Voluntary Health Association of India

At the Crossroads of Life and Livelihood The Economics, Poverty and Working Conditions

of People Employed in the Tobacco Industry in India

A Study based on Primary Research among Tobacco Workers in Bihar, Jharkhand,

Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh

Research Team

Field Researchers

Production Team

Photographs

Concept and Guidance : Alok Mukhopadhyay

Overall Supervision & Research Guidance : Bhavna B Mukhopadhyay

Principal Researcher : Karabi M.G. Majumdar

Research Assistance : Priyadarshini Mohanty

Expert Review & Technical Editing : Debra Efroymson

: Lori Jones

Uttar Pradesh : Abhishek Soni

: Mohamad Atahar Shamshi

Bihar : M.C.Sarkar

Jharkhand : Sarfaraz Alam

: Badri Mahato

Madhya Pradesh : Virender Singh Rohilla

: Lakhan Tembhare

: Som Sharma

Report Collation : Bhavna B Mukhopadhyay

Karabi M.G. Majumdar

Editing & Production Coordination : Chandra Ramakrishnan

Layout and Designing : GENESIS

Assistance : Padmaja Raghunathan

Subhash Bhaskar

: Sucheta Das

Mrittunjoy Guha Majumdar

Tirthankar Guha Majumdar

M C Sarkar, Ahishek Soni

© Voluntary Health Associaltion of India 2010

B-40 Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110016

Study conducted by Voluntary Health Association of India New Delhi, in

collaboration with partners from the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh

and Uttar Pradesh. Project administered by HealthBridge, Canada and funded by

the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).

Acknowledgements

VHAI Research team would like to express its sincere gratitude to all

the following without whose help and support this study would not

have been possible. We wish to extend our thanks:

?First and foremost to our entire respondents, i.e., the bidi

workers, tobacco farmers and tendu leaf pluckers from all the

seven districts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and

Jharkhand, for active participation and sharing their stories with

us.

?Members of the state Voluntary Health Associations especially

Mr. Swapan Mazumdar, Executive Director of Bihar Voluntary

Health Association; Rameshwar Singh, Executive Secretary of

Voluntary Health Association of Jharkhand; and Mr. J.P. Sharma,

Executive Director of Uttar Pradesh Voluntary Health Association

for all the coordination and logistic arrangements for the

fieldwork.

?Members of other civil society organizations from Youth Round

Table, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, Jan Jagaran Kendra, Jharkhand,

especially Mr. Shanti Bhushan Singh and Mr. Hari Kant Jha from

Nisha Bunai Silai School, Nalanda, Bihar for coordinating and

assisting in fieldwork in their respective locations.

?Members of HealthBridge, Canada, especially Sandra Wiens, Lori

Jones and Debra Efroymson for their constant support,

coordination and valuable technical inputs.

?Special thanks to the team members of VHAI's tobacco control

unit including Dr. P.C. Bhatnagar, Noshina Rizvi, Praveen Sinha,

Brajogopal Paul and Satyapal Singh for their timely support.

Executive Summary

Tobacco is considered as the primary cause of preventable death and disease across

the globe and its use is growing fastest in low and middle-income countries. Globally,

tobacco-related illnesses kill 5.4 million people a year. If current patterns persist,

smoking will kill more than 8 million a year by 2030, of which nearly 80 per cent will

occur in low and middle-income countries. In India, one million people die every year

due to tobacco-related diseases.

There are sufficient scientific evidences to support the health effects of tobacco

consumption. But we still lack enough policy-focussed evidences to demonstrate the

fact that tobacco is also closely associated to the issues of socio-economic progress

and development. In India, which is a major producer of tobacco, millions of people

are involved in tobacco production and manufacturing to earn their livelihoods. They

work in extremely harsh conditions, earning meager wages, exposing themselves to

health hazards and having no healthcare facilities or rights as workers. As a result,

they are perennially caught in a cycle of poverty, misery and debt at the hands of the

tobacco industry.

Study Objectives and Locations

At the Crossroads of Life and Livelihood: The Economics, Poverty and Working

Conditions of People Employed in the Tobacco Industry in India, brings forth the three

different facets of the close link between tobacco and poverty through employment in

the tobacco sector–tobacco farming, bidi rolling and tendu leaf plucking. The

objectives were to assess tobacco as a development issue, identify the key concerns

associated with poverty, tobacco and tobacco-related employment in order to develop

an evidence-based advocacy tool to counter industry arguments. This study was

conducted in four states of India–Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and

Jharkhand– amongst the bidi rollers, marginal tobacco farmers and tendu leaf

pluckers.

Key Findings

?The most significant finding of the study is that that all the three groups of

tobacco workers, i.e., bidi workers, tobacco farmers and tendu pluckers are

economically exploited, enjoy no rights or privileges as workers and live in the

most miserable conditions under acute poverty. There is an urgent need to

explode the myths around the safety and viability of tobacco employment and

expose the industry through scientific evidences. This, in the long run would

ii

help in facilitating policy changes to protect the most vulnerable and marginal

group of workers.

?Women and children form the major working force in the tobacco industry. The

use of children as labour in bidi manufacturing, tobacco farming and tendu leaf

plucking is widespread. Though child labour is prohibited in India, children

continue to work as invisible labourers for the tobacco industry, with no

remuneration, lost educational opportunities, no proper nutrition or leisure time

to play, robbing them of normal growth and development.

?Tobacco is a major cash crop grown in about 15 states of India. Many farmers

with no land or having small holdings work for elite farmers as well as wealthy

tobacco companies. But most are unable to make any profit or recover their

investment as it is an expensive crop to grow. The study finds that growing

tobacco involves considerable cost including crop care, fertilizers and

pesticides which pushes them deeper into debt and poverty.

?Another key finding is that income from tendu collection is very seasonal and

over 2 lakh tendu pluckers in India are devoid of any alternate means of

livelihood for the rest of the year. The remuneration earned is very paltry

compared to the hard labour of 14-15 hours a day and the workers face acute

occupational hazards.

?A majority of tobacco workers want to shift from their present occupations

which have kept them in unending poverty, to safer alternative means of

livelihood. At present, most of them work for the tobacco industry as they

have no choice due to lack of skills or other employment opportunities.

Key Recommendations

?The study strongly recommends a national initiative for working towards

generating safer alternative sources of livelihoods for tobacco workers.

?Implementation of poverty eradication programmes of Government of India can

be an immediate alternative solution for these workers. The alternatives must

be designed with a long-term vision so that the benefits should extend to the

next generations as well, who should not be compelled under any

circumstances to go back to their earlier occupation.

?Government must play a major role in linking tobacco workers/family members

to alternative occupations and vocational trainings after assessing their interest

and local market needs. There is a need for coordinated efforts by both the

government and civil society to work for shifting tobacco farmers towards

safer and viable alternative cropping and livelihoods.

?Rehabilitation measures must keep the aspirations of the community in mind,

lifestyles of tobacco farmers, tendu pluckers and bidi rollers as well as their

level of skills and constraints.

?It is important to regulate the bidi industry which is highly unorganized in nature

by registering the companies and giving legitimate rights to the workers.

?The Government of India should take steps to enforce the provisions stipulated

under the Bidi and Cigar Workers (Condition of Employment) Act 1966, Child

Labour Act 1986, Bidi Workers Welfare Fund Act 1976, and the Bidi Welfare

Cess Act 1976 to improve the overall working conditions of the bidi workers

and give them their rightful benefits.

?It is recommended that taxes on all forms of chewing and smoking tobacco

(raw, bidis, gutka, and cigarettes) should be considerably increased as

evidences show that considerable human cost is involved in producing and

manufacturing tobacco and tobacco products. Taxes on bidis should be

increased to narrow the price difference between cigarettes and bidis. A rational

taxation policy on tobacco products will go a long way to reduce tobacco use

and increase revenue. Part of the revenue generated should be utilized through a

systematic mechanism to support the proposed national initiative for safer,

alternative livelihoods for tobacco workers.

?There is a need to educate farmers on the ill effects of tobacco cultivation. The

health effects on particularly women and children from pesticides used, frequent

fertilizer sprays, green tobacco sickness and should be highlighted. The farmers

should also be made aware that employing child labour is a punishable offence.

?Tobacco farmers should be educated on alternative crops which can yield

greater income than tobacco, and involve fewer chemical inputs, less labour,

and less risk of loss in times of crop failure. In addition, farmers can also be

encouraged to take up alternative economic activities like dairy farming, animal

husbandry, horticulture and sericulture.

?The contradictory policies of tobacco promotion on one hand and tobacco

control on the other should be discouraged. The Government should take steps

to discontinue grants for conducting tobacco-related research and subsidization

of tobacco cultivation in a phased manner.

?The practice of tendu leaf plucking is nationalized, therefore pricing and other

management decisions related to collection and trade are decided by the

government.The tendu leaf pluckers have very little say in the governance of the

tendu business which is entirely run by the forest department hierarchy and

local politicians. The tendu pluckers have no formal membership claim to the

cooperative societies meant for their welfare. Efforts should be made to

recognize tendu pluckers as formal employees with related benefits and not as

seasonal, casual labourers.

?As tendu collection is a seasonal occupation, it is very crucial to address the

issue of providing safer, alternate livelihoods to the forest dwellers. Tendu

pluckers can be given skill-training to work in cottage industries like fruit

processing units, vegetable-growing, broom-making, locals crafts, textiles and

handlooms.

This study report will be an advocacy tool to strengthen and continue VHAI's

ongoing tobacco control efforts in highlighting the supply side concerns. Asa

signatory to the WHO-FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control), the

Government of India should implement the provisions under the Article17 (support

for economically viable alternative activities to tobacco workers) and Article 18

(protection of the environment and the health of persons). Since the Government of

India is also the key facilitator for developing guidelines under the FCTC Article 17

and 18, we hope that this report based on our first-hand experiences with tobacco

workers would support these initiatives. As tobacco use and poverty are closely

linked, comprehensive tobacco control programmes would greatly contribute to

poverty reduction and the achievement of the UN Millenium Development Goals.

iv

Contents

Project administered by HealthBridge Canada and funded by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) 2010

Executive Summary i

Preface 1

2

Background 3Prevalence of Poverty in India 4Tobacco and Poverty 5Poverty and MDGs 6Tobacco, Employment and Poverty 7Review of Literature 9Study Rationale and Objectives 16Sources of Information 18

20

Background 21Study Methodology 25Bidi workers in Bihar 26Bidi workers in Jharkhand 36Bidi workers in Uttar Pradesh 43Conclusion 46Key Concerns 47

48

Background 49Study Methodology 51Tobacco Farmers in Uttar Pradesh 53Tobacco Farmers in Bihar 56Conclusion 59Key Concerns 60

62

Background 63Study Methodology 65Observations from Madhya Pradesh 66Observations from Jharkhand 68Conclusion 72Key Concerns 73

74

Bidi Rollers 76Tobacco Farmers 77Tendu Leaf Pluckers 78References 81

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Introduction

Bidi Workers: At the Mercy of the Industry

Tobacco Farmers: Dismal Present & Bleak Future

Tendu Leaf Pluckers: Quandary of the Forest Dwellers

Conclusions and Recommendations

Preface

1

Poverty has several dimensions as the poor not only have bare minimum incomes

but also suffer from poor health, lack of education and are most vulnerable to

natural disasters, inflation and socio-political conflicts. The UN Millenium

Development Goals seek to eradicate poverty, improve health and promote

economic progress among the poorest nations of the world and emerging

evidences prove that tobacco control is one of the essential mediums of

achieving the MDGs. The WHO Commission on Macro-economics and Health in

2001 linked poor health and economic progress and identified tobacco as a

major avoidable cause of illness and premature death and urged that tobacco

control be adopted as a policy measure to improve people's health.

At the individual and household levels, money spent on tobacco deprives the

family, especially women and children of basic necessities such as nutritious

food, shelter, education, and health care. Tobacco users, most often men who

are the sole income-earning male heads of their household, face a higher risk of

falling ill and dying prematurely of various diseases like cancers, heart attacks,

respiratory diseases, or other tobacco-related diseases, depriving their families of

income and at the same time, making the family spend more on health

treatment. Low-income countries face a huge burden of high health-care costs to

treat tobacco-related illnesses, as well as lost productivity due to premature

deaths.

Tobacco is major cash crop grown widely in India, and many farmers with small

holdings work for as well as grow tobacco for wealthy multi-national companies.

Tobacco production provides employment and livelihood to about 6 million

tobacco farmers, 4.4 million bidi rollers and more than 2 lakh tendu leaf pluckers

in India. But small tobacco farmers, rather than growing rich from the crop, find

themselves in debt to money-lenders and are unable to recover their investment.

Globally, 5.3 hectares of land is under tobacco cultivation, which could have fed

about 20 million people. Bidi rollers and tendu pluckers, comprising women and

children are among the most exploited working groups in the country earning

bare minimum wages, unable to access healthcare facilities and having virtually

no voice to ask for their rights.

It is imperative, therefore that more research is conducted to build evidences

that tobacco and poverty are deeply linked. At the Crossroads of Life and

Livelihood: The Economics, Poverty and Working Conditions of People Employed

in the Tobacco Industry in India, a research study by VHAI is yet another step in

this direction. It will be a critical tool to support our policy and media campaigns

and build wider awareness among policymakers and the public that tobacco is

not only a health concern but also closely associated with development.

Alok Mukhopadhyay

Chief Executive

Introduction

CHAPTER I

“Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and

opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It

means lack of basic capacity to participate

effectively in society. It means not having enough

to feed and cloth a family, not having a school or

clinic to go to, not having the land on which to

grow one's food or a job to earn one's living, not

having access to credit. It means insecurity,

powerlessness and exclusion of individuals,

households and communities. It means

susceptibility to violence, and it often implies

living on marginal or fragile environments,

without access to clean water or sanitation”

(UN Statement, June 1998 – signed by the heads of all UN agencies)

In the last few years, national and international commitments to poverty reduction have reached levels that could barely have been imagined a decade ago. Most world leaders have committed their countries to ambitious targets for reducing global poverty, national governments are drafting poverty reduction strategies, and international agencies are working to mobilize global resources and influence policies that aim to support pro-poor

igrowth and alleviate poverty.

While such approaches are intended to help many of the poor, there are two obvious problems with them. First, a focus on economic growth alone will not meet the needs of different types of poor people. Second, these approaches focus on those whom the market can 'liberate' from poverty but neglects the “chronic poor” who need deep-rooted solutions as well as other forms of support. It does not adequately address the need for policy change, and ignores the need for broader systemic changes within

iisociety that take time .

Since the last World Development Report on Poverty was published in 2000, poverty research in the last decade shows that while many poor people experience temporary poverty, some are able to climb out of long-term poverty, while others are stuck in 'poverty traps'. The chronic poor are structurally positioned so that escape is difficult or impossible without significant systemic changes to the contexts in which they live and

iiiwork . It is important to recognize that, viewed from both national and international perspectives, poverty remains rooted in economic and social deficits such as grossly unequal distributions of wealth, unequal power structures, poor governance, lack of

ivgender equality, and other forms of discrimination .

Background

3

It is a matter of grave concern that more than one-fourth of the world's poor live

in India. An estimate by the Planning Commission (1999 – 2000) shows that

more than 260 million people continue to live 'below the poverty line' (BPL), vwhich is about 26% of the country's population . There is a high concentration of

the poor in rural areas and this has a very significant impact on the country and

its economy. Poverty also breeds many socio-economic problems which need to

be addresssed separately. Despite the strong articulation of a multidimensional viview of human poverty , India has been overwhelmingly concerned with income

poverty. In India over 70% of its poor reside in six states: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Orissa (including the new states viiof Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh).

According to the latest report (2009) produced by an expert group headed by

former chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Suresh

Tendulkar, the poor in India have increased by 10% since 2004 and the panel viiiclaims that every third Indian is poor . This Committee was set up to make a

more realistic assessment of poverty after the government faced criticism about

its official estimates, which experts believe, suppressed rural poverty, and the

way in which poverty was measured. The Tendulkar Committee steered away

from the calorie norm set in 1973-74 (the money required to access 2100 calories

in urban areas, and 2400 calories in rural areas). In the past 35 years, the calorie

norm was never revised, and so is less relevant today. While highlighting this

inadequacy, the Committee proposed a broader definition that includes spending

on food as well as education, health, and clothing. It also proposed the abolition

of different criteria for rural and urban India. According to the Tendulkar

Committee Report, 41.8% of people in rural areas live below the poverty line as

against 25.7% of urban residents.

Prevalence of Poverty in India

5

Tobacco and PovertyMost people know of the health hazards associated with tobacco use

but tobacco and poverty are also deeply connected at the individual,

family and societal levels. There are several ways in which tobacco

production and use increases poverty. At the individual and household

levels, money spent on tobacco deprives the family, especially women

and children of basic necessities such as nutritious food, shelter,

education, and health care. Tobacco users, most often men who are

the sole income-earning male heads of their household, face a higher

risk of falling ill and dying prematurely of cancers, heart attacks,

respiratory diseases, or other tobacco-related diseases, depriving

their families of income and at the same time, making the family spend

more on health treatment. For this, the family will borrow from money

lenders and thus get entrapped into a vicious cycle of lifelong debt.

Many tobacco farmers, rather than growing rich from the crop, also

find themselves in an ongoing cycle of debt to tobacco companies as

tobacco is not a cheap crop to grow, needing specific soil quality,

ample fertilizers, pesticides and care. In addition, tobacco cultivation

and curing is also believed to cause serious damage to human health.

