Agriculture labour –
Agriculture labourer can be defined as the involvement of any person in connection with cultivating
the soil, or in connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity,
management of livestock, bees, poultry etc.
Introduction –
The first Agricultural Labour Enquiry Committee of 1950-51 regarded those people as agricultural
workers who were engaged in raising crops on payment of wages. Since in India, a large number of
workers do not work against payment of wages all the year round, this definition was incomplete.
Accordingly, the Committee laid down that those people should be regarded as agricultural workers
who worked for 50 per cent or more days on payment of wages.
The Second Agricultural Labour Enquiry Committee of 1956-57 took a broad view of agricultural
activities to include those workers also who were engaged in allied activities like animal husbandry,
dairy, poultry, piggery, etc. The Second Committee submitted that to know whether a household is
an agricultural labour household we must examine its main source of income. If 50 per cent or more
of its income is derived as wages for work rendered in agriculture, only then it could be classified as
agricultural labour household. The changeover from 'work' to 'income' seems more scientific.
Categories of Agricultural Labourers
The First Agricultural Labour Enquiry Committee had classified agricultural workers into two
categories: (i) attached labourers, and (ii) casual labourers. Attached labourers are attached to some
cultivator household on the basis of a written or oral agreement. Their employment is permanent
and regular.
All workers not falling in the category of attached labourers, constitute casual workers. They are free
to work on the farm of any farmer and payment is generally made to them on a daily basis.
Growth & Decline in the Number of Agricultural Workers:-
The class of agricultural workers did not exist in India before the advent of Britishers. Sir Thomas
Munroe had stated in 1842 that there was not a single landless laborer in India. Latest details from
Census of India (2011) report released paint a bleak picture of Indian agriculture. It rings the alarm
on an agrarian crisis—the number of farmers has dipped by over 8.6 million in the past decade. It
also disproves critics who have been crying hoarse about shortage in agricultural labour—the data
shows more than 37 million people have taken to farm labour in the past ten years. The census
details were released by Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in the presence of the registrar
general of India and census commissioner C Chandramouli in Delhi. The statistics show that only 54.6
per cent of total workers in India are now part of the agriculture sector with a decline of 3.6 per cent
as compared to 2001. Compared to 2001 census, there has been increase of 44 per cent in the male
population of agricultural labourers, while for females the number has increased by 24.5 per cent.
Chandramouli attributes this rise in agricultural labour to the falling size of land holdings over time.
The trends for farming show those 14 per cent women and 3.2 per cent of cultivators since 2001
have abandoned farming. This extrapolates to over 8.6 million people. Interestingly, the census
office claims that over the past 50 years, the decline in population of cultivators was not significant
enough for absolute numbers when compared to population increase. As per the census of 2011,
263 million people are engaged in the agriculture sector and over half of them are now agricultural
labourers, a trend observed for the first time in the past 40 years.
Types of Agricultural Labourers - Agricultural labourers can be broadly divided into family labourers,
hired labourers and bonded labourers.
Family Labourer -This category belongs to small farmers who are not financially sound to hire
labour. Small farmers are hire labour during peak seasons such as transplanting, weeding and
harvesting. When labour is required in abundance and the operations have got be completed in a
short period of time.
Hired Labourer - Hired labour can further be categorised in two groups; casual labour and attached
labour. Attached workers who are more or less in continuous employment, are under some sort of
contract with the employers during the period of employment, while casual workers are employed
from time to time according to the existence of work. Casual labourers are employed on daily wages
for particular operations which lasts only for a short period. While attached workers are often
employed on contract, mostly oral contract, extending over a longer period that is quarterly, half
yearly or yearly. The wages of attached labourers are generally lower than those of casual labourers
who are employed on piece work basis.
Bonded Labourer - There is also a special class of agricultural labour called the 'bonded labour' who
are at the bottom of agricultural ladder in India. The prominent feature of this system is that a man
pledges himself or sometimes a member of his family against a loan. Inability to pay back the loan
results in the attachment of that person to the creditor till such time when the loan is finally paid.
