Private players dominate kendu leaf  trade in Malkangiri, pluckers suffer

MALKANGIRI:  De-Regulation of kendu leaf was supposed to give free market access through independence of trade but it apparently has not brought the benefits to thousands of pluckers in Malkangiri. Rather, private trade has been followed by exploitation and absence of social security cover.

The State government has set kendu leaf procurement target at 85,000 standard bags comprising 10 crore kerry (1 kerry contains 40 leaves) this season, leaving the rest for private traders. The move has encouraged buyers from Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, also following in the footsteps are middlemen who exploit the pluckers by lowering the buying price.

While government agencies are paying `2.40 as labour charges and `1.20 as bonus to each plucker per kerry including other benefits like footwear, umbrella and insurance coverage, the private buyers are paying just Rs 2-Rs 2.50 per kerry, alleged Sukra Pangi, a kendu leaf plucker of Pottrel village under Korukonda panchayat. 

Notwithstanding the poor trade-off, thousands of pluckers stock the leaves in their houses and sell those to private buyers for a simple reason - they pay in cash and on the spot. Whereas the government agencies take some time to settle the dues and extend the social security. While there are 38,382 registered pluckers in the district, the government’s kendu leaf agency is procuring from 373 collection centres across six kendu leaf ranges. Sources said the exact number of private buyers from Chhattisgarh and AP is unknown.

As per rule, private buyers are required to register at the respective panchayats to participate in the trade and the list has to be submitted to Jeypore-based Kendu Leaf Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) for permit. The list should also be displayed at the respective panchayat offices. Sources said the panchayat officials are tight-lipped on the details of private players, thereby raising questions on transparency of the trade.

Trade analysts claim that the government is incurring a loss to the tune of at least Rs 4 crore every year by allowing private players to buy kendu leaves from villagers. The total volume of kendu leaf trade is around 1.8 lakh standard bags while over 25,000 pluckers are not registered and sell to private traders. While deregulation has not proved beneficial for pluckers who are being denied a fair price, private buyers are allegedly hand in gloves with panchayat officials to make money illegally.

DFO Kirti Ranjan Parida said he had written to the district panchayat officer to submit the list of registered private buyers in February this year. However, he is yet to receive any communication. “The buying of leaves started on April 15 and we have purchased around 10 lakh kerry in three days. We aim to meet the target within May this year,” he said. Contacted, district panchayat officer Sakila Charan Baskey said he is on leave. In-charge DPO Basant Kumar Behera said the list is not available with him.