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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Many a childhood lost rolling bidis -Ananya Dutta

Many a childhood lost rolling bidis -Ananya Dutta

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published Published on Oct 10, 2012   modified Modified on Oct 10, 2012
-The Hindu

Children form main part of workforce in Murshidabad

Dolly Khatun was about five-year-old when she first handled bidis, helping her mother with odd jobs like fetching and carrying the ingredients from the village vendor and returning the finished bundles, cutting the kendu leaves into strips and counting the rolled bidis into a bunch. Within a couple of years, she was fully trained and over the past 10 years she has become proficient enough to roll over 1,000 bidis a day.

In Notun Balganpara village of Murshidabad district, everyone helps out in the bidi rolling cottage industry. And they start young. Mothers roll bidis by the kitchen hearth, cooking and tending to the infants simultaneously .

Dolly went to school up to Class VIII. She then gave up her studies to roll bidis full time. From 6 a.m., Dolly, her sisters, her brother and their friends congregate in the verandah of their home and begin their day’s work. Four hours later, some of them take a break to go to school; most of them don’t and work through the day till 10 p.m. taking a break for meals. Only the very efficient like Dolly can roll 1,000 bidis in a day, which will fetch them Rs.76 from the local vendor.

These children spend up to 14 hours a day rolling bidis and handling the tobacco with their bare hands. They are susceptible to respiratory diseases, skin problems and often complain of stomach ailments. Bending over their baskets in the same posture for hours also precipitates into bone and joint problems, but driven by poverty they continue in the traditional business, said Save the Children activist Chittapriyo Sadhu on Tuesday.

According to data available with the NGO, about 13,500 children in the Jangipur sub-division alone have dropped out of school to roll bidis. The figure does not include the hundreds of others who attend school and roll bidis the rest of the day. The prospect of earning more money lured 14-year-old Firoza Khatun away from school for two years, but after the intervention of social activists she is now studying in Class IX. She does not roll bidis all day and can usually finish only about 500. But with Id-ul-Zuha around the corner, the family could do with a little more money. So instead of going to school, she stays on with her friends in the hope of rolling more and earning more. Over time, a division of labour is seen in the courtyard of Firoza’s home in Lashkarpur village. Some of them cut the leaves according to a rectangular stencil, others roll in the tobacco in measured quantities tying it up with thread, while some others work with a khunchi (a screwdriver-like instrument) to fold the ends in so that the tobacco doesn’t fall out. The youngest of the lot work at counting the finished bidis ones and tying the bundles according to the specifications of the company.

“The problems of these children arise from their unique circumstances of desperate poverty with the enticement of a quick buck so close at hand. General programs of the State, such as the Right to Education Act or the Midday Meal scheme will not address this issue. What is required is an intervention that is tailor-made to their needs — whether it is providing them healthcare or alternative means of livelihood,” Mr. Sadhu said.

The Hindu, 10 October, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/many-a-childhood-lost-rolling-bidis/article3983371.ece


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