News in Frames: Dark times befall Sivakasi matchbox labourers

Dark times have befallen the small units making safety matches in Kovilpatti of Tamil Nadu as mechanisation and cheap imported lighters have hit the labourers hard

Poor residents of Kovilpatti near Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu still depend on the manufacture of safety matches for their survival. But mechanisation of the manufacture process has caused immense loss of work to the labourers.

A century ago, people in the region depended on agriculture, working in paddy fields during the rainy season. As unemployment led to various problems in society, a few landlords of Sivakasi went to Kolkata where matchboxes were made in large numbers. There they learnt the basics of the work, and launched the matchbox business back home in 1923.

They established printing presses as ancillary units and the available chemicals helped them make fireworks. The Janata government, which came to power at the Centre in 1977, recognised matchbox manufacturing as a cottage industry.

Sivakasi — known equally as a mecca for printing ‘god calendars’ and cinema posters and most of all for its accident-prone firecracker industry — housed some 200 match-making units in 2011. No special skill or training is required to be engaged in this industry. Women, children, elderly, and physically challenged make match boxes from their homes.

However, the introduction of machines in production a couple of decades ago was a big blow to them and the arrival of Chinese-made cigarette lighters ruined the industry further. Rise in the prices of raw materials, drop in the incentive for export, and removal of matchbox manufacturing from the list of cottage industries wreaked havoc on the struggling industry.

The annual turnover of the industry, predominantly present in Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi and Tenkasi districts, which was around ₹2,000 crore earlier, has dipped to ₹800 crore. This led to job loss as many units run for only four days a week.

The people of Kovilpatti are now hoping for intervention from the government to steady their sinking livelihood.