Agricultural Labor
Agricultural labor is a person who works on another land, does not participate in farm management and its maintenance, and receives money or a portion of the harvest in consideration for his service. He neither has any rights regarding the land nor does he have to bear any risk regarding the farm. Briefly, by agricultural labor, we mean such laborers who “earn their livelihood by working on agricultural farms.”
Definition
According to the Second Agricultural Labor Investigation society
Agricultural labor refers to that person who receives more than half of the income from agriculture. The agricultural labor family refers to that family, whose more than half of the income from agriculture.
Problems of Agricultural Labor in India
Describing the conditions of Indian agricultural labor P.T.Mayya writes,
The Indian laborer spends his days in dirt and mud. He produces food grains for us but remains hungry himself. He feeds our cows but never gets anything but water. He fills our stores with food grains but begs his own ration for the whole year. He continuously chops woods and fills water for those who have become rich on behalf of his labor. His condition is heart wrenching and Piteous.
Excess Working Hours
The working hours of these laborers are not only irregular but also excessive. They have to work from morning to late at night. His working hours change with harvest, season, and work.
Seasonal Employment
Agricultural labor does not get work for the whole year. According to the Second Agricultural Labor Investigation Society, Seasonal labor gets an average of 197 days of work in a year. Similarly, child labor gets 204 days and women get 141 days of employment. Thus, their average annual income is very lower.
Low Wages
The wage level of agricultural laborers is extremely low compared to that of industrial labor. It has two reasons
- increase in landless laborers
- lack of non-agricultural areas of work in rural areas.
Agricultural Slavery
Most agricultural laborers are landless and backward classes. Due to their lower social status, they are treated as animals. Big landowners make them work as slaves. They are used as laborers and in return given minimum wages.
Indebtedness
Due to lower income, the indebtedness of agricultural farmers is increasing. They hesitate in negotiating their wages with the landowners for fear that their services would be terminated. The laborers remain indebted even after working with the landowners for their whole life.
Not United
Since the agricultural laborers are spread in millions of villages all over the country, they lack unity. Thus, they are unable to negotiate their wages, etc. with the landowners by uniting themselves.
The exploitation of Child and Women Laborers
Due to lower income, the children and women of agricultural laborers are also forced to work for their livelihood. The child and women laborers are made to work more for livelihood. Thus, the exploitation of child labor and woman labor is a major problem in the field of agriculture.
Lower Social Status
Most of the agricultural laborers are of backward classes who have been exploited for centuries. Due to this reason also, their social status is lower.
Shortage of Other Jobs
There is a shortage of other jobs in villages. Thus, if the crop is destroyed by floods, famines, etc., it becomes difficult for the agricultural labor to survive.
Housing Problem
The landless laborers have no private houses. They live in cottages, made on the useless land of the landowners with their permission, and in its return, they must work without payment, for the landowners. When several people live under the same root, the physical, social, moral, and religious problem arises.
Unemployment due to mechanization
At present times, due to an increase in the use of machines, the unemployment rate among illiterate agricultural farmers is increasing, which is a fundamental problem for them.