Biri is a thin cigarette filled with tobacco flake and wrapped in a tendu leaf. In Murshidabad district, West Bengal, almost every child is involved in the biri industry. Most of them work at home rolling biris for hours a day. Even children attending school roll biris before and after class to provide income for their families. In almost any house you enter there will be children and women rolling biris. Biri is an engrained part of the lives of this mostly (90%) Muslin community.
After rolled, biris are sent to factories for roasting and packaging. This is a highly profitable business mostly because of the cheap and illegal labour it makes use of.
To learn more about organisations working here, visit Child in Need Institute and Save the Children India.
This photography project was commissioned by Save the Children.
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