Officials pull the plug on TN cracker units over safety, workers face job heat
VIRUDHUNAGAR: Workers of firecracker units in Sivakasi and nearby areas are caught between a rock and a hard place. They either die in blasts because of disregard for safety rules at firecracker units or face near-death experience every day because of crushing poverty due to lack of jobs.
After the death of hundreds of workers in explosions nudged authorities to clamp down on firecracker units, at least 135 factories were forced to shut down in three months in Sivakasi and hundreds more were made to slash production due to poor safety standards.
This has rendered thousands of workers jobless. According to Small Cracker Manufacturers Association president G Vinayagamoorthi, around 25,000 workers have lost jobs due to the suspension of cracker unit licences this year alone.
According to sources, there were nearly 1,100 units in Virudhunagar district and after a recent inspection at 300 units, 136 were asked to close down due to violations. With an average of 150 workers employed in each of these units, about two lakh workers were employed in firecracker manufacturing in the district. Now, thousands of them are staring at a bleak future.
Though the Deepavali season, when workers are in high demand, is only months away, B Sinnaraja Muniyammal (35), a Melapethilvetti resident and an employee of 20 years, lost her job at a cracker unit as the licence was suspended. “Around this time last year, I was dong additional shifts manufacturing different kinds of crackers.
I had a stable income. But now, we are struggling even to buy vegetables for our everyday meals,” she lamented. Muniyammal also said that after the cracker unit was sealed, she approached several other units but there were no vacancies.
Villagers of Mathiyasenai which lost 10 people in a recent blast near Sengamalapatti are struggling to find a job amid constant fear for life due to fire accidents. The villagers said their lives have become miserable due to lack of job security. A Amsavalli, who worked near one of the accident sites, said she found it difficult to sleep at nights after the explosion and her economic condition too has turned for the worse.
“I could not even buy a litre of milk for my children. I’m feeding them gruel and water,” she said. “Given the limited employment opportunity in the region, we are not able to find alternative jobs,” said N Vijaya (45), another former cracker unit worker.
Workers who were skilled in manufacturing cracker varieties that were recently banned due to environmental concerns are at their wits’ end. Owing to the good demand for ‘saravedi’ (joint crackers) in the market, B Rani (41), a Chokkalingapuram resident, along with several other women of her age were trained from a very young age to knot the joint crackers.
For over 20 years, Rani has been employed in manufacturing these crackers. Last month, when Rani was knotting ‘saravedi’ pieces at a cracker unit in which she had been employed for six years, her co-workers told her to leave the place immediately as officials who came for inspection had suspended the licence of the unit.
Subsequently, out of fear, Rani and her co-workers fled to their homes. Now she is jobless. Her month-long attempt to find another job failed, and she is finding it difficult to run her family of four.”When I approached other units to get some other work as the manufacturing of saravedi is prohibited, the employers are not ready to provide me a job since I lacked skill in manufacturing other cracker varieties,” Rani said.
Following a series of cracker blasts in the region since the beginning of the year, the district administration, in an attempt to prevent such accidents and save lives, formed special teams to inspect the units. During inspections by the joint teams of revenue and Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) officials over the last three months, licences of several units were suspended for violations. Revenue officials pointed out that production has been halted in at least 130 cracker units.
Additionally, the Directorate of Industrial and Safety Health (DISH) has taken action against 56 cracker units. DISH sources said that though the Virudhunagar collector has asked all the employers to send their foreman and supervisors for one-week safety training programme, which is periodically conducted by DISH in Sivakasi, around 98 cracker units have not sent their staff yet. “Anymore delay will result in stringent action,” an official said.
Another revenue official said, “To earn more with limited investment, many cracker unit owners increase their production by violating rules and stack more chemicals than the permitted limit, thereby putting the lives of workers in danger.” For instance, in a recent incident near Ramalingapuram, a cracker unit owner along with two others was booked under the Explosives Act for illegally manufacturing crackers under a shed. They were also found guilty of hoarding crackers in an adjacent building.
While suspending the licences of erring cracker units, with limited alternative job opportunity in the region, workers like Mariyammal, Vijaya, and many others are left jobless. Since cracker units can employ only a limited number of workers, as per the Explosives Act 2008, the units that are currently functioning cannot absorb more workers immediately. The surge in unemployment and financial crisis has pushed many former cracker unit staff to scout for neem trees to collect fruits and sell the dried seeds for a meagre income of `20-30 per kg.
Though Virudhunagar collector VP Jeyaseelan said the district administration is trying to create employment opportunities for the workers through schemes like MGNREGA, the job crisis needs a comprehensive and immediate solution.
Speaking to TNIE, Labour Welfare Minister CV Ganesan assured to take the issue to the attention of Chief Minister MK Stalin. He said through schemes like Pudhumai Penn and Naan Mudhalvan, the state is taking measures to make sure that youngsters are educated and have stable jobs instead of becoming daily-wage labourers.