At the national level, tobacco production and use negatively affects

economies in a number of ways. Low and middle-income countries face

a huge burden of high health-care costs to treat tobacco-related

illnesses, as well as lost productivity due to tobacco-related illnesses

and premature deaths. Countries that are net importers of tobacco

leaf and tobacco products lose millions of dollars each year in precious

foreign exchange. Tobacco cultivation and curing also degrade the

natural environment, given the high level of pesticides and other

chemicals needed to maintain the crop and deforestation resulting

from the need for wood to cure the harvested leaves.

Cigarette smuggling is also a cause for concern. Illicit tobacco trade

leads to increased consumption when the average price of all

cigarettes falls (through government attempts to reduce smuggling).

This has the highest impact in middle- and low-income countries and on

the poor, who can least afford it. Reduced government tax revenue is

another consequence of smuggling. In short, the tobacco industry's

contributions to national economies (through employment and

government tax revenues) are outweighed by its costs to households,

to public health, to the environment and to national economies.

Poverty and Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs)

The UN Millennium Declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly at the

Millennium Summit in 2000. The MDGs derived from the Millennium Summit

summons Member States to work together to eliminate extreme poverty and

hunger, to improve health, and to promote human development and sustainable

economic progress in the world's poorest nations.

These MDGs are as given below:

1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;

2) Achieve universal primary education;

3) Promote gender equality and empower women;

4) Reduce child mortality;

5) Improve maternal health;

6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;

7) Ensure environmental sustainability; and ix8) Develop a global partnership for development.

While the first is directly related to poverty eradication; the other goals are related

to income poverty. Therefore, reducing overall tobacco use through comprehensive xtobacco control measures has a distinct and useful role in achieving the MDGs.

The tobacco industry often boasts that growing tobacco

generates employment and provides positive economic

benefits to farmers and others. But the actual facts are quite

different. Though a labour-intensive industry, its wages are

one of the lowest in the country at Rs 17, 898 per annum. A

large part of the industry also comes under the unorganized

sector where wages are often fixed arbitrarily and where xiunending flow of unskilled labour keep wages low . Majority

of the profits, therefore, remain with the large manufacturers.

Where farming is concerned, farmers believe that tobacco is a

good cash crop, however they often find themselves caught in

a cycle of poverty and debt. Serious health risks, hard working

conditions, contractual arrangements, the use of children in

tobacco growing, and the environmental practices of tobacco

growing have negative impacts on human capital and land, the

two crucial assets in rural livelihoods. There are also many

occupational hazards faced by those working in the tobacco

fields, health hazards like green tobacco sickness, pesticide

exposure and nicotine poisoning. And, while tobacco farming

is not unique in its use of child labour, the particular hazards

posed by tobacco cultivation places these children at xiiincreased risk of injury and illness.

The production of bidis (small, inexpensive, hand-rolled

cigarettes made from cheap tobacco and rolled in tendu leaf,

commonly smoked in India involves intensive labour: growing

tobacco, plucking/collecting tendu leaves and rolling and

packaging the bidis. While no accurate statistics are available,

the Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI) has estimated

that in India more than 6 million farmers and 20 million farm

labourers are engaged in tobacco farming, spread across 15

states. Bidi rolling provides employment to an estimated 4.4 million people, in

addition to 2.2 million tribal workers involved in tendu leaf collection. Further, xiiinearly 4 million people are engaged in the wholesale/retail sale of tobacco.

Bidis harm not only those who smoke them, but all those connected with bidi

manufacturing face various health and occupational hazards. Bidis are mostly

rolled at home where rollers expose their entire family (including newborns and

children) to harmful tobacco dust and fumes. Most bidi workers suffer from

chronic respiratory problems, skin problems like green tobacco sickness, asthma

TB, eye ailments and chronic backache. Bidi workers are largely illiterate and live

below the poverty line, struggling each day to earn enough to feed their families

Tobacco, Employment and Poverty

Most of the

workers are women

and children,

already vulnerable

and exploited

groups, with no

access to

educational or

other career

opportunities.

Deprived of a

normal childhood, it

is not only their

size which is

typically stunted:

these children

become the core of

a repetitive cycle of

systemic poverty.

7

two meals. They do not have health cards and therefore cannot access treatment at the

specific hospitals. Instead of paving a way out of poverty, it simply allows for

subsistence at the most marginal level. Most of the workers are women and children,

already vulnerable and exploited groups, with no access to educational or other career

opportunities. Deprived of a normal childhood, it is not only their size which is typically xivstunted, these children become the core of a repetitive cycle of systemic poverty.

Collecting tendu leaves from the forest provides seasonal employment primarily for the

tribal communities living near the forests. A large number of communities depend upon

the harvesting of these leaves as a source of income as the demand for bidis is very

high. Yet revenues generated by the industry or profits earned by bidi manufacturers do

not filter back in any appreciable amounts to these tendu pluckers. those who collect

tendu leaves in the forests are poor, have little education, and are tribals. They are

powerless to claim their rights to decent wages or treatment. Most of the collectors are

women and children and the work is done in the extreme summer months of May-June.

If the trees are tall, the pluckers have to climb them to pluck the leaves, putting

themselves in danger of injuries and even death from falling. Like bidi rollers, those who

collect tendu leaves tend to exist in perpetual poverty.

Bidi Workers

Review of Literature

Bidi rollers handle tobacco flakes while inhaling tobacco dust and volatile

components in their work environment. Diseases such as tuberculosis are

more easily transmitted when ventilation is poor and many bidi workers work

inside smoky households with open hearths, exposed to tobacco dust as well

as indoor air pollution. They often complain of loss of appetite, due to xvmonotony as well as the smell of the raw materials.

Previous studies have provided evidence of the various health hazards faced

by bidi workers. For example, the absorption of nicotine induces oxidative

stress among bidi workers; chronic nasal inhalation of tobacco dust and

cutaneous absorption of tobacco alkaloids such as nicotine increases risk of

cancer, lung diseases, and other health-related problems. Other studies have xvirevealed that tobacco dust exposure induces DNA mutation and damage.

Another study explains that bidi rollers handle 225-450 of bidi tobacco per

day, all the while inhaling tobacco dust and volatile components present in the

work environment. Since tobacco is known to be mutagenic and carcinogenic,

urinary cotinine was measured in bidi rollers and control subjects as an index

of tobacco-specific exposure while the concentration of urinary thioethers was

determined to ascertain exposure to electrophillic moieties. Detection of

cotinine in urine samples from bidi rollers with no tobacco habits indicated that

occupational exposure leads to cutaneous absorption of tobacco constituents

and the resultant increase in exposure to alkylating agents was evident from xviielevated urinary thioether levels.

A study to assess respiratory impairments among informal male bidi workers

aimed to evaluate the pulmonary functional status of these workers and detect

any pulmonary function impairments. It was found that constant exposure to

tobacco dust led to cough, breathlessness, and tightness in the chest. These

symptoms were found to exist at a higher level in exposed bidi workers

compared to control subjects. A trend of decreased lung volumes correlated xviiiwith age and duration of work exposure.

An article in Mainstream explains the plight of women bidi workers on the one

hand and some solutions on the other. In the single state of Madhya Pradesh,

it was estimated that there were 6 to 10 lakh bidi workers, 80% of them

women. The environment in their homes and surroundings was one of dirt and

g

9

filth. The constant exposure to tobacco made them fall easy victims to bronchial

and chest diseases. Tuberculosis was common among the workers and their

children. Children's health problems were usually attended to, but the women

neglected themselves. Results from a health survey of women bidi workers

conducted in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh revealed that several occupation-specific

health problems were widespread, like backache and joint pains, giddiness and

headaches, eye problems, like watering burning and poor vision. These problems

were genuine but, by and large, unnoticed and unattended. About 50 to 70% of

the women reported having gynaecological and related problems too. Poor

nutritional status and repeated pregnancies seemed to be major contributory

factors.

Following the Kerala model of cooperation, the women bidi workers of Jabalpur,

organised a cooperative SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association). Apart

from the physical improvement in their home and working environments, their

symptomatic and chronic problems were monitored and treated by mobile clinics

for bidi workers. The cooperative provided the women a status and recognition

as workers both in their families and society. This placed them in a position equal

to the earning members in their families, making them realize the importance of

maintaining their own health in order to continue generating income for the xixfamily.

The paper by M. Gopal highlights issues of occupational health of women

workers within the home-based bidi industry through a case study from a block

of the Tenkasi Taluk of Tirunelveli district. The data presented was from an

unpublished thesis of a survey of 237 home-based women bidi workers. There

were nearly 5.5 lac workers in the bidi industry in Tirunelveli. The women

worked without rest or leisure, had poor food habits, little exercise, and

aggravated health problems in cases of pregnancy. The fear of exploitative

employers was always present, adding to their worries.

The women commonly suffered from physical ailments: 5 main symptoms were

seen among women workers. 1) Aches and pains related to bidi work like

backache, neckache, headache, burning pain in the eyes, pain in the legs and

numbness of the fingers were reported by 65% of respondents; 2) Coughs

reported by 9.7%; 3) Stomach-related pains including cramps, gas, spasmodic

pains leading to diarrhoea were reported by 8.4%; 4) Giddiness and

breathlessness; 5) Other symptoms included piles, burning sensation while

passing urine, white discharge, joint pains and swelling, fevers, palpitation,

wheezing and worry. Bidi work penetrates into all possible and available time in xxwomen's lives at the cost of their own health.

11

Tobacco Farmers

The general belief that tobacco is a profitable crop is the principal reason for

farmers taking to it. Once they begin, the hardship still does not convince farmers

to switch to other crops, both due to lack of awareness and knowledge about

cultivating other crops and the inability to access loans and other services,

including assistance in selling the crop. The entire process of tobacco cultivation is

input intensive, which makes it an expensive crop to grow. The high cost of

cultivating this crop implies that farmers often have to access loans or credit from

external sources. These marginal farmers borrow when the tobacco growing

season begins and repay once the produce has been sold. The share of proceeds

that they are left with barely lasts them till the next tobacco season, which forces

them to borrow again. Thus, they are trapped in a vicious cycle of indebtedness, xxifrom which they find it difficult to extricate themselves.

Though most people are aware of the hazards of smoking, far fewer are informed

about the hazards of tobacco farming, both in terms of health of the farmer and of

the environment. Dermal absorption of nicotine while harvesting the wet green

leaves leads to an illness called Green Tobacco Sickness or GTS. The symptoms of

GTS include nausea, dizziness, vomiting, headaches, weakness, abdominal cramps

and difficulty in breathing, as well as fluctuations in blood pressure and heart rate.

Use of tobacco, whether smoked or taken in other ways, causes a wide range of xxiidiseases as well as early death.

In the document produced by the study group of COP to the WHO FCTC Article 17

and 18 mentions that tobacco growing entails a number of irreversible costs to

farmers, which not only seriously damage their living standards but also erode their

long-term prospects. Health risks, working conditions, contractual arrangements,

the use of children in tobacco growing, and the environmental practices of tobacco

growing have negative impacts on human capital and land, the two crucial assets

in rural livelihoods. The social disruption caused by tobacco growing must be

addressed from a development perspective, taking into consideration poverty,

unfair contracts, child and bonded labour. Child labour and bonded labour should be

discussed from the point of view of human rights, as these practices contravene xxiiithe basic rights established in international law.

In a study conducted in Shimoga and Davanagere districts of Karnataka, one of the

leading tobacco farming States in Southern India illustrates that tobacco growing

can provide the funds for basic existence, it keeps the poor entrenched in a cycle

of poverty, as can be seen in the cases of those whose children are illiterate

labourers like themselves. While the owners benefit from a continuing pool of

desperate people with no better source of livelihood,

tobacco cultivation is obviously not benefiting the economic

development of the country. The intensive, difficult, and

health-harming nature of the work means that people are

happy to make a move from tobacco growing to something xxivmore remunerative.

An empirical research carried out by Work for a Better

Bangladesh, indicates that while tobacco cultivation benefits

some people, for most it is a burdensome job with meager

economic returns. Tobacco cultivation is often seen as a

major benefit to the economy, particularly of poor countries

such as Bangladesh. But national statistics suggest that the

district in which most tobacco is grown is one of the

poorest. Tobacco cultivation is also a major cause of

deforestation in Bangladesh, which should be a further cause

of concern to the government. While most of the registered

farmers are content with their conditions, and feel they are

making a reasonable amount of profit, the bigger problem is

faced by the non-registered growers. BAT determines how

much tobacco they will buy from the registered farmers. If

those farmers need more tobacco, they buy it from non-

registered farmers at a low price. Thus while a few farmers

benefit, the majority are forced to sell their leaf at low

prices. The pattern of exploitation holds the same for local

companies, which the farmers claim take one to two

months, and sometimes even a year, to pay the farmers for xxvtheir tobacco.

The WHO paper on Tobacco and Poverty, explains the plight

of tobacco growers and the problems related to tobacco

farming around the world. It says for decades, the tobacco

industry has encouraged countries and families to grow

tobacco claiming that it will bring them prosperity. For many

households, the reality has been quite different. All over the

world, and especially in developing countries, the expansion

of tobacco farming, encouraged and in some cases financed

by major cigarette companies, has created a situation where

more and more farmers are competing to sell tobacco to companies at

increasingly lower prices. While some large-scale tobacco farmers have

In a study

conducted in

Shimoga and

Davanagere

districts of

Karnataka, one

of the leading

tobacco farming

States in

Southern India

illustrates that

tobacco growing

can provide the

funds for basic

existence, it

keeps the poor

entrenched in a

cycle of poverty,

as can be seen

in the cases of

those whose

children are

illiterate

labourers like

themselves.

13

undoubtedly become wealthy, many are barely making a

living producing a crop that is labour and input intensive,

bringing with it a host of health and environmental dangers

- from pesticide exposure to nicotine poisoning. Moreover,

while tobacco farming is not unique in its use of child

labour, the particular hazards posed by tobacco cultivation

places these children at increased risk of injury and illness.

Tobacco contributes to poverty not only through the

money wasted on its purchase but also through lost

educational opportunities. The use of child labour in the

tobacco fields is common practice in many tobacco-

producing countries. Among poor families who depend on

tobacco, children work on tobacco farms or factories from

a very early age, missing out on vital educational xxviopportunities that could help lift them out of poverty.

Plan Malawi did a study to find out how children

experience work on the tobacco farms and their

understanding of why they are involved in this work.

Malawi is one of the world's biggest tobacco producers

and relies on tobacco as its main export product,

representing 70% of the nation's export income and the

second largest source of total income following foreign

aid. Most of the tobacco in Malawi is cultivated by farmers

on small holdings, by tenants and casual farm workers.

Using the tenant population of 39,000, the number of

children working on tobacco farms in Malawi has been

estimated at 78,000 although the actual number is

thought to be much higher because of problems of

estimation. It was clear from what the children said during

the interviews that the main reason they were working

was poverty. This poverty is related to their vulnerability as

orphans and children of single-woman-headed households. It is also related to a

lack of land and the means to cultivate land effectively. Malawi has the highest

incidence of child labour in southern Africa and most children work in the

informal sector with 88.9% of the children in the age group 5-14 working in xxviithe agricultural sector, where tobacco estates are highly represented.

It was clear from

what the children

said during the

interviews that

the main reason

they were working

was poverty. This

poverty is related

to their

vulnerability as

orphans and

children of single-

woman-headed

households. It is

also related to a

lack of land and

the means to

cultivate land

effectively.

According to N.C. Saxena, in his working paper on Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFCs)

and livelihood diversification in Orissa, in the process of the commercialization of NTFPs,

various modes of exploitation and deprivation arise owing to varied situations - where an

exchange takes place between illiterate, poverty-stricken, ignorant, impoverished and

unorganized gatherers (tendu leaves) forest dwellers (also large number of other

disadvantaged groups of rural poor) in the remote areas of forests on the one hand, and a

group of non-tribal, organised/unorganised vested interests, traders/businessmen on the

other. Apart from this, in the absence of effective, vibrant and procurer-friendly

institutions in the commercial network (despite a host of government-sponsored

organizations), a number of non-tribal intermediaries, namely middlemen, businessmen

and traders, seem to have infiltrated into tribal hinterlands in the guise of traders,

shopkeepers and health professionals to take advantage of poverty, ignorance and

spendthriftness. These intermediaries work towards their objectives with much vigour

and their social and economic contracts are very wide. However, though forest products

in India are traded in a variety of formal and informal ways, the public sector predominates

in the marketing of forest produce. Unlike agricultural marketing, the marketing of forest

products has not developed through the private sector, mainly due to the varieties of xxviiigovernment controls and stringent measures.

An article containing information on tendu leaf pluckers gathered from two districts,

Udaipur and Banswara, in Rajasthan brings forth a few issues. In the state of

Rajasthan, all of those who collect tendu leaves in the forests are poor, have little

education, and are tribals. They are powerless to claim their rights to decent wages or

treatment. In contrast, none of the buyers are tribal people. While some of the buyers

sell their leaves to bidi manufacturers, others are bidi manufacturers themselves. Most

of the collectors are women and children, and the work is done in the extremely hot

season of May-June. If the trees are tall, people must climb them to pluck the leaves,

putting themselves in danger of injuries and even death from falling. Among those

interviewed, problems mentioned include economic exploitation by those purchasing

the leaves. The buyers often do not count the leaf packs correctly and reject the

leaves, but then later take them without paying. Rather than paying cash, they also

often give coupons, asking the leaf collectors to collect the money after 5-7 days.

Many people lose their coupons, and thus are never able to collect their wages. Given

the extremely low prices, the buyers pay for the leaves, this represents yet another xxixform of economic exploitation.

