UMERKOT, Dec 2 Seventy-five-year-old Kesro, a traditional blacksmith called Lohar in Sindhi, has spent 60 years of his life, working with fire to mould iron into useful tools and what he has got as his pension fund are bare sustenance and asthma.

Lying on a ramshackle cot in his hut and taking deep hasty breaths, Kesro said most of the Lohars suffered from asthma towards the start of old age.

Working life for Lohars begins at tender age. Kesro says he was hardly 12 when he started giving a helping hand to his father. But those were good old days when iron and other raw material was available at a lower price, he said.

He said that they used to buy raw iron for Rs2 per kilogram, which was now Rs60 per kg. If they earned Rs2 a day, they were equal to 200 of today and were enough to feed their families, he said.

But nowadays even Rs2,000 were not sufficient for feeding a family of 10 members, he said, adding that at that time three members of a family used to earn Rs30 to 50 per day after producing five to 10 objects. Kesro's make-shift house smelt of cow dung, which the family had spread on the ground. They would dry it in the sun and sell it to neighbours to earn a few extra rupees.

Lohars complain that their centuries old profession is on the decline after large-scale use of modern machinery. The trade has shrunk by 80 per cent over the years, they say.

Lohars used to produce instruments used in agricultural work like sickles, scythes, horse shoes, axes, swords, arrows, daggers, knives, spades, hatchets, skimmers, adzes, spoons, pick-axes and hand-cuffs etc but nowadays they make only sickles and a few axes. The rest are either being made in factories or they are no longer in use.

They would also make wrought iron gates, grills, and railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items and cooking utensils until factory-made tools pushed them out of work.

Presently, the blacksmiths work for only a month or two in a year during wheat sowing and paddy season. If it rains in Thar they will have some extra work but it happens rarely. For most of the year, they remain unemployed.

They complain that increasing use of machinery in farming is a serious threat to their profession. “We have lost our jobs to use of threshers, tractors and other machinery in agricultural sector,” said Chetan, a blacksmith of Umerkot.

Mohan Lohar said their annual income was only Rs8,000 to 18,000, depending on nature of work and demand for tools.

When asked how they managed to make both ends meet, 77-year-old Ms Lalan said they took loan and sold bangles to try to pay it back.

She said that TRDP, an NGO, advanced them loans at very high interest and scores of people of her tribe were deep in debt. They often failed to pay back and faced police action or humiliation at the hands of money-lending NGOs, she said.

New generation of the Lohar community do not see any prospects in the profession while the elders have no other option but to keep fighting with fire to be able to earn livelihood.

Bisham, a science graduate, Sarwan, Kheto and Govind Lohars who have passed matriculation have been unemployed for a long time and have no means to support their families.

Kirshan, an intermediate student, has returned to the profession because he is the only surviving male member of his family and it is his responsibility to feed his dependents.

Kewal Bhagat, chieftain of Lohar community, said that some 2,000 Lohar families lived in Umerkot and there were more than 30,000 families in the province who lived in dismal conditions and remained unrepresented.

An old blacksmith, Somji Lohar, 80, was hitting a hot iron piece in his make-shift shop on a roadside, when he was asked how much he earned daily.

He looked up with tearful eyes and said after inhaling a deep breath to overcome exhaustion that he had received an order for an axe after six days, which would cost him Rs70 and he would sell it for Rs100 to 150.

Gego, Mohan and Shevak Lohars complained that their stalls were routinely bulldozed and remained at the whim of authorities. On Nov 23, taluka municipal administration removed seven stalls near Lambo ground, they said.

Dr Abdul Aziz Kumbhar, medical practitioner, confirmed that a large number of old men of Lohar community developed asthma after working with fire for a long time.

Abdul Qadir Nuqrich, a grower and social activist, said that in past landlords used to look after blacksmiths. They were praised for making quality spades and axes used in the farm, he said.

Until 10 years ago Ahatap (barter) system was in practice under which a blacksmith used to supply agricultural implements to landlords who used to give them in return livestock, corn or cash.

Situation has made a complete turnaround but their life style has remained the same.

Ali Akbar Rahimoo, a social worker, said that NGOs worked in the sectors for which donors provided them funds and they were called donor driven NGOs. They did not pay attention to most of the marginalised sections of society, he said.

Life for Lohars is becoming harder and harder with each passing day because their traditional skill is no longer needed since it has grown out of sync with the changing times.