Seminar on Policy Perspectives for Agricultural Labour in India

Author(s): S. M. Pandey
Source: Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1969), pp. 453-458
Published by: Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27760918
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 COMMUNICATION

SEMINAR ON POLICY PERSPECTIVES FOR AGRICULTURAL

LABOUR IN INDIA

Agricultural labour, accounting, as it is, for a sizable proportion of the

labour force in India, has been increasingly engaging the attention of all con
cerned with human resources problem. During the past two decades or so
some efforts have been made towards getting an appreciation of the magni
tude and nature of problems concerning agricultural labour. Two Agricul
tural Labour Enquiries were conducted in 1950-51 and 1956-57. A Rural
Labour Enquiry was undertaken in 1963-64 and 1964-65. Besides, some data
on employment and unemployment in agricultural sectors as also on rural
pattern of income and expenditure have been collected by the National
Sample Survey.
In recent years, the.government seems to have become more aware of
the problems of agricultural labour. This is indicated by the government's
inclusion of rural labour as one of the specific terms of reference of the Na
tional Commission on Labour and the Commission's recommendations-on
the subject. The causes and nature of agrarian tensions have been the subject
matter of a recent study by the Union Home Ministry.
It is in this background that the Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Rela
tions is extending the scope of its research activities to include the study of
the problems connected with the rural labour. A Rural Labour Study
Group of researchers of the Centre is currently engaged in identifying re
searchable areas with a view to undertaking a series of studies spread over a
period of time. According to the current thinking of the Group, the proposed
studies will relate to the growth sector of the rural economy. They will endea
vour to trace the impact of various innovations and stimuli for the growth
in terms of economic and social variables affecting rural labour in different
regions. The Seminar on Policy Perspectives for Agricultural Labour in India
was a part of the Centre's proposed extension activities for a proper under
standing of rural labour problems.
The .seminar was organised with the objectives of: (/) providing the
legislators, planners, and administrators with a structured forum for consi
dering the problems of agricultural labour in the context of the emerging
social and economic climate in the country; (/*) generating a greater measure
of awareness among the policy-makers that the problems of agricultural
labour need urgent attention; and (Hi) helping to evolve the contours of
priorities in state policy on agricultural labour. The seminar was divided

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454 COMMUNICATION

into two sessions, one on the problems of agricultural labour and the other
on the tensions in agrarian relations. Members of Parliament, senior gov
ernment officials, and scholars from India and abroad interested in the
problems of agricultural labour were invited to participate in the one-day
semina^ held in New Delhi on 25 January 1970. The following account cons
titutes, in brief, the main highlights of the discussions.

PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURAL LABOUR

The seminar felt that the data available on agricultural labour problems
were not adequate. Besides, there being a considerable time-lag between the
collection of these data and their publication, any precise quantitative esti
mates, on uniform basis, over a period of time, were also absent. The dis
cussions brought out two types of data gap: (/) uniform estimates for diff
erent regions of the country of a fairly representative character; and (?)
correct time series data on wages, employment, unemployment, underemploy
ment, socio-economic conditions, etc. It was possibly the ripe time, the se
minar felt, that concerted and coordinated efforts were made towards sys
tematically collecting the time series data on various aspects of agricultural
labour, broadly on the lines on which these data were being collected for
non-agricultural labour, rather than being content with the ad hoc surveys of
limited scope and usefulness. While these measures would take time to
fructify, the measures to be taken for the benefit of agricultural labour would
have to be based on the broad contours discernible in the existing state of
information.
There is bound to be an increase in the landless agricultural labour forge
due to increasing pressure of population growth on existing land resources
on the one hand and pressure of land reforms on the other. The seminar fdt
that keeping in view the limited scope of increasing the cultivable land area,
limited labour absorbing capacity of industrial sector controlling the in
creasing population pressure in agricultural sector through intensifying
family planning programmes would possibly be the most effective measure.
In terms of the need for providing greater avenues of employment in the
short term, population control had only a remote utility. Population ex
plosion of the current dats would result in labour force explosion in the
coming years.
The agricultural labour force in India shows very great regional, social,
cultural, economic, and demographic differences. It consists largely of
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes who have their peculiar problems.
Both economically and socially, the agricultural labour stands at th6 bottom
of our rural structure. Their earnings are meagre; their level of living,
educational standards, and aspirations are low; they are not given the treat
ment they should receive as fellow citizens by their employers who them
selves in some cases may be relatively small farmers. They have been* nqg

