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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rapa" data-source="post: 40499" data-attributes="member: 212"><img src="http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/10/images/2006091002691501.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />WILL THE CUP CHEER?: The Sri Lankan Minister for Youth Empowerment and Socio Economic Development, S. R. Arumugam Thondaman (centre) on his way to inaugurate the 53rd annual conference of the Planters Association of Tamil Nadu in Coonoor on Saturday.UDHAGAMANDALAM: The Sri Lankan Minister for Youth Empowerment and Socio-Economic Development, S. R. Arumugam, on Saturday called for greater cooperation between the Planters Association of Tamil Nadu (PAT) and the Sri Lankan plantation industry in various fields, including techno-economic practices and labour relations.Inaugurating the 53rd annual conference of the PAT at Coonoor, Mr. Arumugam said his country's vision for the tea industry was to make it the foremost supplier of quality teas in the world and earn $1 billion by 2011 and its emphasis was not on quantity. This strategy would arrest the declining price of tea globally, he said. The chairman of the association, Vijayann P. Rajes, said the Indian tea industry required deep structural and policy changes that had a long-term strategic value in the face of the uncertainties in the world market and an ad hoc support approach was not sufficient. The few sops that had been given in the recent past to the industry by the Central and State governments, he said, were too little and too late.The demands of the plantation industry as a whole included sharing of the cost of social welfare by the Central and State governments, uniform sales tax rate of one per cent for all plantation commodities, exemption from value added tax for leaf tea, raw coffee, cardamom, spices and latex rubber, permission for crop diversification and relaxation of timber traffic rules. Referring to the janmam land issue in Gudalur, Mr. Rajes said planters were willing to enter into a dialogue with the government to solve the problem.The President of the United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI), E. B. Sethna, cautioned that if strategies were not chalked out to save the industry, other countries would move in and wipe out the Indian industry.The Deputy Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Southern India, P.M.Amza, also spoke. The Vice-Chairman of the PAT, T.Jayaram, proposed a vote of thanks.</blockquote>

Verification: Asuwa dahayen wadi kalama keeyada?

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