The unpublished paper by P.R. Choudhury is an attempt to discuss the pro-poor

implications of NTFP (Non Timber Forest Product) in India vis-à-vis the discourse,

Tendu Leaf Pluckers

15

An article containing

information on tendu leaf

pluckers gathered from two

districts, Udaipur and

Banswara, in Rajasthan brings

forth a few issues. In the state

of Rajasthan, all of those who

collect tendu leaves in the

forests are poor, have little

education, and are tribals. They

are powerless to claim their

rights to decent wages or

treatment. In contrast, none of

the buyers are tribal people.

policy changes and real field situations. It is built on the premise that

the poorest in India resort to NTFP collection in the absence of

options and income from NTFP has never

been adequate to push up their economic

status beyond the poverty lines. However,

it doesn't context the fact that the poorest

rely on NTFP for meeting diverse

consumption needs and also for risk

aversion. It argues that the condition of the

poorest has not changed much inspite of

their higher dependence on NTFP and that

they continue to get a very low return from

NTFP in spite of the present shifts towards

NTFP focused policies induced by the

discourse. This premise is based on the

author's experience and learning of

working with the poorest, forest -

dependent tribal communities particularly

in the Eastern Indian state of Orissa and is

reinforced with his subsequent works at

grassroots and policy level studies and xxxaction research in other states of India.

Study Rationale The above literatures and the studies from different parts of the world

have shown how tobacco farming, production, and consumption increase

poverty. Therefore, it is imperative that more research into tobacco and

poverty is needed. We have sufficient scientific evidences to support the

health effects of tobacco in India but still lack enough evidences to

demonstrate the fact that tobacco is not only a health concern but also

closely associated with the issues of development, especially in a

developing country like India. Millions of people in India are involved in

tobacco manufacturing, their unorganized livelihoods pushing themselves

further into poverty and debt at the hands of the tobacco industry. More

research is required to document the working conditions and other

livelihood issues of the tobacco workers and sensitize the public on these

issues. There is also an urgent need to explode the myths around the

safety and viability of tobacco employments and expose the industry with

evidence-based arguments. This, in the long run would help in bringing in

policy changes to protect the most vulnerable and marginal group of

workers.

Study Objectives

The study chiefly seeks :

1. To investigate tobacco as a development issue.

2. To identify issues associated with bidi production, tobacco farming,

and tendu leaf collection across different regions of the country,

including socio-economic conditions, health, working/living

conditions, wages, and statutory welfare benefits.

3. To identify issues concerning poverty among those employed in the

tobacco industry.

4. To identify the level of satisfaction of tobacco workers regarding

working conditions and pay.

5. To develop an evidence-based advocacy tool to counter the

arguments of the tobacco industry about the benefits of tobacco-

related employment and to advocate for measures for alternative

livelihoods of tobacco workers.

Study Locations

Jharkhand - Bidi rollers and tendu leaf pluckers

Bihar - Tobacco farmers and bidi rollers

Madhya Pradesh - Tendu leaf pluckers

Ranchi

Bokaro

FaizabadBasti

Gonda

Uttar Pradesh -Tobacco farmers

Balaghat

Nalanda

Vaishali

17

The process of bidi manufacturing is labour intensive and involves three types of human

resources i.e., the tobacco growers, tendu leaf collectors and bidi rollers. To get a

holistic perspective, the study has tried to focus on all the three categories of tobacco

workers from selected locations in seven districts of four Indian states:

The criteria for selecting these locations were:

1) the high number of bidi workers, tobacco farmers, and tendu leaf pluckers living in

these areas;

2) little primary research work undertaken in these locations. VHAI, along with its state

partners, has already completed the primary research on bidi workers in West Bengal

(Murshidabad district), Gujarat (Anand district) and Tripura (West Tripura district). The

present research was enriched with information from these earlier studies.

Sources of Information

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Fieldwork: In order to strengthen the quality of information collected, a combination of

field methods was used to elicit the best possible information. This included qualitative

techniques, consisting of nearly 35 focus group discussions (FGDs), 20 in-depth

interviews, 40 case studies and several participant and non-participant observations

during fieldwork. Preliminary visits to all four field areas by a member from the VHAI

research team was conducted to assess the field situation and establish an initial

rapport with the local people. Local field investigators worked alongside the lead

researcher in all study locations and helped to collect the necessary information

pertinent to the state, district, and block levels. Interview schedules were developed

which were administered amongst different target groups. More details on the data

collected is presented in the following sections.

The primary information collected through the study was supplemented with a

literature review of secondary sources, including:

xxxi?ILO Study on Bidi Workers

?HealthBridge Reportsxiv

?Caught in a Death Trap - VHAI Study on Bidi Workersxxxii

?WHO and Government documents

?State-specific information collected through VHAI's state partners

?Technical reports and monographs

?Relevant articles, books, news clippings and existing studies

19

The following three chapters focus on bidi workers, tobacco farmers and tendu

pluckers respectively and the methodology followed in each chapters vary keeping in

view the context, location, time available and nature of the study. Therefore each

chapter carries a section on the methodology followed.

CHAPTER II

Bidi Workers:

At the Mercy of the Industry

Bidis are popularly known as the poor man's cigarette. In

India they are mostly hand-rolled with non-filtered

tobacco, wrapped in tendu leaves, and tied with a cotton

thread. Predominantly popular amongst the lower

economic groups and rural populations, approximately,

800 million bidis are sold in India each year, outselling

cigarettes by a ratio of 8 to 1. About 19% of tobacco

consumption in India is in the form of cigarettes, while

53% is smoked as bidis; the rest is used mainly in

smokeless form. There are over 100 million bidi smokers

in India and the estimated annual deaths due to bidi

smoking are about 600,000 (six lakh).

Bidi manufaturing has three major components and involves

intensive human labour by the bidi tobacco farmer, the tendu leaf plucker, and the

bidi roller. The steps include procurement of raw material, bidi rolling, sorting and

roasting, and finally labeling and packing. Bidi rolling is a tedious, time-consuming

and largely home-based process. As with many monotonous and physically

uncomfortable tasks, the majority of bidi rollers are women and children,

representing up to 95% of the workforce in some regions. Sitting for countless

hours in one position in a cloud of tobacco dust, women complain of nausea,

weakness, and headache and are often subject to violent vomiting.

Mothers, often with new-borns cradled in their laps, roll approximately 1000 bidis

per day. Infants are thus subject to nicotine absorption from their earliest days.

Lacking education and with no options for alternative employment, there is little

other choice available to these workers, and thus the “profession” passes from one

generation to the next.

Most families working in the bidi industry live below the poverty line and have

no choice but to involve their children in this work. Children pitch in by helping

their mothers, fathers, or relatives with rolling. The bidi industry in India further

violates all legislative provisions meant for children in this country, by

employing a large number of under-age children working full time in the

Child labour in the Bidi Industry

Background

21

production of bidis with no guaranteed or set wages. These children are paid the

least of all bidi workers regardless of the amount of work completed. According to

Government estimates, 30% of all bidi workers are children below the age of 14.

Many of them, particularly girls, are forced to discontinue education after the

primary level in order to work and thus have no access to educational or other

career opportunities while being deprived of a normal childhood.

The official, mandatory guidelines on labour laid out under Convention on the Rights

of the Child (1989) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women (1993) are disregarded as most bidi roller workers

operate on an unofficial basis outside of the formal labour market. Under the Indian

law, children under 14 years of age are barred from working; however, as most bidi

rolling work takes place at home, legislation is not applied and without adequate

checks, many loopholes are left open in the child protection law. Most of the bidi

rollers have no valid workers' ID cards and no legal access to workers' rights. As a

result, despite the serious health risks of working in the bidi industry, many of them

cannot avail of primary health care services that should, by law, be easily accessible

to them. Indeed, even if aware of health facilities available to them, most can

neither afford the time to see a doctor nor would their meagre salary enable them to xxxiii pay for the medicines needed.

The Indian government has developed a series of legislative acts and policies

aimed at monitoring working conditions of and providing social security benefits

to bidi labourers. Major legislation/policies meant to protect and improve the

livelihoods of the bidi workers are:

? Meant for providing health, medical,

and cash benefits for sickness, maternity, employment-related injury for

employees making less than Rs. 3,000 (approx. US$ 60) per month.

Dependents of employees may also receive pensions in the case of death

or employment injury.

? The act

regulates factory-based workers. Requires the establishment of industrial

standards – e.g. no overcrowding, proper ventilation, and appointment of

working condition inspectors. It regulates working hours, rest, leave, and

prohibits child labor.

?

This act provides for the levy and collection, by way of tax, a

duty of excise on manufactured bidis and the workers receive benefits

from a government fund. The current cess is Rs.4 per 1000 bidis and this

applies to registered companies manufacturing more than 2 million bidis

per year. As with other welfare benefits, to receive funds workers must

have an ID card.

? Meant to provide basic benefits

such as health care, education, insurance, housing assistance,

scholarships, and drinking water supplies.

The reality is that these policies and legislations have done very little to improve

the working conditions and livelihoods of bidi workers. In spite of having so

many welfare provisions, bidi workers are among the most marginalized sections

of the society. The lack of organized production in the bidi industry creates

difficulty in regulating the working conditions of workers and in implementing

welfare laws; the unorganized nature of the industry also helps the bidi

manufacturers to evade these provisions. Manufacturers have significantly

shifted from factory-based to home-based production, in part to deter bidi

worker coalitions and unions and to avoid being subjected to the appropriate

implementation of working conditions and welfare laws. In 2003, the factory xxxivsector employed just 10% of workers in the bidi industry.

Employees State Insurance, 1948:

Bidi and Cigar Workers (Condition of Employment) Act, 1966:

The Bidi Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1976 Act No. 56 of 1976 (7th April,

1976):

Bidi Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1976:

23

Welfare Measures for Bidi Workers in India

Exploitative practices in Bidi Industry

Employers or middlemen (also referred as munshis/ agents/ sattedars/

contractors) are known to exploit home-based workers by supplying sub-

standard and under-weighed raw materials to the rollers. However, while

collecting the rolled bidis, these middlemen do not make any allowances for

the shortfall in terms of rolled bidis which might have resulted from poor

quality or insufficient raw materials supplied. The bidi workers are not able

to bargain with the middlemen out of fear that they may not be given future

jobs if they do so. Instead, they try to make up for the shortfall by buying

additional raw materials either from the employer (or the middlemen) or the

market and rolling fresh bidis. They also borrow money at high rates of

interest and become indebted in the process from the middlemen

themselves. Failure to fulfill the quota frequently, either due to shortfalls of

raw materials or due to the pressure of domestic work, may sometimes lead

to grave consequences if workers have recourse to recurrent borrowing with

high rates of interest. Risks of perpetual indebtedness may result in the

process, when fresh borrowing is necessary to repay old debt, resulting in xxxvongoing distress.

Another closely related method of exploitation is through rejection of bidis

on the grounds of poor quality. While poor quality may result from the

inferior quality of the raw materials supplied, middlemen reject bidis if they

are not up to the standard. No wage is paid for the rejected bidis. In a

survey conducted by the Labour Bureau, 50% of home workers recruited

through contractors reported such rejections. Interestingly however, the

middlemen or employers do not destroy the rejected bidis but either sell

them in the market at lower rates or return them back to the rollers in raw

form. Such exploitation sometimes leads to shortfalls to the extent of 300

to 400 bidis per 1,000 contracted.

Apart from the deductions due to rejections, middlemen are also reported to

be taking commissions from workers. Women workers are the worst victims

of such ruthless exploitation because they constitute the bulk of the home-

based bidi rollers. Exploitation is more intense in a system based on informal

production relations where intermediation occurs through contractors or any xxxvitype of middlemen.

The study was conducted in selected pockets in three states where there are large concentrations of bidi workers. Quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used; in most sites the research team collected information mostly through qualitative methods such as focus group discussions, case studies and structured interviews.

In the following three sections, the major findings from each of the states have been presented with an introduction to the states and the districts where the studies were conducted. The key issues summarized at the end, highlight the significant findings that are common to all the states.

The Study Methodology

S.No. State District Methods used

1. Bihar Nalanda - Focus Group Discussions- Case Studies- Interviews with key informants

like middlemen/ agents of bidifactories

- Observations- Preliminary survey

2. Jharkhand Bokaro - Household survey of 100 bidiworkers

- Focus Group Discussions- Case Studies- Interviews with key informants

like middlemen/ agents of bidi factories

- Observations

3. Uttar Pradesh Faizabad - Focus Group Discussions- Case studies- Interviews with key informants

like middlemen/ agents of bidi factories

- Observations

25

Bihar is located in eastern India. It is an entirely land-locked state, although the outlet to

the sea through the port of Kolkata is not far away. Bihar lies mid-way between humid

West Bengal in the east and sub-humid Uttar Pradesh in the west. It is bounded by

Nepal in the north and Jharkhand in the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two

unequal halves by the river Ganga, which flows through the middle from west to east.

Bihar, the third most populous state in India, has a population density of 880 persons

per sq. km., and recorded the highest growth in population during the 1990s. More than

40% of its population remains below the poverty line. The State's major health and

demographic indicators such as infant mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, total

fertility rate, etc., are much higher than those at the national level and reflect a poor

health and development status. Amongst the major states, the human development

index in Bihar has been the lowest for the past three decades.

Bihar is known for its “backwardness”, measured in terms of the proportion of people

living below the poverty line and other development indicators. The socially and

economically marginalized people of Bihar are even more susceptible to poverty,

disease, malnutrition, and ill health. They are not only in economic distress but have

become accustomed to habits likely to cause further deterioration of their condition,

such as smoking, drinking, chewing tobacco/tobacco products, and gambling. Many are

forced to live in a polluted environment. Among the most vulnerable are bidi workers,

living in severe destitution and exploitation.

Bihar is home to more than 300,000 bidi rollers. It is also a tobacco-growing state. Field

work during this research demonstrated that in both bidi rolling and tobacco farming,

the entire family is involved, including small children and women.

Bihar - Tobacco farmers and bidi rollers

Nalanda

Vaishali

Bidi Workers in Bihar

The district of Nalanda is located in the South Bihar region. Nalanda has had a rich

historical prominence of once being the centre of the great Magadh Empire and also

for maintaining a link with India's ancient

culture and heritage extending over 2500

years. Nalanda emerged as a separate

district when the erstwhile district of Patna

was divided in 1972. The geographical

size of Nalanda district is 2370.7 sq kms

and can be divided into two natural parts,

comprising (i) an elevated region in the

south-east containing the Rajgir hills, and

(ii) alluvial fertile plains in the remaining

portion. The Rajgir hills are the only natural

eminence in an otherwise entirely alluvial

and flat region.

According to the census 2001, the total

population of the district was 2,368,000

(23.68 lakh). The rural population

comprises 85% of the total. The

population density of the district is 1006

per km. Children in the age category of 6

to 14 years comprise 37.24% of the total

population.

Despite several ambitious projects

proposed for industrial development, the

district continues to remain a primarily

agrarian area. Though the district receives

a good amount of seasonal rainwater and

the region is endowed with fertile land,

farming operations are affected by a lack

of assured water for irrigation.

The district of Nalanda is known for its bidi

rolling activities, which involves thousands of women and children. In the absence of

alternative gainful opportunities, bidi rolling activities have been flourishing as a

source of employment in the rural hinterlands. There are four prominent bidi

companies operating in the district. These companies connive with the law

enforcement and administrative machinery to violate the statutory laws that have

been framed to safeguard the interests of the workers and children. The focus of the

bidi rolling enterprise is on home-based operations and this has forced those families

involved in it to engage all members, including children, to earn a nominal income for

bare minimum survival.

Nalanda District:

27

Haidarganj Karah Village – A Case Profile

The situation of bidi rollers in Bihar can be exemplified by the case of Haiderganj Karah

under Silai Gram Panchayat in the Silai block of Nalanda district, a Muslim-dominated

village in which the majority of villagers (especially the Muslim population) earn their

livelihood by rolling bidis. It is a large village, comprising of more than 2220 families,

92.52% of which are Muslims. The non-Muslim people living in the village are either

belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC) or Scheduled Castes (SC).

Occupational Distribution: Information collected by the researchers from various sources

in the village and from the block level records demonstrated that about 81% of the

village families are occupied in bidi rolling as their primary occupation. Embroidery is the

second prominent occupation of the villagers, at 12%. Other village occupations

included wage earning in non-farming

activities (about 5%) and in petty vending/

business (about 2%).

Respondents in this vi l lage were

interviewed to collect detailed information

about their background of socio-economic,

demographic, and working conditions.

Although male villagers directed bidi

manufacturing, it was mostly women and

children who were involved in the hands-on

process and played a crucial role in bidi

mak ing . The re fo re , on l y women

respondents were selected for detailed

investigation. The key findings are as

follows:

?All age categories of women are

engaged in bidi rolling. However, most of

the workers are young, with 35% in the

19 to 25 years age group and 30% in the

26 to 45 years age group. Women above

65 years also work as bidi rollers.

?Almost all children in each of the

households are involved in rolling bidis,

starting from the age of 6.

?The overall literacy levels in the region

are low due to several social and

economic factors, such as low family

income status, learning opportunities,

and early marriage, all of which impeded

the ability of bidi workers to attend school. Amongst the study respondents, it was

even lower than the average levels, e.g. only 10% of the respondents were found to

be literate while the remaining 90% were illiterate.

?85% of the respondents live in kuchcha (mud or thatched house) and semi-pucca

(partially made of bricks and straw) one-room houses. Houses are densely located

with hardly any open spaces,

leading to uncomfortable and

filthy living conditions

aggravated by the lack of any

drainage system. 60% of the

respondents live in rented

houses and the rest own

their one-room kuchcha

houses. None of the families

own any productive assets

such as landholdings for

farming, livestock, capital for

investment, etc.

