Toiling in the hidden corners of rural India

Published March 19, 2012
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, 11-year-old Sagira Ansari, right, rolls bidi tobacco with her family at their house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Sagira is among hundreds of thousands of children toiling in the hidden corners of rural India, many working in hazardous industries crucial to the economy: the fiery brick kilns that underpin the building industry, the pesticide-laden fields that produce its food. Sagira and nearly every other child in the town of Dhuliyan works through
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, 11-year-old Sagira Ansari, right, rolls bidi tobacco with her family at their house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Sagira is among hundreds of thousands of children toiling in the hidden corners of rural India, many working in hazardous industries crucial to the economy: the fiery brick kilns that underpin the building industry, the pesticide-laden fields that produce its food. Sagira and nearly every other child in the town of Dhuliyan works through
11-year-old Sagira Ansari, who earns a living by rolling bidi tobacco, combs her hair during a break from work at her family's home in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.  ?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari, who earns a living by rolling bidi tobacco, combs her hair during a break from work at her family's home in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari, left, and her father Mahmood Ansari count bidi tobacco that has been rolled at their home in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari, left, and her father Mahmood Ansari count bidi tobacco that has been rolled at their home in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, A woman rolls bidi tobacco as an infant lies on the ground next to her in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Of the roughly 20,000 families in Dhuliyan, an estimated 95 per cent roll bidis to survive, earning 75 rupees ($1.50) for every 1,000 bidis rolled. ?AP Photo
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, A woman rolls bidi tobacco as an infant lies on the ground next to her in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Of the roughly 20,000 families in Dhuliyan, an estimated 95 per cent roll bidis to survive, earning 75 rupees ($1.50) for every 1,000 bidis rolled. ?AP Photo
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, 11-year-old Sagira Ansari, center, rolls bidi tobacco with her mother, Alea Bibi, and brother at their house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, 11-year-old Sagira Ansari, center, rolls bidi tobacco with her mother, Alea Bibi, and brother at their house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, 11-year-old Sagira Ansari rolls bidi tobacco at her house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.?AP Photo
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 photo, 11-year-old Sagira Ansari rolls bidi tobacco at her house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari, right, who earns a living by rolling bidi tobacco, eats a meal as her mother Alea Bibi tends to her brother at their house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari, right, who earns a living by rolling bidi tobacco, eats a meal as her mother Alea Bibi tends to her brother at their house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari watches a man weigh tendu leaves which will be used to roll tobacco, outside her house. ?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari watches a man weigh tendu leaves which will be used to roll tobacco, outside her house. ?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari holds up bundles of bidi tobacco cigarettes that she rolled at her house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo
11-year-old Sagira Ansari holds up bundles of bidi tobacco cigarettes that she rolled at her house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. ?AP Photo

11-year-old Sagira Ansari, right, rolls bidi tobacco with her family at their house in Dhuliyan, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.

Sagira is among hundreds of thousands of children toiling in the hidden corners of rural India, many working in hazardous industries crucial to the economy: the fiery brick kilns that underpin the building industry, the pesticide-laden fields that produce its food.

Sagira and nearly every other child in the town of Dhuliyan works through the tobacco dust to feed India's near limitless demand for the thin, tight cigarettes. Sagira and her family earn 75 rupees ($1.50) for every 1,000 bidis rolled which brings in about 7,500 ($150) a month. — Photos by AP

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