Indian bidi workers fear industry could be wiped out

Hundreds of bidi workers, bidi contractors and union members have held a massive protest against the Indian government’s ‘ban on tobacco products’, according to a Daijiworld.com story.

The protest, which included members of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions and of the All India Trade Union Congress, was held yesterday outside the District Collector’s office in Manipal, Karnataka.

The protesters were told by one speaker that, under the government’s plans, tobacco products would disappear completely by 2020, though it wasn’t clear whether this was a reference to the fact that the government is considering implementing Articles 17 and 18 of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that aim to phase out tobacco cultivation by 2020.

Nevertheless, the speaker said that if the plan went ahead, the Prime Minister should arrange alternative jobs for bidi workers because their livelihood would be taken away.

It was estimated that one million people earned their living from the bidi industry.

The story is at: http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=304624.