?Bidi making is the primary

major occupation of the

respondents' fami l ies.

Female working members of

these families are exclusively

involved in bidi making.

However, a few young male

members have taken up

other secondary occupations

such as daily wage labour,

umbrella repairing, and petty

vending of cosmetics and

other items.

?Bidi rolling is exclusively a

home-based activity in this

area and bidi manufacturing

units operate in a completely

unorganized manner. The earnings of a bidi roller depend on the number of bidis he or

she is able to roll in a day. As per the prevailing remuneration rates in this region, men

earn Rs. 50.00 (US$1) per 1,000 bidis while women are paid Rs. 45.00 for the same

quantity. The reason commonly given for this discrimination is that men are more

skilful and their finishing work is superior compared to their female counterparts.

Ironically, of course, few men are actually involved in bidi rolling, thus allowing the

tobacco companies to pay the lowest wages most of the time.

?The research team found that only 25% of the families interviewed could earn more

than Rs. 50 (US$1) per day by rolling bidis, even after involving all the family

members including children. Therefore, these families collectively earn Rs. 50 per

29

day, Rs. 1,500 (US $30) per month, or Rs. 18,000.00 (US $360) per annum. This

amounts to an average daily income per family member (given an average family size of

5 people) of Rs. 10 (less than twenty-five US cents) and a monthly income of only Rs.

300 (US $6). The majority of the families earned much less than this amount, even after

spending more than 8 hours a day rolling bidis.

?Although bidi rolling is carried out throughout the year in this village, being a highly

unorganized sector, its control is completely in the hands of the owners of bidi factories.

There were times, according to the respondents, when factory owners suddenly and

without notice stopped outsourcing supply of raw materials to the workers at their

homes, thus cutting off their income-earning opportunity. In such critical times, the

respondents recalled that the women of some families were forced to go out of their

houses wearing burkhas (a full covering to maintain purdah) and had to trade their

dignity to earn a livelihood through prostitution to sustain their families. The

Government exerts virtually no control over the owners of the bidi factories in this area,

leaving them to act as they please.

?Wages are paid on a weekly basis by the agents (middlemen), who normally are punctual

in making payments to the workers. Nevertheless, they harass the bidi rollers in more

ways than one - by supplying a smaller quantity of tendu leaves and tobacco than what

was required to roll 1,000 bidis, and rejecting some of the bidis rolled by the workers at

the time of delivery. In these ways agents earned extra incomes for themselves by

selling the rejected bidis.

?The self-reported and observed health status of the bidi workers is quite poor. Most of

the respondents complain of ailments such as backache, headache, pain in their leg

joints, or general body aches. There are also reported incidences of tuberculosis, liver

problems, respiratory and and skin diseases. People roll bidis inside their small, poorly-

ventilated, crowded houses throughout the year and for many hours a day. The strong

tobacco fumes and dust remained in the houses as a result, affecting family members. In

addition, foodstuff and water stored in the rooms also became contaminated in this

toxic environment. However, the bidi rollers remain unaware of the harmful effects of

their occupation, and in any case are powerless to do anything about it.

?Approximately 75% of the respondents reported being in debt. Most of these loans were

taken for daily/regular sustenance and procured either from private sources or from their

employers/ middlemen. None of the respondents or their family members received any

benefits through government-run welfare and development programmes.

?The most unfortunate part of bidi rolling has been that the bidi rollers are bound to

continue their hazardous occupation, unable to access medical treatment for the many

ills caused by this work. Means of treatment available in the bidi workers' hospital at

Biharsharif is not being availed of the bidi workers of this village mainly for two reasons:

few, if any of the bidi workers in this village are registered workers and so do not have

the health card issued by the labour department which is necessary to access treatment.

Those who are registered have no time to go for treatment to such a distant place.

The 30-bed hospital set up especially for the bidi workers is supposed to provide

health services to the bidi workers of the entire Bihar and Jharkhand region. The

hospital building was inaugurated in 2004, but due to non-availability of staff, it

started functioning only in 2008. Despite having 3 doctors and 8 nurses working in

the hospital, the bidi workers have not been able to avail the health care services

because of the isolated location of the hospital. Since their wages are already paltry,

the bidi rollers cannot afford to waste time commuting to this distant hospital. For

them, earning wages is more important than attending to their health problems.

Therefore, in this well-equipped and well-appointed hospital, the rooms and beds are

lying absolutely vacant.

31

Hospital for Bidi Workers in Bihar

Some of the pertinent issues addressed through the FGDs included dynamics of bidi

rolling, working and living status of the bidi rollers, health hazards, awareness about

worker rights and entitlements, awareness about adverse affects of bidi rolling on

health, etc. The FGD participants could not recall the origin of bidi rolling activities in

the village, although they did note that bidi rolling has been going on in the village

for generations. Finding no alternative occupation, the villagers (mostly migrants)

entered into bidi rolling, creating scope for exploitation by the bidi companies.

?As per the reporting of all the respondents, bidi rollers do not find time for rest.

Since this work takes place at home, there is no prescribed time schedule for this

work. Male and female adult members normally roll bidis during day and night.

?Bidi workers are unaware about the adverse health affects of their occupation.

They stated that they were accustomed to working with the tobacco dust and

smell in such a way that they failed to distinguish this with other normal

environments. They believe that their ailments were not connected to their

livelihood.

?None of the FGD participants or their family members are members of any

organized Self Help Group (SHG), which facilitate access to loans and small

business guidance. This implies that these families are debarred from availing

bank financing. None of the respondents operate accounts either in the bank or

post office.

?All those surveyed reported that they were fed-up with their existing livelihood

and expressed their willingness to change their occupation if provided with

alternatives. The respondents were in such a helpless condition, however, that

they could not think of anything other than bidi rolling.

?None of the families have received any benefits through government-run welfare

and development programmes since they do not have any identity cards or

official registration as bidi workers. Both central and state-level Ministries of

Labour have made special provisions for the welfare and rehabilitation of bidi

workers, but the bidi workers of Haidarganj Karah village are unaware of their

entitlements and so have done nothing to make change. They are also not aware

of the State Government's provisions for the welfare of the poor.

?An unfortunate cycle of poverty emerges here. Children begin bidi rolling at age

6, and thus cannot attend school. Multi-generational poverty means that bidi

rolling is the only work that many people know. The purdah prevents women

from seeking more remunerative work outside the home. The ill health and poor

wages that result from bidi work contribute to making it difficult for workers to

find the time, energy, and confidence to seek better-paid work. Lack of loans and

other support complete the picture: bidi workers, as described in VHAI's earlier

report, are indeed caught in a “death trap”.

Other findings emerging from

FGDs with women bidi rollers

Rukshana Pa veen, daughter of Mohammed Irfan of

Haiderganj Karah village, is an 11-year-old girl and

studies in Class 3 in the village madarsa (religious

school). Her appearance indicates that she is

undernourished. At the time of the interview, she was

busy rolling bidis with her peers in a neighbouring

house. Her voice was too feeble to be heard properly

and when asked the reason for her faint tone of

speech, she said that she has been suffering from

high fever for the last couple of days: “My mother

could afford only two biscuits since morning. Despite

starvation, I have to fulfill my quota of rolling 500

bidis. I cannot say no to this job because that would

curtail my family earning”. In response to further

enquiry, she said that including her 6 brothers and sisters, there are 9 members in

her family. The family has no source of income other than bidi rolling. All the family

members, except the youngest brother, together roll 1,800 bidis per day, thereby

earning Rs. 85, i.e. approximately Rs. 9 per person per day. She further described

that her family quite frequently fails to manage two proper meals a day for all of

them. The children of the family never get free time for playing or for any

recreation. All her brothers and sisters as well as her mother often suffer from

various illnesses. She feels that her studies are going to be discontinued like those

of her elder sisters due to bidi rolling, but she has no choice.

Shakeela Khatun, widow of Lt. Md. Mobinuddin of

village Haiderganj Karah is about 55 years old.

Shakeela cried while narrating her golden days in the

past when she happily lived with her husband, two

sons, and one daughter. “My husband was a bidi

roller. He was in this job since his childhood. At the

age of 32, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and at

the age of 36 he left us once for all. After the demise

of my husband 15 years back, the entire family

responsibility was on me and since then I have been

struggling for survival. My daughter is married but

leading a miserable life. My elder son, who was

helping me with rolling bidis, also died two years back

at the age of 25 due to tuberculosis. He (elder son)

left his widow Sama Praveen (22 years) and two daughters (one 5 years and other

r

33

Case Studies

2 years of age) with me. My second son left me alone after getting married to live with

his family. I had to bear all these shocks and now I am completely shattered. I prefer to

die rather than continue to live in this misery.” Presently Shakeela and Sama are living in

the same house but they are not on cordial terms. Bidi making is the only source of

income for them. Interestingly, both the widows are registered bidi rollers and have

obtained health cards, but to them cards are useless; their great need is food and not

heath services.

Shyama Parveen, daughter of Md. Muslim is a 20-year-old

from the village Haidargaj Karah. She is one among her 11-

member family which is actively involved in bidi rolling.

She is an exception in her family as well as in her

community. Parveen is one amongst the first batch of

students in the child labour school run by the state

government near the village, who fared well in the final

year examination and got admitted in Nalanda Women's

College at Biharsharif. Though Parveen quite dislikes this

occupation, she had to roll at least 1,000 bidi per day

along with her other family members. Parveen's father,

who has been rolling bidis for the last 30 years, is now

physically challenged. Despite his poor health condition, he

still helps his family members by rolling bidis. Praveen is

fully aware of the evil consequences of bidi making. She shared frankly that bidi rolling

is a hard job, it is less remunerative, it is the main cause of poverty, it brings several

dreadful diseases, and any other occupation is better than this. She expressed her

strong desire to get out from this occupation, provided she gets a better option after

completing her education.

Hasina is a widow of 60 years of age. Her husband Late

Samsuddin Mia, who died 10 years ago at the age of 55,

was a bidi roller. He died of asthma after prolonged

suffering. Hasina confirms that her husband's condition

was the outcome of bidi rolling and a lot of money was

spent on his treatment resulting in family debt. She had to

sell all her belongings including the jewellery she had from

her marriage and the house they lived in. She feels that

the money spent on treating her husband possibly

exceeded his life-long earnings. Hasina is still engaged in

bidi rolling and lives alone in a small rented room. All her 7

sons have left her and moved away from the village. Her

poor health makes it difficult to carry on. She has almost

lost her eyesight and has low blood pressure. Often she has

to stop working for few days due to ill health. These non-earning days make it really

35

difficult for her to even survive. Despite all this, Hasina expressed her strong desire

to get out of bidi rolling if she is provided with an alternative source of income.

Gulabu is an 8-year-old girl studying in the village

madarsa. Her father is a bidi worker. There are 8

members in Gulabu's family - she has 6 brothers and

sisters and despite being the youngest, she has to work

for 4 hours to assist her family in bidi rolling, mainly in

cutting tendu leaves and tying the bidis with cotton

threads. Through she was very shy in interacting with

the research team, some of her responses were quite

pertinent. In response to how she feels about bidi work,

Gulabu said “we are poor, my father is not a service

holder, my mother is a bidi worker and now is suffering

from severe joint pains in her legs. She has to take

regular medicines that require money and this is the

only source of income we have. Since my parents alone

cannot complete the quota of rolling 1500 bidis per day, I am forced to do this job”.

At the same time she said that she wants freedom from this job. She wants to

continue her studies and take up some job outside her village and help her family to

come out of the state of poverty.

thJharkhand is a state in eastern India. It is the 28 state of India and was

carved out of the southern part of Bihar state in November 2000 with

Ranchi as its capital. It was created as a 'tribal state' with tribals making

up 28 percent of the state's population of about 27 million. Jharkhand

shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east.

Jharkhand means the “Land of forests” and true to its name, the state is endowed with

vast forests and a rich assemblage of floral and faunal biodiversity. It is also rich in

mineral and forest resources. However, this immense potential is yet to be utilized and

Jharkhand is thus counted among the most backward states in the country. In a 2004

survey, the state was ranked 19th out of 20 states (only just ahead of Bihar) based on

human development indexes. The total area of the state is about 79,700 km² with a

population of over 26,909,428. The main languages spoken in Jharkhand are Santhali,

Mundari, Kurukh, Khortha, Nagpuria, Sadri, Khariya, Panchparagnia, Ho, Malto, Karmali,

Hindi, Urdu, and Bangla.

In Jharkhand, bidi manufacturing takes place mostly in the districts located along the

border of West Bengal, i.e., East Singhbhum, Bokaro, Dumka, Pakur and some parts in

Ranchi district. There are some

pockets of bidi workers in

Hazaribagh, Deoghar and

Chatra, located along the

bo rde r o f B i ha r . S i nce

Jharkhand is a newly formed

state, a detailed survey has not

been done among the bidi

workers. It is, therefore,

difficult to calculate the exact

number in the state. There

were 391, 5000 bidi workers

in Bihar according to the 2001

survey, which may have

included the bidi workers of

Jharkhand too.

Bidi workers in Jharkhand

Jharkhand - Bidi rollers and tendu leaf pluckers

Ranchi

Bokaro

In Jharkhand, bidi factories operate in an unorganized manner like other states and

out-source bidi rolling work through contractors/middlemen, who distribute the raw

materials, which include tendu leaves, tobacco flakes and cotton thread to the

workers at their doorstep. The agents collect the finished product and make the

payments to the workers on a weekly basis. The workers are paid Rs.23/- for every

1000 bidis and the wages earned by the bidi workers in Jharkhand is probably the

lowest across all the state of India. The minimum wage stipulated by the Jharkhand

Government is much higher and the bidi workers are unaware of any benefits or s

welfare measures meant for them.

It was interesting to know that very few bidi workers know about the company or

employer for whom they work. No bidi factories exist near these villages. The agents

get raw materials on a weekly basis from a factory called “Toofan Bidi” located at

Hazari, about 40 km. from the village and deliver it to the families. The rollers also

give their finished products to the agents on a weekly basis.

The Government of India has provided social security cover to most of the workers in

the organized sector through the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) and

Employees State Insurance Corporation within the legal framework. However, by and

large, no such social security cover has been provided to the workers in the

unorganized sector who constitute 98% of the total work force. The concept of

Labour Welfare Fund was, therefore, evolved in order to extend a measure of social

assistance to workers in the unorganized sector, for which the workers have to be

registered with the bidi factories. But in our field research, it is apparent that these

welfare measures were not being implemented at all since none of the workers were

registered nor were they aware of such benefits.

Major findings: Given below are the background details of the 100 bidi workers

interviewed:

Age: Nearly 60% of the respondents

belong to the age group 26-45,

followed by 32% in the age group, 46-

65 years. The age group of 18-25

years and above 65 consists of 7% and

1% respectively.

Sex: Out of total respondents, 94%

were female and the rest 6% were

male. Like other locations, the male

members in the community were

mostly engaged in other livelihood

General Observations

37

activities as stitching, tailoring,

working in shops etc. Females were

mainly engaged in bidi rolling as this

was convenient for them to work

while being at home.

Religion: All the respondents in the

study area, engaged in bidi rolling

were Hindus from the Patwa

community, categorized under OBCs

(other backward classes)..

Nature and size of residence:

Although most of the respondents

had their own houses, these were in

a bad shape . 81% of the

respondents had kuccha (mud and

thatched houses) houses, while

10% had semi-kuccha house and

just 9% had pucca (permanent with

concrete roof) houses. The bidi

workers are much marginalized and

they mostly lived on the peripheries

in these villages. Majority (81%) of

the bidi workers had single room

occupancy which they used for

living, cooking and bidi rolling

purposes.

Age of initiation into bidi rolling: Bidi

rolling is considered as a traditional

occupation in these locations and

each of the respondents was

initiated into this work at an early

age. Many of them did not even

recall exactly when their family had

started doing this work. Since bidi

rolling required no formal training,

children acquired the skill just by

watching the senior members in the

fam i l y . About 25% of the

respondents got initiated into this

work before the age of 10. Majority

of respondents i.e., 69% started

rolling bidis somewhere between the

39

age of 10-29 years. Only 6% began

this work between 30-49 years.

Literacy level: About 58% of the

respondents were illiterate. 42% were

literate and had some level of

education. Out of these, only 2% had th attended secondary (upto 10 standard)

school, 14% had completed their thmiddle (upto 8 standard) level of

schooling and 26% had completed thprimary (upto 5 standard) level of

schooling. None of them had reached

beyond school level. There was a high

incidence of school drop-outs and non-

attendance beyond the primary level.

Hours of bidi rolling: Bidi workers were

m o s t l y w o m e n w h o c o u l d

simultaneously roll bidis along with

househo ld work. 94% of the

respondents spent 5-10 hours in bidi

making while only 6% rolled bidis for 4

hours due to health and other

constraints. Since all their family

members pool in their toil in the

process of bidi making, it is difficult to

exactly calculate the number of hours

by an individual member.

Bidi rolled per day: 97% of the

respondents made 500-1000 bidis in

one day while just 3% rolled out more

than 1000 bidis.

Monthly earnings from bidi rolling work:

As mentioned earlier, wages for the bidi

worker is Rs. 23/- per 1000 bidis. Since

bidi workers are mostly women who

work at home and contribute to

household work while making bidis,

most of them are unable to roll more

than 800 bidis in a day, barely earning

Rs.500/ in a month. About 79% have

monthly earnings of less than Rs. 500

and 21% manage to earn somewhere between Rs 500 to 1000 per month while no one

earns more than Rs 1000 per month.

