Sambalpur: An uncertain future awaits the children of kendu leaf workers in this district. Most of them spend their time in godowns during the day as their parents go out for plucking kendu leaves. Without proper education in schools, these kids are staring at a bleak future, sources said Sunday. The better parts of their growing days are going to waste in godowns, the sources added.
A case in point is the kendu leaf workers working in a godown at Jarang village under Jujumura department about 55 kilometres from this town. Workers come with their families and spend about three months in this place.
As the adults get busy in plucking leaves for their survivals, the kids are left behind in and around the godown with nothing to do. The matter came to the fore after the kendu leaf workers residing at a godown near Babupali jungle under Jhankarpali panchayat in Jujumura block narrated their ordeal to this correspondent. They said that they are forced to bring their children with them as there is no one to look after their kids in their village which is 40 kilometres away from the collection centre. The workers live in tents pitched for them near the godown. Kendu leaf collection is an arduous job, they said as they informed that they have to walk quite a distance to complete their daily quota of collection. Only after they finish their collection, they return to the godown in the evening.
However, the work doesn’t end there. After their arrival at the centre or godown as the workers call it, they stack the leaves into bundles as per instructions of forest officials. The quota for each kendu leaf plucker is fixed by the Forest department. They are paid Rs 30 for each bundle of leaves and a family at an average earns Rs 200 to Rs 250 daily. The workers lamented that the Odisha government is not doing much for them. They said that if the rates are increased they can send their kids to school so that their children can have a better future. The workers said they are concerned about the education and health of their children but cannot do anything as they have to earn their means of livelihood. “With the money that we earn, it is difficult to send my children to any school,” lamented a kendu leaf plucker. Sanjit Mohanty, advisor of State Kendu Leaf Welfare Board said that the government has launched various schemes for the benefit of kendu leaf pluckers, binders and seasonal workers. “There are over 18,000 kendu leaf binders and pluckers in Odisha. They can receive the benefits if their names are registered with the government, he added.
Jujumura Kendu Leaf Range officer Kishore Chandra Swain said the labourers are being given work on contract basis. He said that they are also provided accommodation, food and healthcare facilities. He added that even creches have been set up for the kids. “These pluckers stay at a particular place for 2-3 months. So it is difficult for us to provide educational facilities to the children,” Swain pointed out.