Read the passage and answer the questions that follow:
The process of making Bidis starts in forested villages where villagers pluck Tendu leaves and sell it to the forest department or a private contractor who in turn sells it to the forest department. On average a person can collect 100 bundles (of 50 leaves each) a day. The government then auctions the leaves to Bidi factory owners who give it to contractors. The contractor in turn supplies tobacco and leaves to home-based workers. These workers, mostly women, roll the bidis-first dampening the leaves, then cutting them, filling in tobacco evenly and then tying them with thread. The contractor picks up these bidis and sells them to the manufacturer who roasts them and sells them and put his own brand label. The manufacturer then sells them to a distributor who distributes the packed bidis to wholesalers who in turn sell to your neighborhood pan shops.
Which of the following is a negative consequence of Bidi rolling?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Backache
Option (3) Backache — Correct. Bidi workers, mostly women and girls, dampen and cut the leaves, fill in tobacco and tie each bidi, for long hours at home. In the life history of Madhu, a bidi worker, long hours of sitting in the same posture daily give her backache.
Note 1: The passage of Q6-Q10 is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Change and Development in Industrial Society’, section ‘Home-based work’, almost word for word. Read this section closely; it carried five questions.
Note 2: The answer comes from Box 5.7 ‘Life history of a bidi worker’ of the chapter ‘Change and Development in Industrial Society’. This box was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT; it has been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26) (and was not in the 2023-24 NCERT either), though the chapter is still there.
NCERT (2025-26): “5.6 Home-based work … Home-based work is an important part of the economy. This includes the manufacture of lace, zari or brocade, carpets, bidis, agarbattis and many such products. This work is mainly done by women and children. An agent provides raw materials and also picks up the finished product. Home workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, depending on the number of pieces they make.…”
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): Box 5.7 |