Health problems: More than 50% of the workers had suffered from some kind of illness

in the recent past. Among them, 30% had suffered for more than one year, 15% for

more than 6 months, 5% continued to be affected by the illness for less than a month

and 3% continued to suffer from the ailment from 1 to 6 months. Among the diseases

affecting bidi workers, lower backache was the most common with 41%, followed by

headache at 39%. Neck pain, stomach ache, nausea and cough were next with 12%,

11%, 8% and 7% respectively. Majority of the respondents suffered from multiple

diseases and could not go to the Government dispensaries since none of them hold any

health cards and the dispensaries do not have medicines. They preferred to go to private

doctors (mostly quacks) only in extreme conditions. Otherwise they usually tried some

home remedies. 96% admitted that they could not afford to take proper rest during their

illnesses.

Availing loans: Over 50% of the respondents had taken loans from some or the other

sources. Reasons for taking loan were mostly sickness in the family, daughter's

marriage, repairing of house, education of children and meeting day-to-day necessities.

Some of the respondents had taken loan for two of the above reasons while none had

gone for more than two reasons.

Credit facility is availed mainly with the informal sources in which local money lenders

are the first choice followed by relatives or friends and just 1% had approached banks.

Majority of the respondents

had not been able to repay

their debts on time and were

thus caught in the debt trap.

Alternative livelihood: All

(100%) of the respondents

reported physical discomfort

in their current occupation

and frequent health problems

due to bidi making work and

showed their dissatisfaction

with it. Nearly 93% of the

bidi workers showed interest

in shifting from bidi rolling to

alternative livelihoods. Given

the opportunity, most of

them would like to opt for

tailoring, food processing and

animal husbandry. They only

need some skill training and

small capital to start new

ventures. None of them are

members of any self help

groups (SHGs) nor do they

have any savings in the bank.

Lakshmi Narayan Patwi, 67 years old, a residence of

village Hazari, has been rolling bidis for the last 50

years as an unregistered worker with no benefits from

his employers till date. His daily routine means rolling

bidis from morning till evening without any respite. He

seemed aware and concerned about the miserable

condition of the bidi workers. The factory owners have

been exploiting the workers and taking advantage of

their vulnerability while the workers remain helpless.

Lakshmi Narayan recalled how he, along with some

fellow workers, had demanded a raise in their wages at

the expense of having to stay at home without any

work. The middlemen stopped supplying the daily raw

materials to him due to which he and his entire family

had to suffer from acute starvation. He had to resume the work at a very low wage

to provide his family one meal a day. After this incident the villagers stopped raising

any demands against the exploitative practices of the bidi industry.

Lakshmi Narayan has been suffering from diabetes and respiratory problems since

many years. He is unable to undertake any medical treatment due to his explicit

poverty and insufficient support from the bidi companies. Moreover, none of the

government medical facilities are functional or available near his village and he is

unable to travel long distances for such necessities. Lakshmi Narayan lost his wife

five years back and all his children are away from home. He has no option but to

suffer and roll bidis for bare minimal survival.

Shyam Sunder Prasad, a 50-year old bidi worker from

Petarwar village has been suffering from leprosy for the last

couple of years. He was initiated into this occupation at the

age of 10 and since then, for nearly 40 years, Shyam has

been rolling bidis. When his ailment began, he was admitted to

a hospital in Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand, about 90

kilometers from his native village, for 20 days. He was advised

further hospitalization for a longer period. But due to shortage

of money, Prasad did not heed the doctor's suggestion and

came back home. He has virtually ceased the treatment due to

his inability to acquire a nutritious diet and the money required

to purchase medicines. Today, he is a nearly invalid member

of his family. His wife, suffers from eye problems yet earns a

livelihood by rolling bidis along with her daughters, ironically,

for the same bidi company which refused any assistance to Prasad during his illness.

The money thus earned, however, is not enough for a decent living. The children have

started losing interest in this work but have to continue due to the absence of any

alternatives.

Case Studies

41

Tileshwar Prasad, aged 60, is a bidi worker who had

initially been a farmer. In deep debt due to the money he

had borrowed for his daughter's marriage, he lost his land

to the local money-lenders. With no other source of

income, he started rolling bidis along with his wife and

has been doing so for the last 20 years. Tileshwar now

has cataract in both his eyes and can hardly see anything.

Both his sons are grown up and though unemployed, see

no purpose in sitting at home and rolling bidis. Due to his

poor vision and his wife's household chores, they cannot

roll enough bidis in a day. Like others in the occupation,

Tileshwar has no health card and does not receive any

other benefit from his employer. As a result, he still

borrows money from money-lenders at high interests and

remains in misery. Lamenting on government welfare programmes, he believes that all

such policies are for the higher strata of society and not for the downtrodden.

Bimla Devi, a 60 year old widow from village Petarwar

has been rolling bidis since her childhood. She continued

with bidi rolling after her marriage and today does

scarcely any work other than rolling bidis. Her husband,

who used to work as a labourer, succumbed to cancer a

few years back after which Bimla had to take up the bidi

work more intensively to support her family. Today, she

has cataract but as in the case of other bidi rollers, she is

unable to seek any medical treatment due to the lack of

resources. Her fervent appeals to her employers as well

as the industry middlemen for subsidiary monetary

assistance have been to no avail. She fears the future

years as they look bleak and offer her no hope.

Kali Devi, a 30-year old woman bidi-worker has a similar

story of suffering from multiple health problems since the

last one year when she was detected with leprosy on her

left leg along with eye problems and chronic lower back

pain. She has not been able to take any treatment so far

and her condition has been deteriorating day by day. She

can barely walk now and just sits in one place rolling

bidis. Her children are too young to assist her but they

still try help out, cut the tendu leaves, count and make

bundles. Kali's husband does not earn enough and only

occasionally works as a laborer in agricultural fields during

seasons. He has to look after his wife and the children,

and do the household work. Kali is well aware that

without treatment she is not going to live long. She

wishes that the government or the Toofan Bidi Company, for which she works, would

provide some assistance for her treatment and for her children's' education.

FaizabadBasti

Gonda

Uttar Pradesh -Tobacco farmers

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in the country, accounting for 16.4% of the country's population. It is also the fourth largest state in geographical area, covering 9.0% of the country, encompassing 2,94,411 square kilometres and comprising 83 districts, 901 development blocks and 112,804 inhabited villages. The density of population in the state is 473 persons per square kilometre as against a national average of 274.

To understand the socio-economic conditions of bidi workers in Uttar Pradesh, the research team selected Faizabad, a small town surrounded by remote villages. Most of the people living in the villages are either illiterate or have low literacy levels. Apart from farming, one of the means of earning livelihoods in this area is bidi rolling which is practiced mostly by women and children. The team interacted with the bidi workers in Faizabad town where local farmers have been engaged in tobacco farming for many years. To them it is an easy means of earning some cash as it does not require them to leave their homes and go out to work.

There are many bidi rollers in Faizabad, especially considering the small size of the town. The information collected from this area is based on case studies and focus group discussions with the bidi workers. There are about 10,000 families currently involved in bidi rolling in this town, of which most are women and children.

Six focus group discussions and case studies were conducted among the men, women, and children bidi rollers in Faizabad.

The following findings emerge from the FGDs:

?Bidi rolling is done entirely at home and there are no separate areas for work and living.

?Most of the bidi workers are women and children and around 90% of them are Muslims. The reason given by the respondents is that due to the “Purdah” system in Muslim communities, the women are not allowed to move out of the house but must earn money as their husbands are not able to earn enough to satisfy the family's needs. Women therefore take up bidi rolling as there are no other options of livelihood.

?Bidi rolling is the main source of their income, although in some cases the family's income is supplemented when men work as wage labourers .

Bidi Workers in Uttar Pradesh

43

With all the hard work and time put into it, at the end of the day a person earns only about Rs. 27 to Rs. 35 ( 60-75 cents approx.) per 1,000 bidis. Most of the women are not able to roll more than 600–700 bidis despite working for 8-10 hours per day due to their other household chores or health problems

Our research team filed a Right to Information (RTI) application to the state government labour department to know about the actual wage structure of the bidi workers in Uttar Pradesh. The team was shocked and disturbed to discover from the RTI response that the wage specified by the labour department for bidi workers is Rs. 60 ($ 1.4 approx.) per 1000 bidis while the workers earn far less (60-75 cents approx.)

?Similar to other bidi rolling areas in India, most of the families involve their children in the occupation from a very young age. Initially they were reluctant to admit that they involve their young ones in the work. But gradually during discussions about their health, economic conditions, job satisfactions and concerns about their children's education, it was revealed that the children are contributing to their parent's earnings by making bidis, though they are unhappy about involving their children in this drudgery.

?Middlemen play important roles in the lives of bidi workers. There were complaints about rejection of bidis by the middlemen, who try to pocket some part of the money that should be paid to the workers. But during crises, the middlemen also offer loans to the bidi workers and thus keep them under bondage.

?Women bidi workers suffer from several health problems: many are suffering from backaches, dizziness, and skin irritation. Incidence of cancer, asthma and tuberculosis was found to be high.

?Hospitals and dispensaries are very far from this area and the workers are not able to reach them as they have to spend every available time in rolling bidis for their livelihoods. There are no health care facilities provided to the workers by the employers.

?As bidi rolling takes up many hours of time and is done at home, it displaces leisure or social activities.

?Most of the workers are not aware of their legal rights; therefore they chose not to, or were unable to answer any queries related to their rights and provisions.

?When asked about alternative livelihoods, the workers were hesitant to respond. They were unaware of any other profession and were afraid to invest any money or energy elsewhere. Most of them felt that they did not have any skills to take up other jobs.

?The bidi workers shared that their present occupation was not providing them with enough money. The younger workers, also found the work monotonous and tiresome.

Ajmal Jahan is around 35 years old. She lives with her mother and her two children. Her husband left the village to search for some way to earn money and never came back. She is thus the only earning member in the family. Ajmal Jahan has been working as a bidi worker for the last two decades. She spends around 10 hours every day in bidi rolling and earns Rs.30 to Rs.40 per day. Recently Ajmal suffered from severe cough and fever for many days, but could not go out of the house for a medical check up. When the intensity of her cough increased, she was taken to the hospital and was diagnosed with lung cancer. Despite this, Ajmal continues to roll bidis as she does not have any other skills for livelihood options. Moreover, the condition of her health does not permit her to take up

jobs outside the home. Her mother and two children assist her but the total earnings are not enough for two square meals, let alone for her treatment. Ajmal's health is deteriorating with time and she sees no hope or future for her growing children.

Reshma, a 55-year-old mother of four, has been suffering from chronic asthma for the last six years and recently has been diagnosed with cancer. She lives with her in-laws. Since her husband does not earn enough as a wage labourer, Reshma has been rolling bidis for the last 15 years. Reshma needs more earnings to take care of her children and her health. She has not been able to get any treatment for herself and has stopped taking medicines, as the strong doses require a good diet which is not possible in her present economic condition.

Rukhsar, a 16-year-old girl, lives with her brother's family. She lost her parents four years ago in an accident. Since her brother does not earn enough for their subsistence, her sister-in-law has to work as a bidi roller.A student of class 10, Rukhsar is good at studies and keen to be independent and support her family members. But Rukhsar's brother forced her into bidi rolling as he and his wife have not been able to provide for her food or education. Today, Rukhsar stays at home with her sister-in-law and rolls bidis. She is very disappointed with the fact that she had to discontinue her studies and do something she never wanted to.

45

Case Studies

Whilst the reality of the bidi industry impedes the health and wealth of its workers, the

tobacco industry still claims that they provide a crucial source of employment without

which the workers would not be able to survive. While this may literally be true, it is

hardly an argument in favour of the bidi industry that it allows people to scrape by at

the very edge of survival. The condition of the bidi workers should rather make clear the

importance of actively pursuing policies that will generate alternate and appropriate

livelihoods in which incomes are more fairly distributed. The government has for many

years been stuck in a debate between NGO activists and international movements on

the one side and a 400-year-old industry with high stakes on the other. Given that the

majority of workers are employed on an unofficial basis and that whole families often

work all together under the records of a single labourer, the intensity of labour and the

distribution of profit in wages cannot be accurately measured. Due to unreliable

statistics, it is thus hard to calculate tobacco's actual contribution to industrial

expansion and the net profit incurred. Further, such gain must be weighed against the

low wages, difficult working conditions, and health effects both of the work and of the

product it produces.

The manufacturing sector, as illustrated, remains largely unorganized, with the vast

majority of jobs in the tobacco industry available on a part-time or seasonal basis. As

such it is hard to reach and mobilize workers. The industry also lacks transparency at a

higher level, in that the gap between the workers and the management is huge with

many middlemen along the way. The large profit on the one side, equalled only by the

large human cost on the other, polarizes two very different and unequal groups of

players in bidi production. Without a transparent system, the question of accountability

and responsibility remains open, with much scope for corruption in both the role of the

government and corporations.

The difficulties faced by underprivileged bidi workers will not be resolved by avoiding

tobacco control measures. Rather, the problem must be addressed with an aim towards

generating alternative employment opportunities, and by increasing skills and education

among the workers.

One question inevitably arises. If some portion of the 100 million that bidi smokers

spent on buying bidis be spent on some other product instead, could alternate

employment not be generated in large quantities? What if those alternate products were

not controlled by a handful of extraordinarily powerful companies, but rather involved

small enterprises or fairly independent labour able to sell in a genuinely competitive

marketplace? In addition to providing jobs, could the work pay well enough to generate

enough employment at a decent wage to allow one worker to adequately support an

entire family, allowing the other members to attend school and devote themselves to

other work? And thus to alleviate much of the poverty and misery currently suffered by

bidi workers?

Conclusion

47

?Poverty, debt, and lack of worker status forces people into bidi rolling; it is thus a compulsion rather than a choice.

?The low wages and low returns received by the bidi workers push them further into poverty.

?Families are caught in a vicious cycle of poverty, exploitation and helplessness by this highly unorganized home-based industry.

?Universal characteristics of the bidi industry include exploitation because of disguised employment and ability to evade all labour laws due to being unorganized in nature.

?There is no direct contact between the employers (i.e. the factory owners) and the workers. The middlemen play an important role in the lives of bidi rollers on a day-to-day basis. They are the link between the employer and the workers.

?There is a high incidence of cancer, tuberculosis, skin diseases, joint pains and lung diseases among the bidi workers with no health care facilities.

?Women and children are the major working force of the bidi industry; virtually no able-bodied man is willing to work for such low pay and in such poor working conditions.

?In spite of the legislation to abolish child labour in India, and bidi work having been declared as hazardous, children continue to work in the bidi industry and are deprived of education, good health, and time to play.

?Efforts are needed to protect and help these workers to earn a better and safer livelihood in some other line of work.

?The workers themselves expressed interest for a change, but it is difficult for them to venture into new options by themselves because they do not know, since their birth, a life beyond their current livelihoods.

Key Concerns

CHAPTER III

Tobacco Farmers: Dismal Present & Bleak Future

49

thTobacco farming began in India in the 17 century. Initially grown in just two

districts of Gujarat, other states joined in and today, nearly 370,000 hectares of xxxviiland is devoted to tobacco farming. The annual production is around 700 million

kg and the country ranks third in the world in production after China and Brazil. A

majority of the states in India grow some type of tobacco, and these are Andhra

Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. Despite the

global policy aimed at reducing world tobacco production and consumption, very

little has been done in India to address the supply side concerns.

Tobacco also offers employment opportunities and provides livelihood to millions

of people in India. The Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI) has estimated

that about 6 million farmers and 20 million farm labourers are engaged in tobacco

farming spread over states. However, the net gain or loss to the government in

terms of disability, disease and death due to tobacco has not been properly and

comprehensively quantified. In addition to causing damage to an individual's

health, tobacco use results in severe societal costs, such as reduced productivity,

health-cost burdens and environmental damage.

The production-related health hazards from tobacco are also a matter of serious

concern in India. Millions of tobacco farmers, tobacco farm-workers and bidi

workers are ignorant about the adverse health consequences they face. In the

organized sector, the government has legislated for the rights of the workers, such

as the Factories Act and the Mining Act, but there are no such enabling provisions

for unorganized tobacco farm workers. It is well documented that workers

engaged in tobacco cultivation suffer from an occupational illness known as

“green tobacco sickness” (GTS), largely due to absorption of nicotine through the xxxviiidermal route.

Tobacco consumption and tobacco cultivation today have assumed proportions of

an epidemic. Tobacco plant is therefore rightly called as a killer plant. But tobacco

control cannot succeed until it is recognized that tobacco plant is not only a killer xxxixplant but it also is a highly costly plant to cultivate.

Tobacco as a cash crop is grown widely in India, where small-holder farmers work

on behalf of wealthy multi-national companies. A wide variety of tobacco leaves

are grown in 16 states in India. However, most of the varieties grown (other than

Virginia, Burley, and Oriental) are of non-cigarette types. These include natu, bidi,

chewing, hooka (hookah), cigar, and cheroot tobaccos.

Tobacco farming in India involves several arguably irreversible costs to farmers

and their families, including child labour, bonded labour, and environmental

Background

degradation. In India, as in many other developing countries, trees are cut down to

provide fuel for the curing process and for the construction of the curing barns. An

estimated 200,000 hectares of woodlands are removed by tobacco farming each year XLworld wide.

