Work Life Balance and Women Bidi Workers in Tirunelvelli District, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

This article provides an insight on the work life balance of Indian women bidi workers. This would highlight the various values, attitudes and beliefs of women regarding job anxiety in their unorganized work procedure and particularly balancing their work and personal life. Bidi (a handmade cigarette) manufacturing is more than a century old and an unorganized sector in India. Ever since the introduction of tobacco cultivation in India, a sizeable segment of women labor force is engaged in production for consumption of tobacco rolled in the form of bidi. The Indian market of smoking tobacco is dominated by bidis, which outsell cigarettes by 10:1 ratio. Women being the threshold of a family, extend their support in earnings for the mobilization of income for their children’s education and better living. Bidi manufacturing is that sector in which the poor and the oppressed, especially rural women folk are exploited. The majority of women are working about 90-95 hours per week; the only comfort is that women bidi workers enjoy freedom in the work place and also flexible working hours. Bidi rolling reasonably contributes as an income in the interior regions of Vellore and Tirunelvelli districts, Tamilnadu, India, where the study was carried out to analyze the satisfaction level of work and life balance of women bidi workers. The study is undertaken to have an in-depth understanding of the work life of women bidi workers and throws light on the problems and issues of the bidi workers.