Karnataka beedies from Nizamabad soon

By Javid Hassan

Facing a shortage of trained beedi workers in Chennapatna, 65km from Bangalore, a leading beedi factory is planning to set up a branch in the Nizamabad district of Telangana this year.

This strategic move by Karnataka Jyothi Beedies (KJB) was unveiled to HNN by S.K.Shakeel, proprietor of Karnataka Jyothi Beedies, who said that Nizamabad in the northern Telangana region has a skilled work force required by his factory. The decision also means job creation for people of that district at a time when the entire country is facing the heat of global recession.

Chennapatna, located in the rural district of Bangalore, is a tourist resort renowned for its arts and handicrafts. But it has also carved out a niche for itself as a beedi production centre. The 50-year-old factory, according to Shakeel, has a production capacity of five lakh beedies per month, for which he hires 100 women workers who do the job from their homes. He pays them Rs.68 per day for rolling tobacco leaves into beedies. This is in addition to facilities like Provident Fund for their welfare and bonus depending on the annual profit.

He said beedi manufacturing is a cottage industry, for which tobacco leaves are procured from Maharashtra and Chhatisgrah, while tobacco is sourced from Nipani in Belgaum (Karnataka). It is a labour-intensive industry producing income for housewives. He wants to step up his production to meet the growing demand for beedies despite the presence of 52 beedi factories in the State.

A demographic profile of the district as per the 2001 census shows the total population of the district at 23.42 lakhs, with the ratio of males at 2.14 lakhs to 2.08 lakhs for females in the urban areas as against 9.48 and 9.72 lakhs respectively in the rural areas. Thus, women slightly outnumber men in the rural areas, while they are almost evenly matched in the township. As such, it provides a good catchment area for recruiting women for rolling beedi leaves—a factor that makes Nizamabad a strong candidate for locating KJB’s factory outside its home base.

Statistical data also shows that agriculture is the mainstay of its economy, with about 81% of the working population subsisting on farming. One of the oldest factories in that district is the Nizam Sugar Factory, besides other small-scale agro-industries. Since a majority of its population is impoverished due to poor educational standards and resources crunch, some 28 NGOs, including IndianNGOs.com, are working in cooperation with Hindustan Unilever Ltd to promote volunteering management services in the areas of secondary girl children, water, environment, livelihood, empowerment of SC / STs. The impending arrival of KJB could provide a shot in the arm to the people in their search for livelihood.

Recently, the beedi industry, both in Karnataka and elsewhere in India, had come under pressure during the US Presidential campaign, when former Illinois Senator and now President Barrack Obama turned the spotlight on the import of Indian beedies into the US as it involved child labour. The campaign led to the imposition of a ban on beedi imports from Karnataka and other Indian states.

Though their earnings were slashed, parents had no choice but to pull their children out of school and induct them into other odd jobs like working as shoe-shine boys, house servants or in agarbatti factories, where the wages were higher than those offered by the beedi industry. But the girls continued to roll beedies due to the pressure of living. More than 80 percent of the beedi workers hail from the Muslim community in view of their low standard of living, according to a survey of the beedi industry in Karnataka.

The study also indicates that around 60 percent of the poor children, who used to assist their parents, were school-goers before the US sanctions were slapped. Since then, there has been no significant improvement in the level of their school enrollment. In the case of girls, the percentage of school dropouts stands at 90 as they are obliged to help their parents eke out a living. In this respect, Karnataka Jyothi Beedies offers at least a living wage to women workers, besides other statutory benefits, so that they could send their children to government or municipal schools and improve their future prospects.