Such labour conditions and environmental effects serve to worsen and perpetuate

poverty among tobacco farmers. Furthermore, the growing of tobacco means that less

land is available for food crops. Men, women, and children who cultivate tobacco

experience long hours of labour, staggering debt, regular exposure to nicotine and

frequently, poor health. Rather than enriching farmers, tobacco cultivation in many

ways increases poverty and contributes to perpetual under-development not only of

individual farmers but also of entire families, communities, and countries. In India,

according to a report by the advocacy group in New Delhi, Global Manch Against Child

Labour, a civil society forum, an estimated 20,000 children work on tobacco farms

and another 27,000 work in bidi-making or in cigarette-packing industries.

Moreover, tobacco is a sensitive plant prone to many diseases. Therefore a large

amount of pesticides and

chemical fertilisers are used

in growing the tobacco plant.

In 1997, for instance, over

5.5 million pounds of methyl

bromide were applied to

tobacco fields worldwide

as reported by Pesticide XLiAction Network, 1998. In

developing countries, where

majority of tobacco is grown,

environmental laws are non-

existent and farmers lack

protective equipment or

training in the handling of XLiihazardous pesticides.

While the economic and

health problems associated

with both active and passive

tobacco smoking have been

well-documented around the

world, the present study has

tried to investigate the

effects of tobacco farming on

the life and livelihood of the

farmers and environment.

Study Methodology

Against this backdrop, the present study examines the working conditions and

socio-economic and health impact of tobacco farming among small and marginal

farmers in three districts in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The research methodology involved the use of both qualitative and quantitative

tools as the basis of social and scientific research analysis. These included

literature reviews, pilot studies, interviews with farmers, focus group discussions

and case studies. Farmers were interviewed using a questionnaire with both

structured and non-structured questions. A total of 12 focus group discussions

were held in 3 different districts across the 2 states covering 112 tobacco

farmers. All these discussions consisted of 8-12 tobacco farmers including men,

women, and youth.

The study was carried out in the Gonda and Basti Districts of Uttar Pradesh and the

Vaishali District of Bihar. The tobacco grown in these areas is mostly used to meet

domestic demand that includes bidis, hookah, chewing tobacco and snuff. Local

field investigators were employed to collect the necessary information. Further,

secondary sources of information have been collected to complement the findings

of the primary survey.

51

S.No. State District Methods used

1. Bihar Vaishali - - Case Studies- Interviews with key informants like

middlemen/ agents of bidi factories- Observations- Preliminary survey

2. Uttar Pradesh Gonda - Household survey of 100 marginal farmers

Basti workers- Focus Group Discussions- Case Studies- Interviews with key informants like

middlemen/ agents of bidi factories- Observations

Focus Group Discussions

Bihar - Tobacco farmers and bidi rollers

Nalanda

Vaishali

FaizabadBasti

Gonda

Uttar Pradesh -Tobacco farmers

Gonda (Uttar Pradesh)

Gonda district is a part of Central Ganga Plain and covers an area of 4425 sq km. The

district's economy mainly depends upon agriculture. The farmers along with the

agricultural labourers constitute 92% of the workers, which indicates the tremendous

dependency of the economy on the agricultural sector. The major crops grown in the

district are maize, tobacco and sugarcane.

Basti (Uttar Pradesh)

Basti in Uttar Pradesh covers an area of 3,733 sq. km. The population is over 2 million.

As of 2001, the literacy rate is 54.28%. Agriculture is the main occupation of the

people of this district. Sugarcane, tobacco, maize, paddy, pulses (lentils), wheat, and

barley are commonly cultivated in the district.

Vaishali (Uttar Pradesh)

As it lies in the plains of North Bihar with very few water-logged or low-lying tracts,

Vaishali is highly fertile and well-suited for both food and cash crops. 90% of the

population has agriculture as its primary income. The per capita income of the district is

Rs. 3830 or only 13% of the national average (in 2006-2007) and 63% of the

population lives in poverty. Rice, maize and wheat are the main crops and sugarcane,

tobacco, and potato are the cash crops grown in the district. After the decline of indigo

and saltpetre cultivation, sugarcane cultivation was taken up extensively. Unfortunately,

with the collapse of the sugar factory at Goraul (one of its block headquarters),

cultivation of sugarcane has almost ceased. Tobacco, a cash crop, is beginning to

replace it.

Tobacco Farmers in Uttar Pradesh

Socio-Economic Characteristics

A total number of 100 farmers growing tobacco were interviewed for the study.

Their ages were between 26-45, and held between 1 and 5 acres of land. In terms of

education, 45% of the farmers interviewed were illiterate, although 5% had reached

college level. They were classified as small and marginal as per the Government of

India's definition. Interestingly, a majority of them, in addition to using their own

plots, also grew tobacco on rented land, for which they paid an annual rent of Rs.

2,000/- (43$ USD) to Rs. 3,000/- (65$ USD). All of those interviewed depended on

farming for their livelihood. They began tobacco farming either because their family

had grown tobacco for several generations or because they anticipated a ready

market for it.

Economic and Political Issues

Farmers believe that the tobacco crop pays faster and better than other crops.

Interestingly, they also believe that farming of tobacco is equivalent to gambling.

Tobacco farming requires a lot of labour and is very tedious compared to its

returns/profits. The cost of producing tobacco is very high and when loans are

deducted from their total sales, they are left with very little earnings compared to the

high labour and time inputs. They have no control over the costs of inputs and of the

overall output.

The majority of small and marginal farmers in Basti and Gonda Districts interviewed

in this study were producing tobacco on one or two bighas of land (<1 acre). On an

average, they produce one or two quintals of tobacco per season, which fetches an

income of Rs, 12,000/- (260$ USD), an amount insufficient to meet their family's

basic needs. The entire process of tobacco cultivation is carried out between August

and March. During the other seasons, they grow maize but the level of maize

production in the locality is low.

Almost half of the farmers interviewed (45%) depended on the village moneylender

for loans. This loan taken by the farmers came with a high interest rate of 10% on a

monthly basis. Some farmers also became bonded labourers, as they had no other

assets to be put as security against loans. In cases of non-payment of the loan, the

farmer was forced to work as a bonded labourer in the moneylender's house without

wages. He even experienced physical torture at the hands of the agents of the

middleman. In this way, small and marginal farmers of this region continue to be

trapped in an endless cycle of poverty, misery and exploitation. Each year they work

harder, only to go deeper into debt.

Tobacco farmers also face serious harassment, cheating, and exploitation during the

marketing process of tobacco leaves. In discussions with the local farmer and the

adatiya (local agents), it emerged that tobacco companies have monopolized certain

areas by appointing local agents and big farmers to procure tobacco from small

farmers, leaving the latter with no options to an open market and bargaining. The

agents determine the quality of the leaf as well as the price, leaving the farmer

powerless.

53

Rain poses one of the greatest threats to the tobacco farmer. If it rains after the farmer

had sold the tobacco, but before harvesting, any damage to the leaf and related losses

has to be borne by the farmer, not the middlemen. The local agent does not offer a fair

price for the leaf, and sometimes delay in payment further worsens the conditions of the

farmers in this area.

Caring for the young tobacco saplings involves a sizeable responsibility, as it is an

intensive process. The entire family, normally consisting of 6-8 members, works

approximately 12-13 hours per day in the field in order to ensure a good yield. As a

result, children on tobacco farms are exposed to harsh working conditions, chemicals

and toxins. Long hours of child labour in the tobacco fields create barriers in education,

thus worsening future prospects for better income and living conditions; yet child labour

is very common among the tobacco growing families especially during the harvesting

and curing periods to avoid crop damage and losses from changes in the weather.

Despite facing so many problems and difficulties in growing tobacco, nearly 60% of the

interviewed farmers are not ready to switch to other cash crops such as sugarcane, due

to the ongoing politics regarding the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of this crop. The

remaining 40% of the farmers are keen to shift to other crops or activities if suitable

alternatives are available. Mixed cropping and other activities like dairy farming are

sometimes suggested by the farmers as alternatives to tobacco cultivation.

Whether farmers can do better growing vegetables and other subsistence and food

crops for local use rather than cash crops is an open matter; but our environment would

certainly benefit from policies discouraging mono-cropping and the use of highly

chemical-intensive crops.

Health Problems

The study reveals that many tobacco farmers

are not aware of the health risks due to

tobacco farming. The farmers of this area also

report not using any protective measures/

devices during the production and processing

of tobacco leaves. In the absence of storage

facilities, most of the farmers use their own

homes to store the leaves, thus exposing their

families to the chemicals present in tobacco

leaves. The farmers also inhale significant

quantities of tobacco dust while cleaning and

beating the tobacco bundles. This puts the

farmers and their families in danger of

respiratory and lung diseases like asthma,

tuberculosis, throat cancer, skin allergies like

green tobacco sickness and spondilysis. Minor

ailments like back problems, stomach ache,

nausea, headache are common amongst them.

55

Janyanti Lal is a 36-year-old tobacco farmer of Sherpur,

Basti. His family consists of two sons and two daughters.

The source of the family income is the tobacco grown in

their farm. Janyanti Lal sells his tobacco in the open market

and sometimes traders come to his doorstep to procure

tobacco. A few years ago he took a Rs. 52000/- loan on

10% interest from a moneylender to grow tobacco but

faced a loss of Rs.15,000/- as the crop went bad. Now he

is heavily in debt, as he has not yet paid either the capital

or the interest of the loan.

In order to afford the input cost of the farming in terms of

labour and fertilizers, he had to take a loan from the village

moneylender. But the crop failed due to heavy rainfall and

he could not pay back the loan. He also added that the

farmers of this area always hope for profit and continue growing tobacco, but usually

just run into debt. For the last two months he has been trying to get a loan from the

bank through which he plans to pay the moneylender but the bank loan is not yet

approved. The family condition is getting worse. He often has to borrow money to meet

the family expenses, including the educational costs of his children. He is suffering from

sciatica and his younger daughter is at a marriageable age. He may have no other option

left except to sell his own land, his only source of income.

Shriniwas took a loan of Rs. 3000/- on a 10% rate of interest

from the village money lender in order to grow tobacco. But due

to crop failure he could not sell all his produce at the prevailing

market price. Now he and his family are without work. On this

issue he also has been harassed by the village money lender

several times as well. The entire family wishes to start a new

venture as they do not want to take up tobacco farming

anymore due to heavy loss. He is in need of government

support for help in establishing a new business from which he

and his family can earn money in order to maintain the year

round livelihood of the household.

Ram Kishan Singh lives in Turkauli Village, which is 48 km

away from Gonda district in Nawabganj block. His family

comprises of 8 people and he is the sole earning member

in the entire family. He owns three bhiga land which is

right next to the Sarju river. The area is flood-prone and

each year during the rainy season his field is flooded with

water creating heavy damages to the tobacco crop.

Growing tobacco made him fall into the debt trap of

middlemen. Due to all these factors, he has quit tobacco

farming and now works as a daily laborer to support the

livelihood of the household. He feels sad that he is not able

to feed his family properly.

Case Studies

Socio-Economic Characteristics

On an average, a land-owning household possesses 1.3 acres of land. Tobacco is the

main cash crop followed by vegetables and pulses/oilseeds. All the farmers interviewed

were illiterate. The sample village of Shyampur is one of the remotest villages under

Chintamanipur Gram Panchayat of Vaishali block in Vaishali district of Bihar. The

villagers estimate that Shyampur has more than 500 families and a population of about

2,584. The average family size is 5-6. It was evident from the focus group discussion(s)

that farming has been the main occupation of the villagers of Shyampur: about 86% of

households depend on it. Wage labour is the second most important occupation of the

villagers: about 12% of families earned their livelihood primarily from wage earning and

only 2% of families had other occupations, including government service and private

jobs.

Key Economic and Political Problems

While one would expect that farmers engage in economic calculations when determining

which crops to grow, in rural Bihar, especially for small and marginal tobacco farmers,

such decisions are still largely governed by the culture of the prevailing feudal system.

As a result, farmers, except the affluent ones, failed to take the cost of cultivation into

account; and farmers who worked in their own fields consider their own labour and that

of family members as free of cost.

On the basis of group discussions held with the several farmers of this region, cost-per-

acre cultivation of major crops grown in the area vis-à-vis output was estimated and is

shown in the table and the graph below. The table shows that per acre production cost

is highest for tobacco followed by vegetables, wheat, and paddy (rice); whereas per

acre gross return is highest for vegetables followed by tobacco, paddy, and wheat. So

far as rate of return per crop is concerned, it is highest in the case of vegetables

followed by paddy, tobacco and wheat. Thus, it is seen that tobacco is not the most

profitable crop as claimed by the elite farmers. It is neither economically viable nor

profitable for the poorest and marginal farmers who had the least risk-bearing

capacities.

While the wealthier farmers could afford an occasional bad year during which the entire

crop may fail, such an event proved a complete catastrophe to marginal farmers, who

Tobacco Farmers in BiharShyampur Village, Vaishali - A Case Profile

Cost-benefit Analysis of Farming of Major Crops Per Acre in Rs.

Sl. No Crops Cost inputs Output Gross Return Rate of Return(%)

1 Tobacco 30,000.00 62,500.00 32,500.00 92.0

2 Paddy 12,500.00 25,000.00 12,500.00 100.0

3 Wheat 15,000.00 22,500.00 7,500.00 50.0

4 Vegetables 25,000.00 75,000.00 50,000.00 200.0

5 Pulses (dal) Produced for self-consumption

6 Oilseeds Produced for self-consumption

could not put aside enough money in the good years to tide themselves over in the

bad ones. Being engaged in tobacco cultivation thus posed the risk of not only

increasing poverty but also landlessness among the poor farmers who were forced to

sell their land to pay off loans or survive during years of crop failure.

The interviewed farmers were of the opinion that tobacco cultivation was much more

difficult than other crops. Identified problems of

tobacco cultivation include the following:

?Difficulties in managing capital input

requirements (especially for the small and

marginal farmers);

?Critical nature of plant protection measures;

?Risk of crop failure;

?Lack of crop insurance facility;

?Distress sale of the product by small and

marginal farmers;

?Lack of price protection by the government;

?Unstable market conditions;

?Risky method of processing.

Only rich farmers could bear the constraints

associated with tobacco farming. According to

the tobacco growers of this region, tobacco is neither an appropriate nor profitable

crop for the small farmers, landless farmers and the labourers who work on tobacco

farms. Yet people continue to start growing tobacco, lured by the belief of

profitability propagated by tobacco companies elite farmers and moneylenders who

pocketed most of the earnings of this endeavour.

Key Health Problems

At the initial stage of the discussions, the farmers presented the general impression

that tobacco cultivation and curing did not adversely affect their health. This belief

was propagated by the elite farmers who belonged to the forward caste groups like

Bhumihars and the elites among the Kurmis also substantiated this view. However,

during the course of discussion, villagers belonging to weaker castes (Scheduled

Castes and the very poor Other Backward Castes) talked about their miserable

conditions and ailing health conditions associated with tobacco farming.

The farmers and farm labourers were initially unaware of the harmful effects of

tobacco cultivation. They did not seem to know that their ailments were related to

tobacco cultivation. They considered their ailments as normal. From their

experiences, they believed that even those villagers who did not actively cultivate

tobacco also fell ill and/or suffered from debilitating diseases like TB, asthma, and

bronchitis. During the discussions, it also became apparent that the involvement of

child and women labourers from the poor farming families (who could not afford to

hire labour) in the cultivation and curing of tobacco adversely affects their health,

including the reproductive health status of women and the growth and development

of children.

57

Cost-benefit Analysis of Farming of Major Crops

Case Studies

Ramfal Singh is 55-years old and landless. He cultivates

0.65 acres of land which he leases, using 0.30 acres to

cultivate tobacco and the rest for paddy and wheat. He

grows tobacco at the insistence of the landholder. As per

the prevailing terms of the lease, the landholder is entitled

to get 50% of the crop including the main and by-

products. The entire risk of cultivation of tobacco is with

the lessee/lease holder.

Narrating the experience of his last five years of tobacco

cultivation, Ramphal Singh substantiated the fact that

tobacco farming is not a profitable scheme for poor

farmers. He recounted that only for elite farmers (who

grow tobacco with the help of labourers) and landlords

(lessers) (who are nowhere involved physically) is tobacco cultivation a good earning

source.

Although Ramfal was illiterate, he was bold. He seemed to be the only man in the village

who was aware of the demerits of tobacco cultivation, and yet felt forced to continue it.

In his words, “I know that tobacco cultivation is harmful to health, yet I do it because

my landlord wants it. Had I possessed my own plot of land, I never would have been

cultivating tobacco”. Further, Ramfal Singh finds a close relation between his poverty

and ailing family health due to tobacco cultivation and curing.

79 - year old Baliram Singh of Shyampur, is a middle-class

farmer having 2.25 acres of farm land. He belongs to the

Kurmi (OBC) community. Farming is the only occupation

that provides livelihood to his 11 member family. He has

been cultivating tobacco ever since he took up

independent charge of cultivation from his father about 45

years back. After cultivating tobacco for five years he

suffered losses and handed over his share of land to his

younger brother. He then migrated to Kolkata and started a

petty grocery shop at Behala, returning home in 2003.

After his return, he again began cultivating tobacco in

about half acre of land with a primary motive to meet the

monetary needs of the family. He also grows paddy,

wheat and vegetables for self -consumption. Though in

terms of profit and loss, he tried to prove that tobacco is a highly profitable crop, he

failed to rationalise himself to understand why there has been a tremendous increase in

the expenditure on family health in recent years. Recently he had to take a loan of

Rs. 10,000 from one of his relatives to meet the cost of treatment of a family member.

Through the discussion however, Baliram Singh could recognise tobacco cultivation as

the root cause of his family problem. He plans to shift to other cash crops soon.

