SALT WORKERS OF KUTCH WAIT ENDLESSLY FOR A SAVIOR AS PROMISES OF POLITICIANS RUB SALT ON THEIR WOUNDS. Throughout their lives, members of the Agariya community work tirelessly in the fields of the Rann of Kutch, where they “grow” salt, taking care of almost 75 per cent of the country’s demand. Elections come and go, but the precarious world they live in never changes. These are the 43,000-odd agariyas or salt workers engaged in salt farming for eight months, from September to April, in the Little Rann of Kutch.
THE PROBLEM Salt workers are seasonal workers with marginal source of income. There is lack of social and health securities for salt workers. They are exposed to hazardous work-environmental factors and work in extreme climatic conditions. Workers also suffer from different occupational health condition as well as due to lack of education and awareness they pay no attention to…
