Expecting the ‘aalemanes’ (traditional jaggery-making units) in Mandya to ring in ‘acche din’ for him and his family, Brijesh of Gaya, Bihar, relocated to Pandavapura on October 28 with his eight-member family. Little did he know how much he would come to regret that decision, thanks to the Centre’s demonetisation exercise.
Brijesh used to work in a charcoal unit in Gaya. Before he could master jaggery-making skills, he lost his job at the aalemane after it suspended production because of the cash crisis. Last Sunday, his family moved to Raichur seeking employment in the paddy fields.
There are more than 530 ‘aalemanes’ in the district, used to produce at least 10 lakh tonnes of jaggery every year. Several hundreds of skilled labourers have lost their jobs as the units are witnessing an unprecedented plunge after the demonetisation of high-value notes. The cash crunch has been forcing the owners to reduce their work force and run the units with a skeletal staff.
Till recently, producing jaggery in aalemanes was considered a profitable venture in Mandya. The devaluation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 banknotes has, however, severely affected the units, with around 150 aalemanes already suspending production, said Thimme Gowda, a unit owner near Malavalli.
Owners unable to pay
Each unit needs at least 10 skilled labourers for work such as cleaning, cutting and crushing cane, boiling cane juice, and shaping and packing jaggery. Wages are fixed based on the workers’ experience and skills. The minimum salary is Rs. 300 a day. On these rates, a minimum of Rs. 30,000 a day is needed to clear payments. But, an account holder can withdraw only up to Rs. 24,000 a week. Most of the workers are from north India and they want the payment to be disbursed on the spot every evening, said Ganesh, a supervisor at a unit on the Mandya-Bannur Main Road.
A small aalemane unit can produce around 2,000 kg of jaggery a day, while big units can produce up to 35,000 kg. A majority of the production goes to markets in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, among others, for production of sweets.
