Tiny hands still roll out beedis in Mysore

Companies like the Mangalore Ganesh Beedi enroll and register men as workers. But the real production is done with the help of the entire family, including children. In fact, Rehman is a bit puzzled when told about the row over using children.

Equally flummoxed is Iqbal, who has initiated all five members of his household into rolling beedis. “I don’t know what’s wrong in my children working in my house. They are all in their mid-teens and all are experts in rolling beedis.”

Whatever the case, residents of Beedi Colony vouch for the fact that the children are never coerced. But since the daily earnings are linked to the output, it is fair to assume that there is a lot of pressure on the children, just like there is on the adults, to work for long hours.

Lokesh, a social worker, is not sure if this trend can ever be arrested. “The only way is to fix the workers’ wages and not link it directly to the output. This way, may be we can lessen the burden on children.”

Rehman’s logic in using his son to roll beedis is for all to see. “Rs 50 per thousand beedis rolled is too tempting a rate. If I have to use my children to make some money, then so be it. After all, most of the 1000-odd families here can barely make ends meet.”

It is no wonder then that of the 1,000 houses in Aziz Sait Nagar, more than 800 are small beedi roling units working for major bands. K C Showkath Pasha, secretary of the Mysore Beedi Mazdoor Association, has nothing against major beedi brands including Mangalore Ganesh Beedi.

It is the small-time brands which tend to exploit workers, he says. These fly-by-night operators do not register the names of the workers thus denying them PF and other mandatory facilities. For long, Aziz Sait has been championing the cause of beedi workers and has been one of the key men behind organising the Cess Act which set aside Rs 1 per thousand beedis rolled as cess for a workers’ welfare fund.

Pasha says around 8,000 workers in the district have registered themselves with the Ganesh Beedi Company and are enjoying several benefits, including funding for their children’s education. But as far as the issue of child labour is concerned, the company at the thick of it is clear about its stand.

Rampriya Das, spokesman for Mangalore Ganesh Beedi, says his company is not “directly involved in beedi production as it is let out on contract”. He clarified that his company would cancel the contract if there was “any evidence of the involvement of child labour at the production end”.