Toddy tappers’ Template to thrive

CHENNAI: At 10 am, with a handful of people — family, friends, fellow warriors — as witness, Pandiyan scales one of the palm trees on his land. Up by the branches, falling back on the interlocked rope that’s holding him to the tree, he carefully slices the leaf stalk (petiole) that had once held a full-grown leaf.

Now, this requires patience and practice — pick one that’s too young and the tree’s growth is stunted; pick one that’s too old and you’ll not get enough sap. Pandiyan barely pauses through the process. Having sliced the stalk to reveal the porous insides, he hangs a pot underneath its mouth.

He reaches further to remove the pot that has been hanging off the next leaf stalk for nearly two hours now. As he empties the toddy collected in it into the bucket he had taken up, the crowd below erupts into a chorus of “Pongalo pongal!” For this seemingly innocuous feat deserves such reverence; for this is the first symbolic kal erakkam in the long line of virtuous protests (arapporattam) planned for the election season.

Measures of a protest
Going by by some measures of success, the protest organised at Narasinganur, Villupuram, on Saturday wouldn’t be counted as one. Pandiyan had to do the tapping on his land because police had swarmed the chosen ground, where hundreds had gathered, long before the scheduled hour. They were carted away to detention. Members of the Tamilnadu Toddy Movement (Kal Iyakkam) and Tamilnadu Toddy Federation (Kal Kootamaippu), the ones who had been working for over a month to make this protest happen, were shut in a wedding hall all day; by the time they were released, there was nothing left to do.

Yet, the day was not without its wins. Despite the anticipated trouble, hundreds of people (from neighbouring villages and far-flung cities too) had showed up to render support. Women and children stood their ground in the face of detention, even as the cops were asking them to get going home. “Kal enga urimai, ithu engaluku venum,” screamed a rambunctious teenager at the mere suggestion. The hours spent in detention helped the two organisations to educate the palm workers on their legal rights and, what more, draw up protest plans for the days to come.

“The success of a protest depends on many factors but it is primarily a way to attract attention. Holding these protests during the election season is vital because it is now that everyone’s attention will turn to the issues we face. Hence, there is more chance of the message reaching a lot more people. And these protests seem to be doing just that. Besides, while the people have sought the support of politicians and governments come election time, never have they gathered and organised for such demonstrations,” points out Godson Samuel, priest and founder of Panai Nadu (an effort that has roped in youngsters across the state to conserve the palm tree).

What workers want
Now, there’s reason to look beyond the protests and plan for what could come our way, suggests Godson. If and when the ban on toddy is removed, how would the palm workers want the government to structure the industry? What are the pitfalls they should foresee? “The earlier system used to be the operation of toddy shops (kal kadai) where palm workers would supply kal or pathaneer. Now, when bringing up these shops, the government should not insist on an auction for the same.

It’d be best if palm workers themselves sell the toddy,” he suggests. Pandiyan has some operational suggestions, based on the learnings around pathaneer production. “Earlier, we were to renew the licence for pathaneer only once in three years. Now, it’s once a year. While the licence was being issued for the December-December cycle, it has now been changed to April- April cycle. April is our peak season and we spend whole days in the field, leaving little room for any other work.

This means that we’d have to shuttle between the trade office and insurance office and more amid all the work at the field. So most people are unable to renew it. Even if we do have a renewed licence, we still face problems with the police when they try to shut down our work and keep us from extracting even pathaneer. If the ban on toddy is removed, we wouldn’t have problems like this. How we take it forward should rest on the government working alongside palm workers,” he offers.

The way ahead
With the government’s primary reason for the continued ban being the huge difficulty in ensuring there’s no adulteration, Pandiyan argues that the creation of a Panai Valathurai (Palm Welfare Board) would be able to address it efficiently. “If such a Board were created, all this work would come under its scrutiny. If there are 30-50 palm climbers in a village, they are sure to have a federation/association for themselves. The government can use these very associations to keep a tab on the individual workers.

If their licence (or the association’s permit) is at stake, everyone would buckle up and work towards preserving their status,” he surmises. When there are so many conditions for pathaneer, it’s likely to be much more intense for toddy and this is what the government should try to simplify, he says, adding that there are models from neighbouring states of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh to look at. Andhra lets palm climbers sell the toddy within a 100-km radius of where it’s tapped, besides allowing for bottling the drink. Kerala has a Toddy Workers Welfare Fund Board.

Both have provisions to punish instances of adulteration. Godson points out that the removal of ban on toddy would serve to augment and regularise the business around toddy byproducts such as panam kalkandu and karupatti vellam too. “The removal of ban is likely to bring in a spike in the number of people taking up this line of work. In a place where one person taps 100 litres of toddy, if ten people were to take up the work, the consumption is likely to get diversified. Instead of the one man selling all the 100 litres of toddy, where ten people are selling it, they will be able to keep aside a large percentage of the yield for the byproducts.

While the toddy will bring in everyday funds for the palm worker, he would be able to sell the byproducts more frequently and on his terms; instead of depending on the middlemen who buy cheap and sell in the market for exorbitant prices. This robust industry would also lead to an increase in the number of palm trees. Tapping toddy would facilitate the access to palm fronds and leaves, a major alternative to plastic products. For workers would not be willing to scale a tree just to bring down palm fronds; but, if it were to happen naturally when he climbs up to tap toddy and automatically clears the fronds for access, it will help provide for the making of plastic alternatives,” he explains.

Of reparations and relief
Somewhere down the road, between the protests and possible liberation, there is a need for the police to unconditionally apologise to panai yerigal for the long history of ill-treatment. From arresting the workers on a whim to destroying their property, there has been much done. Yet, there has been no compensation for any of this; not even a recorded history of such violence. “The narrative remains that the police and government are right and the palm workers are culpable. These issues will come to light in the public spaces only when the department renders such an apology.

This will serve to ensure that there are no more laws introduced against the welfare of the palm workers,” he elaborates. In the days to come, there will be no rest for the Kal Iyakkam and the Kal Kootamaippu. The Iyakkam has planned another kal erakkum porattam for February 27; this time around, it would be in Ranipet district. The Kootamaippu, on the other hand, is taking the battle to legal grounds. On February 22, they will deliver petitions to every high court judge, district collector and the police in almost every district in the state.

Even this is set to have at least 100 people show up at every district for the process. There are also plans to meet with political parties well before they are ready to release their election manifesto. “In case no party brings this agenda — removing the ban on toddy — to its manifesto, we plan to organise palm workers across the state to tap toddy and market it simultaneously, on the same day,” says Deepan, lawyer and member of the Kal Kootamaippu. He too was detained at Narasinganur on the grounds of unlawful assembly. The day of detention led to the two organisations firming up their plans and coming out with a five-point demand for the government.

“The ban on toddy has to be removed, police should stop foisting false cases on palm climbers, toddy has to be removed from the alcohol list and added to the food list, include palm trees in the adangal (land information), and finally, create a cooperative — one without caste, religious or political leanings — that functions for the welfare of palm workers,” lists Deepan. All of this rests on the decision to remove the ban on toddy. For that, we’ll just have to wait.