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KOVILPATTI, INDIA - JUNE 14: A vada, a fritter made from lentils and vegetables, sits on a match box as an employee checks for quality of finished match boxes on a conveyor belt in the Manikandan Match Agencies factory on June 14, 2025 in Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu, India. The hub of India’s firecracker and matchbox industries, Sivakasi and the region around it, where a single match factory once employed 700–800 workers, now witnesses a drastic shift to mechanised production employing just 20–25 people, driven by a declining workforce due to rising education levels, government-led socio-economic development, and manufacturers’ need to stay competitive in a domestic market valued at half a billion dollars. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)