Kanyakumari District is known as the granary of Travancore lies at the Southwestern part of Indian peninsula. It was with the erstwhile Travancore State for a long time and then merged with Tamil Nadu in 1956 under the State Linguistic Reorganization Act. Kanyakumari District is famous for the vast green stretches of paddy fields, rich forests, coconut groves and mineral sands. Kanyakumari district with Nagercoil as district headquarters has two revenue divisions with four taluks. Padmanabhapuram revenue division has Vilavancode and Kalkulam Taluks and Nagercoil revenue division has Agasteeswaram and Thovalai Taluks.1
Origin
The origin and growth of the cashew industry owes a great deal to the influence of the industrialists and business men of Kerala than their counterparts in Tamil Nadu in general and Kanyakumari District in particular. The first cashew factory in Tamil Nadu was started in the year 1955 at Palavilai in Kanyakumari District by late Mr. Innasi Muthu Nadar.2
The export of cashew kernels to the international market from Tamil Nadu in Kanyakumari District was undertaken first by Mr. Biswas himself. It is evident from the available sources that in the year 1953, under the firm name “Cape Cashew Industries”, Mr.G.Biswas sent the first consignment of his 200 export containing 400 cases of cashew kernels through the Cochin port. The pioneering efforts of Mr.G. Biswas paved the way for the growth of cashew industry in the district. Out of the 234 cashew factories in the district now, more than 90 per cent are in Kalkulam and Vilavancode Taluks of Kanyakumari District. In the year 1988 about 50,000 workers were employed in these factories.3
Kanyakumari District is very near to Kerala which is the centre of cashew production, processing and exporting. The increased government intervention in Kerala owing to a variety of circumstances led to the gradual shifting of the processing activity to Kanyakumari District. The abundant supply of cheep labour and the low wages paid to the labourers are the main reasons for the shifting of cashew factories from Kerala to Kanyakumari District. The abundant production of cashew nut in the district is also one of the reasons for the development of cashew industries. Kanyakumari District is thickly populated and industrially backward and many people are unemployed. So, it is possible to get more labourers at low wage rate. The political awareness is lacking in the region, the employers could resort to unfair labourer practices. They can exploit the labourers and need not implement the “Labourer Acts”.4 Transport, water, electricity facilities and the co-operation of the public are also partially responsible for the localization of factories in this district. The Cashew nut factories are running with five types of organization in the district.
Factories owned and processed by same company or proprietor. This is simple and self-explanatory. An individual or company will have its own factory premises and process the cashew nut and market. Factories owned by a single person or family but they do not own the cashew. They will process cashew nut for others and charge on the basis of bag. They will incur the entire expenses and process cashew nut for others. Some factories, when they incur heavy loss, and are at the verge of closure, will be leased out to some other companies. The company, which took the factory for lease will pay a monthly rent, and it will incur all other expenses including wages and maintenance, etc. Some companies, when they exhausted all their stocks, will invite other companies to process the cashew nut. They will get a fixed rent for the machinery on the basis of the bags processed. In this case, the lessee has to pay wages. Commission processors of some employers who are not able to run the factory and if no company is ready to lease-in their firm or if they do not want to lease-out, they may give it to individuals who in turn process cashew nut and will get processing charges. They are also known as commission processors. They will incur all the cost of labourer, electricity, maintenance and pay rent to factory owner. They may process cashew nut for one or more companies. The cashew nut- processing industry plays a crucial role within the factory sector employment. It accounts for 24 percent of the total number of factories but gives employment to 77 percent of the total organized sector employment.5 Among small-scale industries and agro-based industries now, the role of cashew nut industry is a critical one.
Cashew Industries
Kanyakumari District is an industrially backward district in Tamil Nadu. But a large number of cashew industries are in the district. The role of cashew factory is very important in converting the cashew nuts in to cashew kernel. The entire cashew processing activities like drying, roasting, shelling, peeling, grading and packing are done by women workers in cashew industries. When Kanyakumari was the part of Kerala, cashew units were started in Kerala before the independence of India. Subsequently, after the merger of Kanyakumari with Tamil Nadu, the rise in wage rate of labourers in Kerala resulted in the establishment of a number of cashew industries in the district. That is why concentration of cashew industries are high in Kanyakumari District than in any other district in Tamil Nadu.6
After the year 1990, the number of cashew industries started declining due to the expansion of area under rubber and coconut cultivation and non- agricultural purposes.