59

ConclusionIt can be concluded from the above findings that small and marginal farmers

constitute a highly impoverished group. Hardly having any form of organization they

lack a common forum to articulate their problems and often, issues concerning them

are not addressed adequately. These categories of farmers have limited access to

credit facilities. Being a nature-based activity, cultivation is highly risky. When crops

fail or prices decline, they have no means to supplement their incomes.

Tobacco companies claim that tobacco brings prosperity to its planters and is an

important solution for hunger elimination and poverty reduction. But the present

study's results show that tobacco growing entails a number of irreversible costs to

farmers and worsens rather than improves their standard of living, at least for the

poor and landless. Rising costs of cultivation, low remunerations, high risks with

frequent crop failures, declining

agricultural growth, and mounting debts

lead the farmer into a distressed

situation. The study shows that

tobacco farmers often find themselves

in a cycle of debt to repay farm input

loans in the event of a bad crop or low

prices during that season. Men, women

and children who work on tobacco

farms experience long working hours,

lost education opportunities, and

the cycle of poverty. In these

circumstances many of them are caught

in a dilemma whether to continue

tobacco farming or not.

It is hoped that the findings of the

present study provide valuable and

timely evidence that can be used to

increase public awareness as well as

advocacy tools to help the Government

develop and implement appropriate

responses to the harmful effects of

tobacco growing. Tobacco control

cannot succeed until it is recognized

that tobacco not only kills but is also a

highly costly plant to cultivate.

Key Concerns

?The study reveals that many tobacco farmers are not aware of the health risks

due to tobacco farming. The farmers of this area also report not using any

protective measures/devices during the production and processing of tobacco

leaves.

?Marginal farmers have no other options but to involve their entire family, including

women and children, for 12-13 hours a day in the fields in order to get a good

yield. This exposes them to increased health risks and poor health in general.

?Long hours of labour in the fields are a chief barrier for children, preventing them

from availing educational opportunities and exposing them to harsh working

conditions at tender ages.

61

?Tobacco farmers sell their crops directly from the fields to the middlemen.

Lack of open competition and direct contact with the buyers does not

allow these farmers to access an open market and get a fair price for their

produce.

?After selling their tobacco to the middlemen, if there is rain before the

harvest, the loss is incurred by the farmers, not the middlemen. On an

average, an amount of Rs. 10,000/- is generally invested by the farmer in

one bhiga of land and the farmers only get a profit of about Rs. 4000/-

without counting the various invisible costs like lost educational

opportunities for their children and health effects.

?For small and marginal farmers, tobacco is not the most profitable crop as

claimed by the big farmers of the locality. The study findings build

evidences that tobacco growing entails a number of costs to poor and

landless farmers and worsens rather than improves their standard of living.

Per acre production cost on capital input requirements and plant protection

measures is highest in tobacco. Added to this, rising costs of cultivation,

low remunerations, high risks with frequent crop failures, exploitation at

the hands of middlemen and their agents are situations in which small,

marginal farmers cannot cope and find themselves in continuing poverty.

?It was observed that apart from farmers, most of the bidi workers in the

districts are women and children supplementing the income of day

labourers; if the day labourers earned decent wages, the women and

children wouldn't have to go to work. Some women would still have to

work, but surely in smaller numbers and they could opt for other

occupations than bidi rolling or prostitution as a desperate measure.

?Overall, tobacco farming is a gamble as it may or may not give good

return. Large-scale farmers can bear the loss, but the marginal ones fall

into a trap of indebtedness and poverty from which it is difficult or

impossible to escape.

?A lot of the economic problems seem to be around paying health care

costs and probably school fees. So why isn't the Government of India

providing free health care and schooling?

CHAPTER IV

Tendu Leaf Pluckers: Quandary of the Forest Dwellers

Background

63

The bidi making process starts with the tendu leaf (locally known as tendu patta or bidi

patta in India) which is used for wrapping the tobacco to make bidis. Tendu leaves form

nearly 70% of the weight of the bidi. These leaves are grown in the remote forests of

Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgargh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Andhra

Pradesh, Orissa and some parts of West Bengal. Leaf plucking begins when the leaves

turn golden brown in the hot sun in early April and continues upto June till the onset of

the monsoons. Collecting tendu leaf from the forests is thus another form of tobacco-XLiii related employment involving about 2.2 million tribal and rural people in India.

Around 150,000 tonnes of tobacco and 30,000 tonne of tendu leaves are used XLivannually for the manufacture of bidis.

The leaves are obtained from the tendu tree (Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.) belonging

to Family Ebenaceae, which is endemic to the Indian sub-continent. It is one of the

most characteristic trees of the dry deciduous forests throughout India, covering the

entire Indian peninsula. The area of distribution extends upto Nepal in sub-Himalayan

tracts including the Indian Plain, Gangetic Plain, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,

Western Coast upto Malabar and Eastern Coast upto Coromandel.

In Bangladesh, bidis are rolled in paper but in India, the tendu leaf is considered most

suitable as it is easy to roll and is widely available. Leaves of several other plants like

Butea monosperma, Shorea robusta etc. also find use as bidi wrappers but the wide-

scale use of the tendu leaves in the bidi industry is mainly based on their agreeable

flavour, flexibility, resistance to decay and capacity to retain fires. The broad

morphological characters on which leaves are selected and categorized for bidi making

are size, thickness of leaves, texture, and relative thickness of the midrib and lateral XLVveins.

Process of Tendu Plucking The procedure for collection and processing of tendu leaves has almost been

standardized and is nearly the same everywhere. The tendu plants are pruned in the

months of February and March and the mature leaves are collected after about 45 days.

They are collected in bundles of 50 to 100 leaves, which are dried in sunlight for about

a week. The dried leaves are sprinkled with water to soften them and then packed

tightly in jute bags and exposed to direct sunlight for two days. The bags, thus packed

and cured, can be stored till their use in bidi manufacture. Great care is needed in the

plucking, curing and storage of tendu patta. It is a sensitive product and with the

slightest mishandling, its quality deteriorates, rendering them unfit for making bidis. One

standard bag of tendu leaves means 1000 bundles of 50 leaves each.

Most of the tendu leaf collectors are women and children, and the collection is done in

the extreme hot season The tendu pluckers start for the forests at 4.00

am. They travel 20-25 km for one or two bagfuls of leaves. They return home at about

1 pm. The entire family (especially women and children) start making the bundles, 1 working up to 6 p.m. and then go to the fadi to

2deposit their daily collection to the fad munshi .

So the pluckers put in 14 -15 hours of labour

everyday. Generally a family makes 100 to 150

bundles in a day. The fad munshi keeps a record

of the deposit from each family. Payment for the

tendu patta is made on a weekly basis.

The wages earned for plucking tendu leaves are

extremely meagre, barely enough for basic

minimum survival. The rate for tendu patta is Rs.

55/- (US$ 1.20) per 100 bundles and each bundle

contains 50 leaves. Thus, a family together

spends more than 15 hours to collect about 100

bundles (5,000 leaves) of tendu that ultimately

fetches a paltry amount of Rs. 55 per day, i.e.,

55 paise per bundle. In some states like

from April-June.

1Fadi is the collection centre, like a open evening market or depot which takes place every evening during the tendu leaf collection season, where the pluckers have to deposit the bundles of leaves collected during the day and spread them evenly on the ground. The contractor, the fad munshi, keeps the record of the number of bundles deposited by each collector.2 Contractor or agent

65

Jharkhand and Bihar, the rates are even lower than this amount where there is no

organized procedure to deposit the leaves. Here, middlemen come to the houses of

the collectors and pay any arbitrary amount to the pluckers.

Sunstroke, snakebite, and bear attacks are some of the hazards that collectors face.

If the trees are tall, people climb up the trunks to pluck the leaves, putting

themselves in danger of injury or even death from falling. In view of these hazards,

a group insurance scheme was launched in 1991 and all tendu leaf pluckers

between 18 and 60 years of age are supposed to be insured free of cost under this

scheme. The scheme is run by the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India. The

nominees of the pluckers are provided help and guidance in the submission of

claims. But in reality, seldom do the pluckers get the benefits from LIC. Moreover

children who often meet with casualties are not covered by the insurance.

For the purpose of exploring the conditions of tendu leaf pluckers, the research team

visited the states of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand during the peak season. In

Madhya Pradesh, our team interacted with a large number of tendu pluckers in

Balaghat district covering 6 villages (Sherpar, Birwa, Gogatola, Lagma, Mohabatta

and Hirapur). The team accompanied tendu pluckers into the forests to document

the process of collection and then walked back with them to their respective villages

to observe the process of bundle making by women and children. The team also

participated in the process of depositing the leaves in the evening at the fadi to

observe the entire course of action. In the state of Jharkhand, the team visited two

villages (Chargi and Daaruhati) in the districts of Bokaro and Ranchi during the lean

season and met tendu pluckers who were mostly idle with no alternative

occupations during the monsoon.

To collect information on tendu leaf pluckers, the research team employed

qualitative methods such as focus group discussions, case studies, interviews and

observations. Since the data collection process was mostly participatory in nature, it

was not possible to gather information through any structured questionnaires. Apart

from the tendu pluckers, the agents (fad munshis), local contractors and officials of

forest departments were also interviewed to understand the overall dynamics of

tendu plucking.

Study Methodology

Madhya Pradesh - Tendu leaf pluckers

Balaghat

Observations from Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh is situated exactly at the centre of India. Due to the vast multiplicity of

topographical features, soil and climatic factors, diverse types of natural vegetation are

available. The state is a union of extremes as far as quality of forest is concerned. In the

state, forest types ranging from dry thorny forests to tropical moist and even sub-

tropical, semi-evergreen forests occur. A number of minor forest products including

medicinal and aromatic plants are found in the natural forests.

Minor forest products (MFP) have tremendous potential and make significant

contribution in terms of income and employment in rural areas near forests. It is 3estimated, for example, that Baiga tribes collect the most MFP species among forest

dwellers in the world. A large portion of the population in Madhya Pradesh is tribal and

these communities largely dwell in forests and subsist on forest products. Some

important minor forest products of the state have been nationalised, recognising their

significance in employment generation and economy of rural people, as well as their

economic role in the industry, while others continue to be collected through the informal

sector.

Madhya Pradesh is the largest tendu leaf producing state in India. The average annual 4production is around 2.5 million standard bags, which is nearly 25% of the total tendu

leaf production in the country. Tendu leaf was the first item to be nationalized in 1964

in view of its importance as an income source for tribal communities and revenue

potential to the state government. It was nationalised through the enactment of

Patta (Vyapar Viniyaman) Adhiniyam, 1964. It is now collected through three-tiered

cooperatives in the state: the Primary Cooperative Society at the village level, the

Tendu

3Baiga is a tribal population mostly found in the hilly forest provinces in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgargh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa . They belong to the Dravidian groups and are one of the eight 'backward' and ancient tribes of Central India.

67

District Union at the district level, and Madhya Pradesh Minor Forest Production (MP

MFP) Federation at the state level. The collection of tendu patta is overseen by the

Primary Co-operative Societies (Laghu Vanopaj Sahakari Samiti). There are over

15,000 collection centers in the state. The collection work is seasonal. It lasts for

about 4-6 weeks. Depending on the geographical location of districts, the season

may commence any time from the middle of April to the second week of May. The

collection stops 10-15 days before the onset of the monsoon, so that the leaves can

be cured, packed in gunny bags and safely transported to godowns (storage

facilities).

Budding (Katai) of old plants during the first ten days of March takes place every

year. This is done by the forest department in collaboration with Laghu Vanopaj

Sahakari Samiti of the area. A specific area is allocated to each MFP (Minor Forest

Products) Cooperative Society. Each Society consists of 11 members, headed by the

President. A manager is appointed to oversee day-to-day functions. The accounts of

the MFP Society is jointly operated by the Manager and Nodal Officer (a designated

officer of forest department).

A fad munshi is responsible for the management of tendu leaf collection at the

village level. The responsibility of the fad munshi is to complete a household survey

of the village, maintain an inspection and comments book, as well as a daily and

weekly record book. A target of tendu patta collection is fixed for each village. The

overall target for the northern division was 66,000 bags during the year 2008.

When a family collects tendu patta and makes bundles of it and deposits it to the fad

munshi, he provides a card (Laghu Vanopaj Sangrahad avem Parishramik Card) to the

family. The details of family members between the ages 18 to 60 is entered in this

card. It is used for keeping a record of tendu patta bundles collected and given to the

fad munshi. This card is valid for one year.

Fad Munshi recording tendu collection

4 One standard bag of tendu leaves in Madhya Pradesh means 1,000 bundles of 50 leaves each, i.e. in a standard bag there are 50,000 leaves.

Focus Group Discussion with tendu pluckers

The large tribal population in Jharkhand is heavily dependent upon forest resources for

their livelihoods and tendu is one of the non-timber forest products that they collect.

The tendu market structure in Jharkhand involves interaction between the Jharkhand

State Forest Development Corporation (JSFDC) and licensed traders who operate as

middlemen between the JSFDC, communities and bidi manufacturers. In reality 6however, illegal traders and middlemen of the bidi factory force the tribal communities

to collect tendu leaves for them in the forests - a trade which involves much drudgery

and carries great risk but brings very little economic benefits for the tribes themselves.

Only the traders and contractors make huge profits from this while the poor collectors

continue to live in poverty.

Unlike in Madhya Pradesh, most of the tendu pluckers in Ranchi and other districts of

Jharkhand sell their leaves directly to the local contractors who come to purchase the

leaves from their respective villages. They get Rs. 13/- to 14/- per kg. of dry tendu

leaves which is much below the market rate, despite working for more than 15 hours

during the peak summers months. But they still prefer to do this activity in order to earn

some extra cash for the family.

Major findings from the FGDs

?Tribals and villagers dwelling near the forests are engaged in this seasonal

occupation because they hardly have any other source of income for the rest of the

year.

?All the studied villages were geographically isolated, surrounded by forest areas,

with barely any basic infrastructural facilities. Apart from tendu leaves, villagers

collect a few minor forest products to sell in the local markets. But the money

earned is extremely insufficient for their bare minimum survival and they perpetually

live below the poverty line.

?A family has to cover a distance of 20 to 25 km daily into the deep forest to collect

Observations from Jharkhand

Jharkhand - Bidi rollers and tendu leaf pluckers

RanchiBokaro

5

5 The state profile is described in Chapter – II6 At times the villagers want to sell the leaves to the agents from the Government Forest Department and not to the illegal traders or bidi factory middlemen. But the latter come to their doorsteps to buy the leaves forcefully, promising other incentives which they never fulfill.

tendu leaves. It takes about 5 hours daily to cover the distance and 6 more hours

to collect leaves that would make 100 to 120 bundles. To make these bundles,

it takes 3 more hours and one member has to spend yet another hour to deposit

the bundles made. Therefore, a total of 15 hours of rigorous work is involved in

this work.

?The structure and composition of cooperative societies are mostly dominated by

government nominees and therefore the problems of the tendu pluckers are not

addressed at the local levels. There is corruption at all levels starting from the

selection of the agents (munshis) and handing at the purchasing centres.

?Payments are often delayed and as a result many of the pluckers, who frequently migrate from one place to another in search of their livelihood, lose their wages.

This money is often never recovered from the agent.

?The tendu collectors complain that the munshis always under-count their leaves

by a few bundles, and many a times they also reject leaves on the pretext of

'bad quality'.

?Since a majority of the children accompany their parents in tendu plucking, they

also contribute to the family income. But there are no statistics of children

engaged in this occupation.

?Children plucking tendu leaves often fall sick as they work in the hot summer

months at 45 - 47º centigrade temperatures in Madhya Pradesh. They also meet

with accidents. But as a policy, these children are not entitled to get any

insurance coverage. Since they work, they also lose their play time and have no

other recreation. Infants, whose mothers go out to the forest early in the

morning suffer from malnutrition and are left at home in the supervision of their

very young siblings,. Most of the women reported that they can never feed their

infants until mid-day and by the time they are back from the forests, both mother

and children are tired.

?The tendu pluckers feel that it is difficult for them to survive with this sole

seasonal earning and so much of hard-work. This cannot be a solution for the

entire year. All the respondents are eager to move to some alternative sources of

livelihood rather than completely depending on nature.

69

Case Studies

Thirty-year-old Somvati from Sherpar village is a mother

of three small children. One year ago her husband went

out of the village looking for some livelihood in the

nearby town and never returned. Now she is the sole

earning member. During the two summer months she

has to walk 15-20 kilometers everyday into the forest

to collect tendu leaves which fetch some cash for her

household necessities. She wakes up at 3.30 in the

morning to prepare a meal for the children and starts at

4 am for the forest, leaving her 6-month-old infant son

in the custody of her two little daughters. In her

absence the eldest daughter, 7-year-old Rewati, feeds

both the siblings and in the afternoon she has to assist

in preparing the bundles of tendu leaves collected by her

mother from the jungle.

28-year-old Suraj Tekam, from village Manjitola, was

only 10 years old when his mother, Chirunjabai was

killed by a tiger while plucking tendu leaves in the

jungle. She was 45 years old then, living with her

husband, a son and 3 daughters. While narrating the

story of his mother, Suraj almost broke down and

remembered the ill-fated day when the villagers gave

him the news of his mother's death. His sisters were

too young to understand or react to the situation.

Suraj's father along with some villagers went to the

jungle to search for the body of Chirunjabai and found it

partially eaten by tigers. Her husband did not want the

children to see their mother's half-eaten corpse. So she

was buried in the jungle. Since then, life has never been smooth for him or for his

siblings. The father got married to their maternal aunt and started neglecting his

children. After some time the father left the village along with his second wife and

the daughters. Suraj was left all alone, literally on the streets and brought up by the

villagers. Now married, he does all sorts of odd jobs to earn their living. But neither

he nor any of his relatives ever went to the jungle for tendu plucking.

