A jumbo Onam gift for ‘elephant workers’

This time, it’s a jumbo Onam gift for mahouts and other `elephant workers’ in northern Kerala: they are getting substantial pay hikes and bonuses.

This follows a negotiated wage settlement between the ‘elephant unions’ and the Kerala Elephant Owners Federation. The settlement, however, applies to only workers in the northern region, though it will impact on the wage and bonus negotiations in the southern and central Kerala regions too.

Substantial raise

M.A. Haridas, one of the partners of M.A. Parameswaran and Company, a leading elephant-renting firm in Palakkad district, says the mahouts’ monthly salary will go up by around Rs 1,500, depending on their seniority. The Onnaam Pappaan’s (chief mahout of an elephant) salary will now be Rs 6,000; second pappaan’s Rs 4,500; and third pappaan’s Rs 3,500. The chelavu kaash (something like DA) on non-working days (that is, those days when the elephant is not rented out) has been raised from Rs 150 to Rs 200 a day.

On working days, the expenses of the mahouts are borne by the clients. For a single ezhunnellippu , temple committees so far have been paying Rs 1,600 a day for a mahout, while church or mosque committees pay Rs 2,000.

Effective this Onam season, per diem for temple ezhunnellippu will be Rs 2,000. For church and mosque ezhunnellippu , per diem will be Rs 3,000, a 50 per cent hike. (Higher per diem for mosques and churches is because the work is overnight – starting in the afternoon and ending the following morning.)

The elephant owner too will pay Rs 300 a day as per diem.

The expenses on food and drinks of the mahouts on the ezhunnellippu day are met by the clients. Likewise, the feed for the elephant (palm frond and sometimes bananas) is provided by the clients.

Onam bonus

As part of the wage settlement, the elephant workers will also get a month’s salary as Onam bonus. C.K. George, secretary of Akhila Kerala Aana Thozhilali Union (All-Kerala Elephant Workers’ Union) said the Onam bonus became formal part of the wage settlement only since last year when the workers got organised as a trade union.

The wage settlement in the northern region is critical for wage negotiations in the other two regions. The elephant business (renting out elephants for a variety of purposes such as festival work and logging) is very active in Palakkad and Thrissur, the two districts having the most number of temple-church-mosque festivals.

There has been an increase in the demand for elephants to act as the showpieces at festivals, business launches, inaugurations and building openings. “Our main source of revenue, of course, is temple festivals,” Haridas points out.

Rent for elephants

Depending on the size, gait and height of an elephant, the fee per day ranges from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Tall, well-known tuskers command even Rs 1.5 lakh a day, particularly in the peak season.

But, elephant owners point out that the cost of keeping elephants has gone up vertically in the recent past because of a litany of regulations, hike in wages and increase in elephant heath care expenses. The price of elephants has skyrocketed at around Rs 50 lakh to 1 crore for an average animal.

In theory, elephant trade is banned in Kerala. Until recently, elephants were bought from North India, especially Bihar. But, now purchasing elephants from other States is illegal. Since the number of captive elephants in the State has fallen drastically, and demand for elephants for festival work has increased tremendously, the price has shot up.

Elephant-renting has emerged as a business in Kerala over the past decade as temple festivals mushroomed across the State. There has been a revival of annual festivals at several temples too. Moreover, hundreds of dilapidated temples and small shrines have been renovated and expanded.

Celebrating the annual festival on a grand scale is the best way for a temple managing committee to project their work. The festivals also attract a large number of new devotees. Having at least one elephant to show off is an easy way to add glamour and glitter to the festivals and hence the heavy demand for elephants.

Competitive religiosity

A large number of churches, especially in the Thrissur-Kunnakulam belt, also put on elephant shows on their feast days. Well-off churches have several elephants on the festival day. To a lesser extent, mosques are also increasingly renting elephants for their nercha (annual festival).

Unfortunately, the festivals of Hindus, Christians and Muslims are increasingly becoming platforms for competitive religiosity and communal polarisation.

Animal welfare groups have long been demanding an end to showing off elephants at religious festivals. The elephants are unwittingly drawn into the communal one-upmanship.

basheer.kpm@thehindu.co.in