Toddy shop workers hopeful of job gain

KOCHI: More than 500 toddy shops are set to reopCourt order that allowed functioning of liquor outlets along the state and national highways passing through panchayats with a population of 10,000 and above. Several toddy shop workers who lost their jobs after they were closed in April 2016, are hopeful of finding employment again.
“Around 15,000 workers had lost their jobs following the closure.Most of the workers in toddy shops were in their late thirties and forties. Since they all started working in this industry at a very young age it was very difficult for them to find new work. They did not have relevant experience in any other field,” said P N Seenulal, state secretary, Kerala State Chethuthozhilali Federation. He said that during this period, some toddy workers who lost jobs were hired by contractors. “The shops were only able to accommodate only a few toddy shop workers who lost jobs. In places like Adoor and Mavelikkara, shops were unable to do even that,” said Jomi Paul, vice president, Toddy Shops Licencee Association.
He said that even if they could rehire a few workers, they were hired for half the salary.
K B Harshal, a 45-year-old, who lost his job after his toddy shop in Ernakulam closed, said once he lost his job in April, there was no money in the household for the next few months.
“In August, I was lucky enough to find work at another toddy shop in the district but the problem was that my salary was halved. I used to earn around Rs 600 a day but that dropped to Rs 330. Furthermore, the shops that remained open in 2016 were all over-staffed, because of which I was only able to find 15 to 20 days of work every month last year,” he said. Harshal, who is the sole breadwinner from a family of six, said that he is hopeful that reopening of toddy shops will help him stabilize his income.
Paul said that more than 500 toddy shops that were closed along the state and national highways will reopen and it would create a significant number of job opportunities. “Due to the cumbersome paperwork involved in reopening the toddy shops, it would take a little more than a week for the shops to open,” he added.