Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Covid has pushed seasonal sugarcane cutters in Maharashtra’s Beed to the brink of poverty -Diksha Munjal and Tanishka Sodhi

Covid has pushed seasonal sugarcane cutters in Maharashtra’s Beed to the brink of poverty -Diksha Munjal and Tanishka Sodhi

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jun 14, 2021   modified Modified on Jun 16, 2021

-Newslaundry.com

Daily wage work has dried up and there’s no help forthcoming from the government.

The narrow lanes cutting through farmland are dotted with brick, wood and asbestos shanties. One in particular, located in Dhakephal village in Maharashtra’s Beed district, is lit by a single yellow bulb. It’s home to Swati Sriganga Ramdave, 24, and her family of seven.

Outside the house, Swati’s youngest daughter Aarohi, 4, tugged at her grandmother Gitabai’s sari, asking for money to buy a packet of chips from the local kirana before it closes.

“Here, go get one packet. The small one,” said Gitabai, unfolding a ten-rupee note from her blouse and handing it to her.

Money is tight in the Ramdave household. Swati works as a seasonal sugarcane cutter, one of over six lakh cane cutters in the Marathwada region of the state. From October to April every year, she migrates to western Maharashtra and Karnataka to cut and load sugarcane harvests for sugar factories. This has been her job since she was 15 years old.

Ever since the second wave of Covid hit rural Maharashtra, sugarcane cutters, who already live a hand to mouth existence, have been struggling to find opportunities for work and to keep their hearths burning. With seven other mouths to feed – three daughters, her parents, and brother – Swati has barely found any work in the last two months.

Seasonal sugarcane cutters are hired by local contractors, or mukadams. Koytas or those who work in pairs with their spouses usually get an advance payment of around Rs 50,000 before they migrate. Solitary workers, called ardhya koyta, get half that amount as advance.

They then migrate and work for six months to pay off the advance. During this period, they live in makeshift tarpaulin shelters during the winter months, often facing verbal and physical abuse from their contractors. Their work days start at dawn and end only when all the cane is loaded onto trucks after midnight.

Please click here to read more.

 


Newslaundry.com, 14 June, 2021, https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/06/14/covid-has-pushed-seasonal-sugarcane-cutters-in-maharashtras-beed-to-the-brink-of-poverty?fbclid=IwAR14tly4YdUMRd5MWln6SY88KRACqe1Js8rsxSKOhfcIS6f42QYq4iURzq0


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close