The Report - North 24 Parganas

nine hundred that he earns from biri making and the profit from the store. But hewants to increase it if the profits are to be of any real use. “I sit in the shop andmake biris and sell my wares at the same time,” he says. When he was around hiselder son’s age and studying in class two, he remembers that he was not able tosee rice during meal times for days. The family survived on flour mixed with Milo.His father used to work as a labourer at a brick factory in Millgunj in Barasat. Hisolder brother used to already work as a shepherd in Kanmari, for a small wage.He used to get twenty five rupees a month. Mahendra had another youngerbrother and two sisters at home. He was asked to work like his older brother andhe was assigned a job in the village itself. “I was there for three days only. Icannot take anyone’s rude talk from childhood,” says Mahendra. After hereturned, he decided to take up the biri making business. He went to a birimaking factory in the village belonging to a person who runs a tea stall in themain market presently. Sardar considers this gentleman to be his tutor and guidein the business he has taken up. I worked at the factory for seven months withoutany wages as he gave me food. I learnt how to tie about seven or eight hundredbiris a day. “I went to my maternal uncle’s in Habra for a month with theintention of leaving the factory as I was not being paid anything and I had learntthe trade well by then,” says Mahendra Sardar. One of the villagers, Kanai Boroffered to pay Mahendra the then going rate of two rupees and fifty paisa forevery thousand biris made. “That is the beginning of my biri making career,” saysMahendra.“I have seen it for a fact through all my experiences that though everyone talksabout the STs should get the first of all opportunities, in practice we are neverpaid any heed,” says a disappointed Mahendra Sardar. He says that he had thejob card issued to him some time ago but he, like the others, did not get any jobfrom the panchayat. However when Mr. M.V. Rao visited the place alongwiththe then SDO, Ms. Opola Seth and they went to visit the ST area immediately andthe villagers told him about their woes including Mahendra Sardar. Most villagerswanted some work on the job card and many, including the respondentexpressed the wish to have ponds dug in their plots. Mr. Rao agreed and withinthe next few days the work order was issued and work was started. At firstMahendra could not believe this because the panchayat had made manypromises to the ST community before but had done nothing to execute theirwords. However this time, Mr. Rao’s visit did make a difference. “My pond wasworth fifteen thousand four hundred and fifty rupees as it is a four katha pond,”says Sardar. He is not satisfied at all with the way the current political parties inpower, make false promises about STs and shout slogans on the community’sbehalf whereas in reality nothing is done for them. “My wife and I sometimes didnot have enough to eat before NREGA began here,” he says, remembering old