KENDRAPARA: The second wave of the pandemic has spelt doom for thousands of beedi binders in Kendrapara district, just as they were recovering from the impact of Covid-19 last year. Livelihood of around 4,000 beedi binders, including women, is at stake.
Apart from difficulty in procuring raw materials, the stress on social distancing has made things even more difficult as beedi binding is done in groups. Sources said people in Dilarpur, Badahat, Ranapada, Fakirabada, Chaudakulat, Dobandha, Tendakuda, Madhapur and Mahipal villages here have been binding beedis for decades to eke a living.
Normally companies supply raw materials like kendu leaf and tobacco from Keonjhar, Koraput and Mayurbhanj districts. Reportedly, companies in Kendrapara, Pattamundai, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and other areas across the State depend on beedi binding workers from the district keeping them earning throughout the year. But after the virus outbreak, their work has come to a standstill. While companies are unable to provide raw material, lockdown restrictions have made procurement of kendu leaf by the Forest department, difficult as well.
“Things were gradually improving since December but the second wave has put us back in the same condition like last year,” said Sabina Khatun, a beedi binder from Chaudakulat village. The plight is similar for others in the business.”For the last three months, beedi companies have not given us raw material. It takes us 7-10 hours to bind 1,000 beedis daily for which we get `100 each. But with the lockdown, our livelihood is at stake,” said Rosy Bibi from Dilarpur.
A trade union leader Jagajiban Das said the livelihood crisis of beedi workers is disconcerting as most families in the business are poor and struggle to earn two square meals a day. Meanwhile, district Labour Inspector Debashis Jena said workers in the beedi sector are entitled to free medical facilities and other provisions like loans for building houses, as per the Beedi Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1976. “Besides, the government will provide monetary compensation and other help to all Covid-hit workers in the business,” he said.