BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Kendupatra Karmachari Sangha, an association of kendu leaf pluckers and seasonal workers, on Friday threatened to launch a state-wide protest on March 11 over delay in wage hike, imposition of GST and faulty auction policy of the State Government.
President of the association Bijay Kumar Mohanty said if the Government fails to take adequate measures to address their grievances by March 10, lakhs of kendu leaf pluckers and seasonal workers will stage road blockade on national and state highways in 21 districts where kendu leaf is collected.
The members raised serious concern over the gradual reduction in kendu leaf collection target which in turn has resulted in loss of lakhs of jobs. From collection of over five lakh quintal kendu leaf a decade back to the target of only two lakh quintal this year, the quantity is gradually declining. As a result, the number of pluckers and seasonal workers has now come down from 18 lakh to 12 lakh, said general secretary Jogendranath Tripathy.
He said the faulty auction policy has also severely affected the trade of the forest produce. While some kendu leaf ranges auctioned the produce between `17,000 and `33,000 per quintal in 2019, others sold the forest produce at less than `3,000 per quintal, Tripathy alleged.
Vice-president Gokul Meher said this apart, the 18 per cent GST on kendu leaves, 28 per cent on bidis, small hand-rolled cigarettes, and five per cent on transport are discouraging traders from procuring it.
He demanded complete waiver of GST on kend leaf. In spite of earning hundreds of crores every year without any investment, the Government is not hiking the wage of pluckers, seasonal workers and watchmen, he added.