“ Ayya ungal ishtam… evaloh kudukireengo avaloh kudunga .” (Sir, it’s your wish. Whatever you want to give, you give). These were the words of woodcutters of the Jawadi Hills of Tamil Nadu districts till a decade ago, when they supplicated before the middlemen after loading precious red sanders logs into lorries and containers at the foothills of Seshachalam Hills.
Now, the paradigm shift is: “ Neenga kattukulla vandhu maratha arunga. Appuram theriyum, engal kashtam eppidi irukumnu .” (You [middlemen] just come into forests and cut the trees yourselves, and then you will understand our difficulties.) Between 1980 and 2000, the red sanders smuggling network utilised the services of the local people at the forested areas, and also encouraged the T.N. woodcutters’ families to join the prohibited errands. In later years, the traditional woodcutters of T.N. hilly districts had turned the most-sought-after labour component in the smuggling network, and their skills in felling trees and dressing logs and carrying them over shoulders for several miles over hills and valleys made them the favourites of the smugglers.
During this period, the T.N. labour force kept receiving their remuneration based on the size of the log at ₹1,000 per 40-50 kg piece, excluding bus fare, food and liquor, considered a luxury treat then. After the brutal murder of two forest officials in 2013, which brought armed surveillance in the Seshachalam hills, the woodcutters insisted on payment of ₹200 per kg.
The demand now, after the killing of 20 smuggling operatives from T.N. at the Seshachalam foothills in 2015, is reportedly put at ₹700 a kg. The smuggling network is believed to be finding the skyrocketing demand a big challenge, with their profits plummeting hundreds of times compared to the scene half a decade ago. How come this sudden change in the mindset of woodcutters, from their meek submission to the ‘ayyas’ (middlemen and transporters), to an audacious move to stock the red sanders themselves?
High demand
The answer is the entry of the younger generation, some of them graduates and ITI diploma-holders with computer skills. They have taken to this job as their families face utter poverty and they are unable to pursue higher education but want to lead a luxurious life.
The Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) personnel, who studied the patterns of smuggling modules involving T.N. woodcutters, vehemently object to tagging the word “coolie” (labourer) to them. The workers are highly skilled in preparing the stocks from the point of origin to the first phase of the clandestine transportation, hence forming the vibrant category of smugglers themselves.
Left orientation
Task Force inquiries revealed that more than 50,000 families in the hilly districts of T.N. are enjoying government benefits such as provisions, farm and housing loans. Some of the educated youth have reportedly had a Leftist orientation, having been imbibed with the Marxist principles of labour, capitalism and marketing during their college days. Now, they are implementing them in the contraband trade.
“We have no employment generation in our hills. How long can we sustain on small benefits of the government? Facing humiliation at home and lured by luxuries in society, we are forced to take up contraband jobs, knowingly, to quench our longing for minimum luxuries such as bikes, booze and mobiles,” a 24-year-old youth, who claimed his grandfather was an aide of forest brigand Veerappan, informed the Task Force personnel. Some others said instead of getting exploited, they preferred not to enter the Seshachalam hills, but to earn a living in Chennai or Coimbatore.