The major share of the work force in the cashew processing industry is women and about 95 percent of the workers are drawn from the depressed castes. This points out that nearly three fourth of the workers belong to the scheduled castes and that they as well as half of those belonging to other backward communities were employed in roasting and shelling. The forward castes constitute only 14 per cent and 8 per cent respectively of the workers engaged in these categories of work.7 Workers belonging to forward communities are concentrated in the peeling section. The majority of the workers in the cashew, processing industry were socially backward and economically disadvantaged groups. The women workers of the cashew factories in Kanyakumari suffer from great poverty deprivation and starvation than the average age of fifty and above.
Every factory, there are one or two labour organization. The major duty of these organizations has to mobilise the women workers, educate them about the need for mass mobilisation and creating awareness them how the employers strategically operate their factories without giving them the legitimate share of wages and social security provisions. When most of the women workers are unmarried, fearful of losing of jobs, it is possible through the matured and married women to train the young workers. These elderly leaders can meet the workers regularly, discuss their problems, about the industry and women movements all over the country as well as other broader issues. It is necessary to expand their thinking process beyond factory and house. The mass mobilisation among cashewnut processing industry requires the support of husbands, in the case of married workers and parents in the case of unmarried workers which means changing the social changes of the Kanyakumari District. It is necessary to create awareness among them about the role of cashewnut workers in each family, to the state and to the country and sought to support legitimate demands of the women workers at their workplace through mass mobilisation. Though this requires their dedication of the organisation with progressive thinking and democratic principles, in the long run it is possible to achieve the goal and the people in the region will start giving due respect to women workers in the industry. The women are working throughout the year with no holidays and as full time workers. Meeting them at workplace by the mass organisations at the factory gates once a year need to be changed. These organisations have to meet them throughout the year, educate them through printed materials, and it will develop confidence among the women workers about their capabilities. This will be possible if women workers are leading the strategies.8 The women workers particularly those who work for longer periods can understand better about the young girls and educate them within and outside the factory premises about mass mobilisation. These plant level leaders should also be allowed to negotiate on bonus, wage revision and other matters with the management. By handing over the responsibilities of the welfare of the cashewnut workers to those who work in the factories with proper training, the mass organisations can play the role of facilitation of workers and management.
The government was giving back 5 percent of import duty while exporting the processed nuts, the factory owners could not bear the brunt as the industry was already in doldrums due to shortage of raw materials and not getting remunerative prices for the processed nuts. The industry, which provided employment to over two lakh women, was resorting either to shutdown or restricting processing and production to one or two days a week. This had a cascading effect on the livelihood of families depending on the industry. The hike in import duty on raw cashew would paralyse the industry and this would be in conflict with the present policy of the government to promote small industries.
– Dr. T. A. Femila
Asst. Professor in History, Scott Christian College (Autonomous), Nagercoil.
References
1. Census of India 2011, Kanyakumari District, p.23.
2. M.V.Srinivasan, Nasir Ateeq, M. Jayanthi “Impact of Cashewnut Processing Industry on the Labour Women in Kanyakumari District,” Centre for Education and Communication, Tamilnadu, 1999.
3. Kanyakumari District Statistical Hand Book – 2011, Nagercoil, 2011, p.4.
4. Tamil Nadu Season and Crop Report, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2011, p. 106-108.
5. Report of the Inspector of Factories, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, 2011, p. 48.
6. The Record of District Industrial Centre, Memo Graph of Marxist Community Party office, Kanyakumari District, Kuzhithurai, Nagercoil, 4th December 2012.
7. Travancore Government Gazette, Trivandrum, 1918, p. 1097.
8. K.P.Kannan, Cashew Development in India – Potentialities and Constrains, Agricole Publishing Academy, New Delhi, 1983, p.111.