71

Radhabai, 52 years old, is a resident of Sherpar

village. She has been plucking tendu leaves since her

early childhood. Like her fellow villagers, she looks

forward for this season when some extra cash can be

earned. This year has been unlucky for Radhabai. One

fine morning she set out for the jungle alone before 4

a.m. thinking that she would get plenty of leaves

(because if they go in a group the leaves get shared)

and it was still dark when she reached the jungle. She

went deep inside a hilly, undulating area, suddenly lost

her balance and fell down into a deep gorge.

Unconscious for a while, she regained consciousness

and found herself in a bed of thorny bush. There was

not a single person near that area. Her screams for

help were heard by some villagers collecting firewood in the jungle, who carried her

back home. Radhabai's serious back injury required treatment. Medical facilities are

not easily accessible from her village, so she had to go to a distant hospital for

treatment and medicines. Although she had an insurance policy (like all other tendu

pluckers) given by the forest department, it was of no use. Her family members

tried to get reimbursement, but they did not get a single rupee. Radha is still

suffering and cannot walk properly. She cannot go to the jungle anymore for tendu

collection.

Eleven year old Manoj from Birwa village suffers from

polio since childhood. He has to use a crutch to walk.

Manoj lost both his parents when he was a little boy

and was brought up by his relatives. He had to

discontinue his education due to lack of family support

and had to assist his uncle's family. Despite his

physical challenge, he is not spared from going to the

jungle for tendu collection. It is extremely disturbing to

see how he manages to walk about 20–25 km to the

jungle, during the peak summer months. He gets tired

and thirsty, but has to go on with the tendu collection

without any day off.

The story of Manoj is not unusual – there are hundreds and thousands of children

like him involved in dangerous and hazardous activities by forfeiting their childhood.

Most of their stories are unheard, untold, or unnoticed. The immediate surroundings

are not sympathetic towards these little children, or maybe they do not have any

other alternatives.

ConclusionWe can only conclude from our preliminary fieldwork experience that tendu pluckers in

Madhya Pradesh as well as in Jharkhand, are economically oppressed and continue to

exist in a miserable condition. People living near the forests completely depend upon

harvests of tendu leaves as a seasonal source of income as the demand from the bidi

industry is very high. But the revenues generated by the bidi industry do not filter back

to the people harvesting the leaves who live in perpetual poverty. It is unfortunate that

there are no effective administrative mechanisms in the states for interdepartmental

coordination to achieve the broader goal of welfare of the poor. The monopoly of the

forest department and its officials, lack of accountability at all levels by concerned

officials and lack of bargaining power of the tendu pluckers are the root cause of misery

of the tribals. The very purpose - to save tendu pluckers from being exploited at the

hands of private contractors for which the trade was nationalized stands defeated.

State control over the trade of NTFPs has often resulted in compounded problems of

restricted access to resources and non-remunerative returns to the collectors.

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Key concerns

?Tendu plucking is a highly labour intensive work which involves about 14-15

hours of hard work everyday, and fetches very less remuneration compared to

the hard labour involved.

?Income through tendu collection is seasonal which does not resolve the

problems of poverty and livelihood of the tendu pluckers. They are devoid of

any alternate means of livelihood in the rest of the year.

?Tendu pluckers are often subject to exploitation at the hands of private

contractors and the government agents. Under-counting, rejection, under-

payment are some of the ways of exploiting the pluckers. Delayed payments

by the agents are a problem for migrant labourers as they may shift from the

area and will no longer be available after the season.

?While no clear statistics exist, it appears that the use of children as labour in

tendu leaf collection is widespread. In this study we found children assisting

their parents in tendu plucking and bundle-making.

?Tendu pluckers constantly live in fear of being attacked by wild animals in the

forests, especially by tigers and bears. Deep in the forests, they also are in

danger of falling from a precipice or where the ground is slippery and uneven.

?Pluckers have no proper footwear or clothing, as stipulated by the state, to

combat the heat while walking long distances to the jungles.

?There are no provisions for insurance for the minors (under the age of 18) who

are involved in plucking tendu in large numbers and often face serious

casualties.

CHAPTER V

Conclusions and Recommendations

75

Despite increased tobacco control interventions in many parts of the world, tobacco use

is growing fastest in low and middle income countries. Tobacco companies have taken

advantage of weaker laws and enforcements in developing countries and continue to

circumvent the law as well as advertise and promote tobacco products in insidious

ways. This has lead to a steady and gradual increase in consumption, especially among

adolescents, youth and the poor. Statistics from many countries show that those who

are poor and not literate are most likely to take to tobacco use since they are unaware

of the related hazards. Tobacco use further increases their poverty since money spent

on tobacco is not spent on basic necessities like nutritious food, clothing and education

of children but instead on healthcare and treatment costs. This way, it not only

impoverishes those who use it but also puts an enormous financial burden on countries.

Costs of tobacco on a country's economy include healthcare costs, lost productivity due

to illness and premature death, lost revenues on smuggled cigarettes as well as long-

term environmental damage.

Overall, this study has examined the three different facets to tobacco and poverty

through employment in the tobacco sector – tobacco farming, bidi rolling and tendu leaf

plucking. The objectives were to assess tobacco as a development issue, identify the

key concerns associated with poverty, tobacco and tobacco-related employment in

order to publish an advocacy document to counter the industry arguments. It also

attempts to come up with a set of recommendations on alternative livelihoods for

tobacco workers. What emerges from the findings is that the tobacco industry does not

contribute to its employees' development, profits and benefits remain with the

employers and workers continue to remain in poverty, getting bare minimum wages and

exposing themselves to serious health risks like green tobacco sickness, serious

respiratory ailments, skin diseases and debilitating, chronic joint pains. These health

hazards due to constant exposure to tobacco dust, tobacco leaves and long hours of

bidi rolling results in poor health and reduced productivity. In addition, tobacco workers

have little or no exposure to education. Barred from facilities legally entitled to them as

well as adequate wages and rights, tobacco workers remain trapped in poverty, in an

environment that impedes their development and restricts their future

This human cost of tobacco production is not to be found printed in the packet's small

print. The inhuman ways in which tobacco farming, procurement, and production are

run by the dictates of the tobacco industry have become hidden norms that need to be

given a human voice. Whilst it is critical to look for sustainable, alternative employment

options for tobacco workers, it is also important to question the system as it stands and

create awareness about it. Government and civil society alike need to advocate for more

transparency in a tyrannical system that has no easily recognizable face that can be

held accountable.

Bidi Rollers

The home based and unorganized sector of the bidi industry continues to thrive because

largely, bidi workers live in poverty, are illiterate and vulnerable without a voice. It is

easy, therefore for the industry to exploit them. A home-based system enables bidi

factory owners to evade labour laws related to regularization of the conditions of work

and payment of minimum wages and other benefits as per the law. This system also

ensures maximum profit solely for the owners rather than the workers in the absence of

any collective action by the workers. Most of the bidi workers with whom the research

team interacted are interested in adopting alternate livelihoods in view of the health

hazards as well as exploitative nature of the industry, but are unable to do so as they do

not have any other skills or sources of income. Children form a large part – nearly 30%

of the working force of the bidi industry. They receive no wages as they help their

families in this work forfeiting their study and play time. Those who attend school roll

bidis before and after school hours.

Recommendations

?In view of the enormous human cost involved in producing tobacco and tobacco

products, it is recommended that taxes on all forms of chewing and smoking

tobacco (raw, bidis, gutka, and cigarettes) should be considerably increased. A

strong, rational taxation policy on tobacco products is recommended, as supported

by global evidences, to reduce consumption and increase government revenue. Part

of the revenue generated should be utilized through a systematic mechanism to

support a national initiative for safer, alternative livelihoods for tobacco workers.

?Taxes on bidis should be increased to narrow the price difference between

cigarettes and bidis. The current taxation system on bidis allows the industry to

avoid paying taxes, as manufacturers producing less than 2 million bidis a year are

exempt from excise duties. To evade taxes, large factory owners show fragmented

production and present the occupation as home-based units to maximize their

profits. The current system therefore needs to be rationalized and this exemption

needs to be abolished.

?The introduction of Goods and Services Tax is an opportunity for the Government

to bring bidis under the tax ambit and levy additional taxes on this 'sin product' to

save millions of lives. In addition to the bidi cess, the excise duty collected from the

tax imposed on bidis should be used for the welfare of bidi workers.

?To regulate the bidi industry and to enable bidi workers to demand their legitimate

rights, all bidi companies must be registered and identity cards should be issued to

all the workers working both in organized and un-organised sectors.

?There should be immediate enforcement of the provisions under the Bidi and Cigar

workers (condition of employment) Act 1966, Bonded Labour System (Abolition

Act) 1976, Child Labour Act 1986, Bidi Workers Welfare Fund Act 1976, and the

Bidi Welfare Cess Act 1976 to improve the overall working conditions of the bidi

workers and give them their rightful benefits.

77

?Bidi workers must be assisted in adopting safer, alternate sources of livelihood

as a majority of them want to shift from this occupation which has kept them in

perpetual poverty. Implementation of poverty eradication programmes like the

National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (NREGA), Swarna Jayanti Gram

Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) of Government

of India can be an immediate alternative solution for bidi workers. It is also

suggested that the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) scheme and

the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) programmes should be implemented in bidi

rolling areas to encourage bidi workers to send their children to schools.

?Bidi workers can also be linked to vocational training institutes like ITI (Industrial

Training Institutes (ITIs) and Industrial Training Centres (ITCs), etc. according to

local market needs.

?Rehabilitation measures must keep the aspirations of the community in mind

while shifting them to sustainable, remunerative micro enterprises. Alternative

options suggested must take into account the lifestyles of bidi rollers, level of

skills, needs and constraints. They must also be designed with a long-term

vision so that the benefits should extend to the next generations as well, who

shouldn't be compelled under any circumstances to take up bidi rolling as an

occupation again.

?There are several successful examples such as SEWA, VHAI-Aparajita and other

self help groups who are working in home based enterprises. Following need

based vocational trainings, in a matter of eight to ten years, many of these self-

help groups have successfully turned into independent, and profit-based

entrepreneurs.

Tobacco cultivation offers neither a long- nor short-term secure option for its workers.

Due to the amount of chemical residues from tobacco plantation that poisons soil and

makes it unsuitable for the production of nutritional crops such as cereals and vegetables

, tobacco is “hard on land” as well as “hard on people” and thus not a viable crop for the

long-term sustainability of its growers. It has been responsible for promoting debt and

landlessness among the marginal and small farmer families, who initiate tobacco cropping

hoping for profit but find themselves entrapped in a vicious cycle of misery and poverty.

There is extensive involvement of child and women family labourers among the poor

farming families in cultivation and curing of tobacco, which adversely affects their health

as well as opportunities to put their time to better use.

Recommendations

?The government should stop contradictory policies of tobacco promotion on one

hand and tobacco control on the other. Several tobacco producing countries

face this constant dilemma. Grants for conducting tobacco-related research and

subsidization of tobacco cultivation should be discontinued in a phased manner.

There is a need for coordinated efforts by both the government and civil society

Tobacco Farmers

to work for the shift of tobacco workers towards better, safer and viable alternative

cropping and livelihoods.

?Several alternative crops or combination of crops yield greater income than tobacco

leaves, and may involve fewer chemical inputs, less labour, and less risk of

devastating loss in times of failure. Tobacco is not a traditional crop of the Indian

and Asian subcontinent and there are currently efforts being made to return to

indigenous crops. These indigenous crops include cotton, soybean, groundnut,

okra, eggplant, tomato and chillies. These are considered on environmental and

nutritional grounds to be a step towards sustainable development.

?Some of the areas where the Government can play a major role are in assisting

tobacco farmers to opt for alternative crops by providing seeds, marketing facilities,

credit for input costs, insurance for the crop/cultivators and in ensuring a net return

from each crop.

?Apart from alternative crops, farmers can be encouraged to take up alternative

economic activities like dairy farming, animal husbandry, horticulture and sericulture

in their local settings.

?Since tobacco supply is highly elastic with respect to the price in the domestic

market as well as the export price, the government may have to regulate this price

to ensure that farmers shift from tobacco to other crops. Some proceeds of indirect

taxes on tobacco leaves and tobacco products should be used for supporting

farmers in growing alternative crops.

?A national initiative is required to educate farmers on the ill effects of tobacco

cultivation. The health effects on particularly women and children from pesticides

used, frequent fertilizer sprays, green tobacco sickness, should be highlighted. The

farmers should also be made aware that employing children below 14 years on

tobacco farms is a punishable offence.

Tendu plucking is a labour intensive work which involves long hours everyday, and

fetches bare minimum wages for the pluckers. Income through tendu collection is also

seasonal, just lasting six weeks which does not resolve the long-term problems of

poverty and livelihood of the forest dwellers and tribals. Unlike the bidi sector, tendu

leaf plucking is somewhat regularized. Nationalisation was done initially to protect the

interest of the poor against exploitation by private traders and middlemen but in reality,

due to lack of enforcement, corruption and involvement of government officials, tendu

workers have failed to get the stipulated benefits. Tendu is collected during the lean

summer months when pluckers critically need the cash but unfortunately, the record for

quick payment is quite dismal, and pluckers often have to wait for payment.

Recommendations

?The tendu pluckers have little to do with the governance of the tendu business. The

business is clearly run by the forest department hierarchy and petty politicians.

Tendu Leaf Pluckers

79

Pluckers who are supposedly the 'members' of cooperative societies have not

been issued membership. Efforts should be made to recognize tendu pluckers

as formal employees with related benefits and not as seasonal, casual

labourers.

?As the practice of tendu leaf plucking is nationalized, price fixation and other

management decisions related to collection and trade are decided by the

government. Efforts should be made to involve beneficiaries, that is tendu

pluckers in the decision making process.

?While assigning a bigger role to government institutions, which were earlier

accused of inefficiency, collusion with traders, and callous attitude towards

forest gatherers, care needs to taken that there is all round improvement in

governance and administrative mechanism.

?The entire tendu trade is the exclusive responsibility of the Forest Department

or its agencies, and there is no internal review of its limitations and failures by

other sister departments of government. The Department of Rural

Development, which is incharge of poverty alleviation and the Department of

Social (or Tribal) Welfare which is supposed to look after the interest of tribals

and scheduled castes take no interest in the tendu operation., These

departments need to be more vigilant, and work in coordination with the

Forest Department towards the common objective of poverty alleviation.

?Civil society can assist the government in monitoring and reviewing the

system of tendu collection. Local field NGOs can act as independent

observers who can conduct annual assessments, interact with the pluckers,

and monitor the collection procedure to minimize existing malpractices as well

as ensure timely and fair disbursal of payments.

?Owing to the seasonal nature of tendu collection, it is very crucial to address

the issue of providing sustainable alternate livelihoods to the forest dwellers

so that they can have other sources of income throughout the year. Forest

resources can be well-utilized by the Government for creating cottage

industries like fruit processing units, vegetable-growing, broom-making, locals

crafts, textiles and handlooms. Tendu pluckers can be trained on the required

skills to work in these units and earn a sustainable income for their families.

On a conclusive note, this study contributes to existing evidence that tobacco

farmers, bidi rollers and tendu leaf pluckers are exploited, get no share in the

profits earned and live in extreme poverty. Special provisions or benefits created

by our policymakers are not reaching them, posing a complex barrier to

development. Yet analysis and criticism is not enough; alternatives should and can

be pursued. We must question the benefits of encouraging an industry if the

economic gains are only limited to a few extremely wealthy and powerful

individuals, while the majority of the workers subsist in extreme poverty. This is

also endorsed by the European Commission (EC) and WHO which recognize that

tobacco is a development issue and that “tobacco production and consumption

contribute to increased poverty, undermining sustainable development”.

The study also reiterates that tobacco is closely linked with the UN Millennium

Development Goals as the tobacco production and consumption is one of the chief

causes of poverty and mortality in countries. The MDGs can only be achieved with

comprehensive tobacco control measures to be pursued by all low and middle income

countries. Governments have to play a major role by promoting smoke free, prohibiting

advertising and promotion, raising taxes on tobacco products, introducing strong health

warnings on tobacco packages, banning sale to and by minors among other measures.

Along with these demand side measures, the supply side also has to be addressed for

progressing towards development goals.

As a signatory to the WHO-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC),

the Indian Government, while framing policies, must bear in mind that in addition to

implementing the tobacco control law which addresses the demand side reduction of

tobacco use, there must be simultaneous supply side reduction interventions which will

bring down tobacco production gradually but drastically. The Indian Government must

also follow the clear guidelines laid down under Article 17 and 18 of the WHO-FCTC

where Parties should promote, as appropriate, economically viable alternatives for

tobacco workers, growers and, as the case may be, individual sellers. Parties should

also have due regard for the protection of the environment and the health of persons in

relation to the environment in respect of tobacco cultivation and manufacture within

their respective territories.

It is hoped that this study and its recommendations will serve as a crucial substantive

advocacy document to help the Government to launch a revolutionary national initiative

for alternative livelihoods on a large scale for tobacco workers. As the problems of

tobacco workers are deep-rooted as well as multifarious, short-term measures will not

have the desired impact of bringing them out of poverty towards a dignified and

economically self-sufficient living. We need an all-inclusive programme on safer,

sustainable alternative livelihoods which will benefit tobacco workers by giving them an

opportunity to earn better remuneration, be healthy, avail of education opportunities for

the next generation and lead better lives.

81

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