Freedom from smoke

Kids of beedi workers in Sarda Group don't inherit jobs, but go for higher studies.

Shrirang Sarda, the young, enthusiastic and dynamic managing director of the Sarda group, which has interests in the beedi and construction sectors, doesn't want the sons and daughters of his beedi workers to end up rolling beedis just as their parents did throughout their lives. He is a tobacco merchant who admits that his products are harmful to health. And yet it is a means of employment to those who need it most.

When we hear the word 'beedi worker', the first image which strikes our mind is that of a malnourished woman with scores of health problems due to the kind of work she does and the meagre wages she earns.

But meeting hundreds of workers from the Sarda group, one finds a different picture. They might be earning minimum wages but the vast package of welfare activities which Sarda group implements for them means there is cheer and hope on their faces, especially when they talk about the success of their children.

Vitthal Aher, a 30-year-old, who is from Ganore village in Sangmner taluka of the Ahamdnagar district, has done MBA from Boston University and is now working with an oil exploration company in Australia, is a son of beedi worker parents Nanasaheb and Drupada. Vitthal's parents, who were marginal land holder and dependent on rain-fed farming had no option but to roll beedies to support the family.

Vitthal has only complaint from life that, both his parents are no longer with him to enjoy his success. Vitthal has donated Rs 51,000 to his school in Ganore village to give computer training to five bright students from his school and also wants to set up a hospital at Sangmner which will make affordable health care available to villagers at a nominal cost.

The group's coordinator for welfare activity Ashwini Kullkarni says, Veedi Kamgar Kalyan Pratishthan (VKKP), a non profit organisation set up by the group, has an aim which is not just limited to giving out doles to the poorest of poor from the society and make them handicaps, but to empower them to take on the challenges of life and which is why, the major thrust of welfare activities is in the education of children of beedi workers.

Apart from helping the children of these beedi workers in getting scholarships which are instituted by the government for the education of wards of beedi workers, VKKP gives a railway or bus pass to the students as many have to travel 40 kilometres or more to attend college or other institutes of higher learning. If the distance is more and the student has to live in the hostel, then VKPP also pays for the hostel and mess fees.

Seetabai Datir is the proud mother of Aurvedic doctor Kiran. She is not only happy about the fact that her son became a doctor, but she is more proud about the fact that her son has chosen to do practice in Sangmner, which is just a taluka town, and not lured by the glitter of big cities like Mumbai, Pune and Nashik.

Another initiative taken by the VKPP to benefit the Beedi workers is to ensure that all their employees get the benefit of the JBY, launched by the LIC for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Under the scheme, for a premium of Rs 200 per annum, a family gets a death cover of Rs 30,000 if the earning member of the family dies; besides, children from standard VIII to XII get scholarship and some medical care as well.

VKKP plays a role of an intermediary "" right from getting the application forms filled from workers, to pursuing the cases with the right government official. And out of share of Rs 50 which the beneficiary has to pay, VKPP also pays Rs 30 for the beneficiary. So far more than 7,000 workers have become beneficiaries of the JBY.

Sharing the philosophy of the group which claims to spend a third of its profits on welfare schemes, Sarda said, "Perhaps this is the influence of the Bhakti Movement on my grand father who started this business, when apart from beedi rolling there was no employment in this region. The Bhakti movement teaches you to empathise with the plight of others. So, there is nothing new in the welfare activities. They were there when my grand father was running the business, my father tried to enlarge the scope of these activities and I am trying to have a focused approach towards these activities "" so that children of beedi workers don't become beedi workers out of compulsion."