Tag: bidis

  • Bidi Workers Demand Better Conditions

    Bidi Workers Demand Better Conditions

    Photo: Brandy Brinson

    During a public meeting in Rangpur, Bangladesh, representatives of the Bidi Workers Federation presented several demands for improving their working conditions, reports the Daily Sun.

    Among other things, they want multinationals to increase the price of low-end cigarettes from BDT45 ($0.38) to BDT65 per pack and the government to close down illegal bidi factories. The bidi workers also demanded a halt to “the brokering” of BAT.

    Rangpur Mayor Mostafizar Rahman, who also spoke at the gathering, urged the government to protect the bidi industry from “the conspiracies of international companies.”

    He highlighted that approximately 2 million workers across the country earn their livelihood by working in bidi factories. Rahman advocated for wage increases, the withdrawal of duties on bidi products and for the bidi industry to be declared a cottage industry, a designation that would give companies operating in this sector access to low-interest loans and subsidies on raw materials, among other benefits.

    A recent survey revealed that many bidi workers in Bangladesh are dissatisfied with their working conditions.

  • Bidi Rollers Dissatisfied With Working Conditions

    Bidi Rollers Dissatisfied With Working Conditions

    Photo: Brandy Brinson

    Many bidi rollers in Bangladesh are dissatisfied with their conditions, reports the Daily Sun.

    Eighty-four percent of participants in a study conducted by the Development Organization of the Rural Poor (DORP) indicated they want to change employment due to health hazards of the tobacco.

    At the same time, 95 percent of the surveyed bidi workers expressed dissatisfaction with their wages while 61 percent complained about the workload.

    The report, titled Study Report on Bidi Workers’ Livelihood in Tangail District-2023, was presented by DORP Deputy Executive Director Mohammad Zobair Hasan at the Jatiya Press Club in the Dhaka.

    “We explored the common health hazards experienced by the participants and found that the majority of them suffered from cough and sneeze while 17.1 percent suffered from abdominal pain/swelling and chest pain or gas,” Zobair Hasan said.

    Despite the reported concerns, 95 percent of survey participants indicated that they incurred no healthcare expenses over the past 12 months.

  • Bidi Workers Demand Protection Against Cigarettes

    Bidi Workers Demand Protection Against Cigarettes

    Photo: WESTOCK

    Bidi workers in Bangladesh formed a human chain on June 21 outside of the Pabna Deputy Commissioner’s office, demanding protection against competition from “foreign” cigarettes, reports The New Nation.

    According to the leaders of the group, the biggest competitors to bidis are low-quality cigarettes, which are mostly owned by foreign companies and have not been set to increase in price much in the 2022/2023 budget.

    “Bidi industry is a domestic worker-friendly industry,” the group leaders said. “Bidi is a 100 percent indigenous technology-based industry. On the other hand, everything in cigarettes is imported from abroad and depends on technology. Foreign multinational companies are smuggling thousands of crores of rupees by burning the lungs of the people of this country.

    “If all kinds of conspiracies against the domestic bidi industry, including the withdrawal of discriminatory advance income tax, are not stopped, we will be forced to wage a fierce agitation.”

    After the protest, the leaders of the group presented a memorandum to the prime minister through the deputy commissioner of Pabna.

    The group demanded an increase in the price of low-quality cigarettes, withdrawal of a 10 percent tax on bidis, and legislation to protect bidi workers.

  • Better Conditions Urged for Bidi Rollers

    Better Conditions Urged for Bidi Rollers

    Photo: Brandy Brinson

    Labor advocates want to improve the pay and working conditions of India’s bidi cigarette rollers, reports DW.

    Bidis are often hand-rolled by women in India as a way to make ends meet, but they are paid low wages—as low as INR100 ($1.35) per 1,000 bidis. According to activists, they also face health hazards, as breathing in the chemicals used in bidis can cause serious health issues, such as back pain, infertility and blindness.

    Children of bidi rollers also often become ill as they sit with their mothers while they work, inhaling the dangerous chemicals.

    Bidi workers in India are entitled to a state subsidy of INR20,000 ($272.78), but many women are unaware of this benefit.

    During the coronavirus-related lockdowns and closures, many girls turned to bidi rolling. This may change, however, according to Niharul Islam, a local activist and poet, if the government continues schemes to improve the livelihood of young women.

    “Under the ‘Kanyashree Prakalpa’ scheme, girls receive an annual scholarship and a one-time grant of 25,000 Indian rupees,” he said. “This has motivated many parents to keep their girls in school and not push them into the dangerous profession of bidi rolling.”

  • India Bans Per-Stick Bidi and Cigarette Sales

    India Bans Per-Stick Bidi and Cigarette Sales

    Photo: Denis Shevyakov

    The state health department in India has banned the sale of loose cigarettes and bidis to help stop the spread of Covid-19 and to discourage smoking, reports Mumbai Mirror.
     
    Vendors will have to sell full packs rather than single sticks. The police department and local self-government bodies are tasked with enforcing the ban.
     
    Tobacco laws state that 85 percent of tobacco packaging must be health warnings, but when consumers are buying single sticks, they are not seeing these warnings. Officials are hoping requiring the sale of whole packs will discourage smokers; many tobacco consumers in India cannot afford whole packs.

  • Bidi Industry Protests Bangladesh Tax Hike

    Bidi Industry Protests Bangladesh Tax Hike

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Bidi industry representatives have asked the government of Bangladesh to reverse a recent tax hike on bidis, citing economic hardship, reports The Dhaka Tribune. They also demanded an increase in tax on low-quality and medium-quality factory-made cigarettes, which compete with their products.
     
    Recently, the government increased the tax on a pack of bidis by 4 percent, prompting many bidi factories to cease production.
     
    To press their demands, bidi workers formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club on Sunday. During the event, some speakers suggested cigarette manufacturers were conspiring against the bidi industry by lobbying to keep cigarette taxes comparatively low.