Beedi workers staged a protest on Tuesday condemning the imposition of high taxes under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on raw materials for making beedis.
Members of Vellore District Beedi Workers Association affiliated to the CITU staged a demonstration to put forward their list of demands.
Badly affected
M.P. Ramachandran, president of Tamil Nadu Beedi Thozhilalargal Sammelam, said the beedi workers were badly hit by the introduction of GST.
“There is imposition of 28% tax on raw materials, including tobacco for manufacturing beedis. Already, these workers are facing a huge crisis in getting raw materials such as leaves. They would not get proper wages,” he said.
Mr. Ramachandran added that there were nearly one crore beedi workers across 17 States in the country, including in the southern States, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam.
“There should be uniformity in wages paid to beedi workers across the country,” he said.
Alternative jobs
Mr. Ramachandran pointed out that the government should come up with alternative job opportunities for beedi workers.
“Their children should be given priority in government jobs and bank loans should be granted for self-employment,” he added.
The workers also demanded that pending scholarships for children studying in schools should be given before the academic year came to a close and the housing scheme should be implemented for them.
