Peer Reviewed Open Access

This paper is reviewed in accordance with the Peer Review Program of IRA Academico Research

Beedi Workers in Jangipur Subdivision of Murshidabad District (1990-2020): A Historical Analysis

Abdullah ., Shamim Firdous
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21013/jmss.v22.n1.p2
Abstract
Jangipur sub-division of Murshidabad district is a major hub of beedi industry in West Bengal and also in India. In Jangipur sub-division about seventy (70) percent of the workers involved in the Beedi industry are women and children. Major Beedi factories in the state are located in Aurangabad and Dhuliyan areas of Jangipur sub-division and this area is home to the largest number of beedi workers. They have various problems related to wages, job security, and health issues. Due to the production of tobacco products, the number of diseases among workers in this region is high. School dropouts are high among children as they are engaged in beedi production from an early age. The workers are duped in various ways by the Munsis and beedi companies. As most of the workers are unorganized and poverty is a constant companion of the people in this region and there are no major industries in this district, the economic base of this region is dependent on beedi industry; they cannot voice their demands for fear of losing their jobs. The State and Central Government have various developmental schemes for the workers but these schemes reach them with very few benefits.
Keywords
Beedi Workers, Jangipur Subdivision, Labour, Murshidabad District, Organized Sector, Unorganized Sector
Full Text:
PDF
References

Abdullah. (2019). Murshidabader Beedi shilpo o songjukto shromik somproday: Ekal O Sekal. Itihas O Sanskriti, V(3), 99-108.

Ali, M. J. (2019). Murshidabader Beedi Shilpo o Sonjukto Shrom Shomproday: Ekti Somikkha. Morte Asini, 12-21.

Arora, M., et al. (2020). The Indian bidi industry: Trends in employment and wage differentials. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, Article 572638. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.572638

B. K. Bandhyapdhyay, et al. (2003). Murshidabad Distrcit Gazetteer. Govt. of West Bengal.

District Statistical Handbook 2014: Murshidabad. (2016). Department of Planning, Statistics and Programme Monitoring, Bureau of Applied Economics & Statistics, Government of West Bengal.

Ghosal, R. (2021). Voter age masterstroke! Char bochor por mojuri barlo beedi shromikder, Ei Samay. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://eisamay.com/west-bengal-news/bahrampur-news/beedi-workers-wage-increased-after-4-years-in-west-bengal/86609277.cms

Ghosh, D. (2022). Identification of Prime Factors of Active River Bank Erosion in the Lower Course of Ganga Bhagirathi River: A Study. Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series, 23, 71-83. https://apcz.umk.pl/BOGPGS/article/download/40490/34174/102950

Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS 2): Fact sheet India 2016–17. (2018). Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment. (2018). Unstarred question no. 3198 to be answered on 06.08.2018: Beedi workers (PDF). Lok Sabha.

https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/15/AU3198.pdf?source=pqals

Harriss-White, B., & Gooptu, N. (2009). Mapping India's World of Unorganized Labour (L. Panitch & C. Leys, Eds.). Socialist Register 2001, 37, 89-118. https://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/download/5757/2653/7684

Joint Labour Commissioner. (2020). Circular No. 122/RW/28/94/LSC/JLC. Labour Department, Government of West Bengal.

Kar, S. (2012). Child workers in household industry: a study of Beedi industry in Murshidabad district of West Bengal’ [Ph.D dissertation]. Viswa Bharati University.

Beedi workers welfare schemes. (n.d.). Labour Commissionerate, Labour Department, Government of West Bengal. Retrieved May 31, 2023.

Labour in West Bengal 2014–15: Annual report. (2015). Labour Department, Government of West Bengal.

Lal, M. (2005). Labour Administration and the Informal Economy in India. In A. Sivananthiran & C. S. Venkata Ratnam (Eds.), Informal Economy: The Growing Challenge for Labour Administration, International Labour Office, 43-74.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. (2019–2020). National Family Health Survey–5: District fact sheet, Murshidabad, West Bengal. International Institute for Population Sciences.

Mukherjee, N., & Dwivedy, M. S. (2014). A socio-economic research of beedi workers in Jangipur subdivision of Murshidabad district: West Bengal, West Bengal Human Rights Commission, 1–2.

Patra, A. (2016). Note ban sends beedi units up in smoke. People’s Archive of Rural India. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://ruralindiaonline.org/article/note-ban-sends-beedi-units-up-in-smoke

Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector, (2007). National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, Government of India, Government of India. https://www.wiego.org/research-library-publications/report-conditions-work-and-promotion-livelihoods-unorganised-sector/

Sardar, B. K. (2019). Growth and Distribution of Beedi Workers in India with special reference to the Indian Sundarban Region. Indian Journal of Spatial Science, 10(02), 114-150. https://www.academia.edu/40997825/Growth_and_Distribution_of_Bidi_Workers_in_India_with_special_reference_to_the_Indian_Sundarban_Region

Singh, S. S. (2022). In India’s beedi hub of Murshidabad, exclusive hospital for workers of the industry lacks doctors and facilities. The Hindu. Retrieved March 25, 2024, from https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/in-indias-beedi-hub-of-murshidabad-exclusive-hospital-for-workers-of-the-industry-lacks-doctors-and-facilities/article66274371.ece

World Health Organization. (2022). Bidi rolling is an occupational health hazard: WHO study. Retrieved March 30, 2024, from https://www.who.int/india/news-room/feature-stories/detail/bidi-rolling-is-an-occupational-health-hazard--who-study.


©IRA Academico Research & its authors
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. This article can be used for non-commercial purposes. Mentioning of the publication source is mandatory while referring this article in any future works.