Goan Bakers Need Government Support for Survival

by NANDKUMAR KAMAT
Posted on 2008-12-01
THIS article advocates the cause of the Goan bakers who are fighting against the odds to keep their heads above the water. Consumers addicted to local ‘pav’, ‘undo’ or ‘poyi’ may grudge that the prices of their staple food may rise from today. But they may not be aware of the difficult times through which this traditional enterprise – a cultural asset of Goa and Asia is passing through. Toddy tapping, salt production from ‘agors’, baking and confectionary, distillation of cashew and coconut feni, wine and vinegar production, candle making are some of Goa’s ethnically, culturally important industries fully deserving the iconic status of ‘heritage industries of Goa’.
It is the duty of any government to protect the existing direct and indirect employment in these industries, conserve and promote the traditional knowledge, help in modernisation, quality control, grading and branding of the products, provide for social security package for the bakers and assure a slew of attractive subsidies and incentives so that these age-old occupations manage to cushion themselves to survive against the forces of inflation, price rise, changing consumer preferences and onslaught of globalisation dumping mass produced branded goods at vast economies of scale.
Through this column on November 15 2002, in my article ‘The unsung lives of Goan poders’, I had highlighted the plight of Goan bakers.
There are about one thousand traditional bakers in Goa. This is a business dominated traditionally by the Roman Catholic community. Therefore socially concerned organisations of the Church like ‘Council for social justice and peace’ (CSJP) need to take up the cause of survival of this industry urgently and seriously. The local bakers are not making any profit on the widely consumed, 60 grams ‘pav’ or ‘undo’ available for just Rs two for the past ten years. There are 300 small time Goan bakers who manufacture the ‘pav’ purely as a social obligation. Their economic condition is pitiful.
There are another four to five hundred bakers who are somehow managing to survive by selling other products like cakes and biscuits. Only about 100 bakers manage to do well because they have income from other high value products and do not depend on the sale of the local bread.
I tried to gather some details from a senior baker, ex-MLA from Marmagoa Mr John Vaz whose family is in the baking business for more than a century. Mr Vaz had approached the ex-CM Mr Parrikar in 2004 with a list of demands for the survival of the local baking industry. All these demands are reasonable. But unfortunately the government does not treat the Goan bread on par with coconut, areca nut, sugarcane, milk that attract subsidies. Even the fishing trawlers have a package of subsidies. There should not be any discrimination when you have full socio-economic justification in announcing subsidies and incentives.
Goan bread is an essential food commodity, a staple food of more than a million consumers. If locally grown coconut attracts a price support of Rs four each, then why can the government not give similar support to stabilise the price of the local bread? The government does not subsidise the wheat flour, salt, yeast or the fuel needed by the bakers. There is no reduced tariff on power and water. There is no social security or group insurance scheme despite the risks and hazards of the baking business.
As per the details provided by Mr Vaz, Goa consumes 80 to 90 million local breads per year. The per capita consumption comes to 60-70 breads per year. Every year the bakers need 500 metric tones of wheat flour, which come in units of 90-kilogram bags. Behind every bag there is wastage of two kilograms. For small bakers the cost of transportation of the bags is an additional burden. Mr Vaz says that a bag of flour yields about 1800 breads.
In 2004, wheat flour cost Rs 700-900 per bag. Today it costs Rs 1450-1500 per bag. Goan bread has to be leavened (raised) with bakers’ yeast. A bag of flour needs two kg of Bakers’ yeast. The price of yeast has escalated to Rs 70 per kg. Salt is sold at Rs 10 per kg. Behind every flour bag three workers have to be hired. Their wages are Rs 600 per day. Then one can add the cost of water and fuel. Isn’t it a miracle that Goan bakers have maintained the price for last 8-10 years despite suffering losses and without government subsidies?
I am told that even the miniscule rise of half a rupee per 60 g bread would not go to the bakers but as commission to the retailers. Goan bakers heavily depend on these boys who sell the bread from door to door. Considering the local bread as an essential staple food, a popular breakfast item, an attraction for the tourists-the state government needs to come out with a detail package to support the traditional Goan bakers. That would help to protect minimum four thousand direct jobs in production and another six thousands jobs in marketing. If the local bakers close down their traditional business, then there would be artificial unemployment. Consumers would be compelled to switch over to chemicalised slice breads unsuitable to Goan tastes. Any industry intending to set its’ shop in Goa needs to invest a minimum Rs 2crore to create a single job. Goan bakeries operate as micro-enterprises on low capital and traditional skills while creating sustainable employment. So shouldn’t it be the commitment of the government to ensure protection, promotion and survival of such sustainable local micro-enterprises?
The industries department gives an employment subsidy of Rs 15, 000 behind a worker to hire the locals. But such a package is not available to the bakers. They need to be given subsidies on wheat flour, yeast, salt, concessional tariffs on power and water consumption and it has to be ensured that the price of local bread is stabilised at Rs two for 60 g. This would benefit the ‘aam admi”. The forest department needs to supply a fuel wood quota from its’ depots to the local bakers. The fuel wood costs per truck have soared to Rs 13,000. Only 40 percent bakers use electric ovens. Such ovens are beyond the investment capacity of small bakers. When I contacted the CM, Mr Kamat on Sunday sincerely urging him to take a pro-active action for supporting the local bakers he sounded very positive. He promised to conduct talks with the representatives of the industry. People true to their Goan bread need to support government action to bail out the Goan bakers. Consumers need to be sympathetic to the economic plight of Goan bakers if they wish the survival of this age-old industry.