New Delhi, Saturday, November 14, 2009: Over 1.7 million children work as labourers in India’s beedi-rolling industry, according to a study by public health organisations and NGOs released on Children’s Day Saturday. Authors of the study urged the government to take urgent measures to address the issue.

A beedi is a hand-rolled cigarette and, according to experts, contains three times the amount of nicotine and carbon monoxide than other cigarettes.

According to NGOs and public health organisations participating in the study, the beedi industry prefers to engage children as their nimble fingers are more adept at rolling beedis.

The study gave an example of seven-year-old Madhabi Khatoon of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district. Rolling beedis since she was five, Madhabi’s nimble fingers can now roll 400 a day.

“Madhabi does not go to school or play with her friends, as her mother thinks earning is more important than education. She is among the many children whose childhood has been snatched away by the beedi industry,” said Binoy Matthew of the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI).

“Unless the government acts now, there is little hope for children like her,” he added.

The study says that children in this occupation are made to work up to 14 hours a day with no breaks or holidays and are forced to drop out of school.

(News agency)