industry. With the tea plantations receiving permission to keep their own security forces, the State seems to be trying to shift the onus of not utilising its forces properly to stave off militant attacks to the industry itself. The authorities have not considered the fact that the tea security force, which covers only 95 of the 850 gardens, is not equipped with sophisticated weapons.
