Crisis in salt sector hits five lakh people in Gujarat

While farmers suffer due to a lack of minimum support price, workers are also in distress for want of a proper system for wages and social security

Bharat C. Raval, president of the Indian Salt Manufacturers’ Association (ISMA), started his career as a salt inspector with the Gujarat government. After spending 19 months in the government, he was attracted towards the salt cooperatives initiated by none other than Dr. Verghese Kurien, the ‘Milkman of India’.

Kurien trained Mr. Raval at the Sabarmati Salt Farmers’ Society where he joined in April 1988 as a procurement executive. Nearly 35 years later, Mr. Raval feels that the salt industry is facing huge challenges in meeting the demand and in tackling the realisation crisis faced by salt farmers.

Initially, the society where Mr. Raval worked produced 30,000 metric tonnes of salt. It reached up to 7,00,000 metric tonnes in three years, by 1991. “We have also operated CSR activities those days by providing health infrastructure support to salt farmers. Farmers were getting ₹ 17/per tonne when we entered the sector and the the price went up in the first years to ₹27 per tonne and touched up to ₹70 by 1991. That was the beauty of the cooperative development,” Mr. Raval said.

There is not much changes considering the cost of living. About five lakh people work in the salt industry directly and indirectly. At the moment, a farmer earns about ₹250 to ₹300 for a tonne of salt he or she produces. The prices keep fluctuating.

Gujarat produces about 28.5 million tonnes of salt per year, which is more than 80% of the country’s total production. While farmers are facing low price as there is no minimum support price, workers are also in distress due to a lack of proper system for wages and social security. There are about 12,800 salt processing units in Gujarat’s coastal belt, out of which only 119 are considered as medium and large.

The problem of salt industry is turning into a political issue. The manufacturers have been knocking on the doors of the government, along with the farmers.

Recently, Mr. Raval wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of the salt manufacturers association. Salt, being the cheapest commodity, was getting the least attention from the government, he wrote, warning the Centre that if the neglect continued, India could lose its position as the world’s third largest producer of salt.