They are paid the jute-sticks

August 29, 2024. I was travelling to Dhaka from Patuakhali by bus, however, unfortunately, one of the wheels of the bus I was on went off and stopped probably 150/200 meters almost straightaway. The Patuakhali-Dhaka highway was not busy at that moment and I am pleased that no life was harmed by the accidental gone off of the wheel. The bus stopped and I, along with other passengers, had to pause our journey at the Katherpool Area of Madaripur which is very famous for the cultivation of jute, paddy, and other crops.

Nayan, perhaps a 10 year old boy, was involved in the task while I was visiting the mill area.

Undoubtedly it was an unexpected incident but I got an opportunity to meet some workers here at a rice mill who are currently working with the jute retting process. I met the workers who actually do the final step of the process, separating fiver from the stems/canes. The process they do is probably called retting that allows decomposing the nonfiber part of the plant. The rice mill has no task to do in this season. So they the owner of the mill allows them to use the yard for retting. 

You might ask, what are the earlier steps of the total processing of the golden crop? I have answers to the question.

Step number 1 is when the crop is at full maturity, farmers cut them from the ground or uprooted if it is possible. And then the cut/uprooted stems are bundled and soaked in water by the harvesters, this is the step number 2; By the way, I have know idea regarding the time length or duration of soaking in water. The number 3 step is related to the workers I met and talked with; They are females here. Some male workers bring the bundles of stems from where they are soaked. These women do the last part. There are some more steps ahead of retting e.g. washing, drying, baling, grading; I want to stick with the retting's.

In my 70/80  minute pause of the journey I could not talk to the male workers who do the most part of the total precessing. I talked to 3/4 women who told me that they actually worked for the rice mill permanently and get a good amount of wage. The women were talking smiling to me. They claimed they were happy with their work as they could run their family smoothly, I noticed they were wearing some shabby clothes though; their health condition is not up to the mark as well. But they claimed, they were happy. How!

I did not ask about the rice mill and their duties, payments, shifts in it; I asked only about their part-time job, retting jute. How much does a worker earn by decomposing stems? Their payment is kind of contractual and gets paid on the bundle counts of the decomposed stems. These decomposed stems are called "jute-sticks" or "jute-hurd", we call them in standard Bangla "paat-kathi"; and "hormaail" in my locality in Bauphal, Patuakhali.

Come to the point. The workers usually do not get paid with money for their service; They are paid the jute-sticks on the contrary. The sticks after separating the fiber are bundled again. They probably tie 40 to 60 sticks together in a bundle; I did not count them or asked them neither.

If a worker can successfully decompose two bundles, the owner or contractor gives the one bundle of the sticks. Is it interesting or annoying? I am not giving my opinion here.

Each 20-bundle of jute-sticks is sold at BDT.200. So it clearly shows that you get BDT.100 if you can make 20 bundle decomposition. BDT.5 for per bundle. It looks pretty fair, doesn’t it? A worker may earn 200 to 400 daily in this seasonal job. It is worth mentioning that they work here in an unhygienic unhealthy environment. 

There were some children who were working at the yard of the rice mill with the same job. I learned that they were not enrolled at any primary school. Nayan, perhaps a 10 year old boy, was involved in the task while I was visiting the mill area. I requested the boy to take some of my photos, he was ashamed to talk initially but did what I asked him for. He captured some of my good photos with my phone. I took some of his' too, I could not take his photographs as beautiful as he did; I am not a good photographer, I admit. At last of our conversations with the boy, I wanted to know what Class he studies in now? I was shocked by his answer. He answered me with a smile that he could not enrolled in a school this year. He smiled, I understand what tried to hide. All the 6 or 7 children work here are in the same situation. I did not ask him more questions. It is staggering that the government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh declarers primary education free and compulsory but these children are out of the privilege. You will find a lot of Nayans over the country. 

There is no bottom line for the story I have told here. The women told me that they are happy with their rice mill jobs and the seasonal job of retting jute. They look physically unstable but show that they are energetic and will not bow down to the distress. They cannot send their children to the schools, they do not have a single allegation about life. They feel happy, they love happiness. They are happy, I agree. But how much do they earn, how do they survive? 

- Md. Mizanur Rahaman Mizan

Freelance education researcher

August 30, 2024 

Dhaka, Bangladesh