Proposed COTPA Act to hit lakhs of beedi workers

New Delhi: The proposed amendment to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (COTPA) Act puts the livelihood of millions of women in jeopardy. The new insertion -- Section 10A(3), makes it mandatory for persons to obtain licenses, permissions and registrations for selling and distributing any tobacco product.

This insertion, if implemented, will be an extremely harsh measure for small vendors who do not have the competency or financial means to obtain such license. 'Beedis' are mostly sold by small vendors and hawkers who have a small scale set up for selling tobacco products. Most of the sale of 'beedis' take place from micro shops situated under trees and on pavements which will not be recognised by the municipalities or given licenses. Therefore ,the entire sale of beedis will come to a grinding and abrupt halt. If the sale of beedis comes to a halt, then the entire beedi industry will come to a halt.

A study by Vibha Vasuki, a Human Rights Lawyer and Dr. Siva Prasad Rambhatla, Senior Professor of Social Anthropology titled, "A Study on the Status of Alternate Employment Schemes for Women Beedi Rollers" delves into the impact this COTPA amendment will have on millions of women beedi rollers in the country. The report says that until skill-building and alternative employment is provided on a large scale for their livelihood, Beedi rolling is the only viable occupation for millions of women across India.

The study states that beedis dominate tobacco consumption in India. They are thin, hand-rolled cigarettes that are wrapped in a tendu leaf and filled with tobacco. About 7.7 per cent of adults in India smoke Beedis which have a market share of 85 per cent of all smoking products in India. Any anti-tobacco legislation largely impacts the Beedi industry.

The manufacturing process is highly labour intensive. The over hundred-year-old cottage industry employs workers in mostly the unorganised sector comprising mainly of home-based women workers from poor households. Ninety-six per cent of the total Beedi workers are home-based while only 4 per cent work in factories. A majority (84 per cent) of home-based workers are women while only 16 per cent are men.

As a member nation signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the Central Government is obligated to promote and provide suitable alternative livelihoods for tobacco workers, including Beedi Rollers.