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COMMUNICATION 455

lected even by the governmental and non-gbvernmental agencies in regard

to various welfare and credit facilities. It is true that on current notions the
"creditworthiness" of agricultural labour may not appeal to the credit insti
tutions, but these notions have to change. It was suggested that concerted
action should be taken on a nation-wide scale, with the help of local adminis
trations, to help poverty-ridden agricultural labour in improving their condi
tions. They should be provided with some land, since possession of land would
give them a status in the rural society and improve their creditworthiness.
They should also be given facilities to purchase agricultural tools and to
set up cottage industries. The Minimum Wages Act should be strictly enfor
ced in the agricultural sector and working conditions improved.
Another suggestion emanating from the discussions, though not un
animous, was that there should be a progressive agricultural taxation policy.
This might serve two purposes: (0 it might reduce economic inequities in
the agrarian sector since in the current context the beneficiaries of increased
agricultural production and price incentives had largely been those who be
longed to well-to-do families and who were investing their money in acqui
ring property; and (n) a substantial proportion of agricultural tax revenue
might be utilised for the uplift of agricultural labour.
It was noted that, unlike their counterparts in industrial sector, agricul
tural workers were largely unorganised. The peasant movement, though
quite strong in some areas, had nbt been able to bring about any substantial
improvement in the conditions of agricultural labour; indeed it touched more
the small peasants than those who had marginal holdings or no holdings at
all. Other difficulties in organising rural labour such as relative lack of
proximity to urban areas, social backwardness, illiteracy, and fear of reprisals
from the landlords had been the main causes for lack of effective organisa
tion among agricultural labour. In the new context of the democratic up
surge, the peasant movement had possibly a tendency to exploit agricultural
labour for political purposes in the same way as the labour movement in non
agricultural sector exploited urban labour for political purposes in the initial
stages. Even so, there could be distinct advantages when agricultural labour
was organised into unions for collective action to secure a better deal from
their employers.
Agricultural labour unions should be encouraged in their formative
stages and also recognised; some type of "tripartite" forums should be crea
ted to settle the disputes between the tenants and landlords. The difficulties
in the way of organising rural labour services should be recognised.
The seminar highlighted the problems of rural unemployment and under
employment. Since the agricultural operations were essentially seasonal in
character, unemployment and underemployment prevailed outside the sowing
and harvesting seasons. Besides, there was a large category of "sub-marginal"
farmers who might be employed even in busy seasons. In this regard, there
was a need to diversifying the employment opportunities in the rural sector

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456 COMMONICATiaif

and this was a larger planning problem. It would necessitate identifying ami
determining the extent of "removable" rural labour surplus. It was suggested
that rural works programmes and agro-based small-scale industries might
go a long way in solving the problem of rural unemployment. Since the job
opportunities in the non-agricultural sector were unlikely to be commens^
rate with the increasing number of unemployed people, it was suggested thit
cropping pattern might need to be changed and intensive farming should be
promoted. This might increase the agricultural production and productivity
and generate further employment opportunities. Therefore, there was an
urgent need to give incentives for intensive farming with improved methods
of production. The following were some of the suggestions made in this
connection :

(/) There should be a department of tenant welfare at the Central,

State, and district levels.
(it) The agricultural inputs such as credit, water, electricity,etc, should
be made available to the farmers on an extensive scale and at sub
sidised rates.
(iii) Measures should be taken to eliminate the intermediaries opera
ting between the farmers and the agencies providing credit and
other facilities.
(iv) There should be a comprehensive and fruitful programme For
imparting vocational training among the agricultural workers.
(v) Tenancy reforms should be carefully planned and implemented.
The tillers of the land should be given the right to ownership.
In this connection, it was also suggested that land should be made
the property of village and distributed among the farmers.
(vi) The problem of rural housing should be given top priority by
the policy-makers.

There was the need to carry out important institutional changes "by way
of agrarian reforms. The participants agreed that important measures meant
for institutional changes such as land reforms had not been properly imple
mented. The scheme of implementing land ceiling had been full of short
comings. There were "vested interests" in the government circles who sym
pathised with big farmers and landlords. It was, therefore, considered neces
sary that a special machinery should be created to effectively carry out the
institutional changes in the agrarian sector. A suggestion was that land
records should be properly maintained and scrtftin:sed from time to time
and there should be a ceiling on the family holdings of land in contrast to
the present policy of ceiling on individual holdings.
AGRARIAN TENSIONS
The discussions in this session centred around the report of the Home

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 COMMUNICATION 457

Ministry on "The Causes and Nature of Current Agrarian Tensions". The

participants traced the origin of the current agrarian tensions to the social,
economic, and cultural backwardness of agricultural labour. The close link
between this topic and the one discussed earlier was obvious from the fact
that the discussions were of a repetitive nature.
It was pointed out that the land reform measures had not benefited the
actual tiller in all cases. There was considerable concentration of ownership.
Much of the land was cultivated in small holdings by tenants and share
croppers who lacked security of tenure and who had to pay exorbitant rents.
There was no denying the fact that inequalities in land holdings had persisted
due to failure to implement land ceiling laws. The land ceiling programmes
implemented so far had been largely favourable to thel rge owner-farmers
than to the small tenant-farmers. This had resulted in growing disparities
and accentuated social tensions in the rural areas.
It was noted that agrarian tensions were more pronounced in those
areas where tribal and scheduled castes population formed a sizable pro
portion. The problems of tribal areas were different and required different
administrative and legislative measures to solve them. The tensions "arising
have a geographical configuration as well as a periodicity. In the new order
of rural/tribal society it should be expected that tensions might no longer
remain local. In this connection, a significant point was made that a review
should be made of government's discretionary power, given through the
Constitution, in withholding or amending the laws which were otherwise
applicable to the whole State or country so as to make them suitable to tri
bal areas. It was contended that failure to use this discretion adequately was
the natural cause of discontent mounting in the tribal areas.
The participants also suggested that the economic and social inequities
prevailing in the rural sector should be progressively reduced; public land
should be distributed among landless labourers; and landlords should not
be allowed to evict the tenants who had been cultivators for a long time.
These measures, it was felt, would help reduce and control the current agra
rian tensions. Another point that emerged out of the discussions was that
"green revolution" had benefited only the big farmers without commen
surate increase in the wages and working conditions of agricultural labour.
This, in turn, had aggravated tensions.
The participants mentioned the discriminatory treatment given to rural
people in matters of pricing, marketing, investment, and other policies.
They urged that the Life Insurance Corporation, which is a quasi-govern
ment organisation, should work out a scheme of crop and cattle insurance.
Among the other suggestions made in the seminar were :

(/) There should be a thorough examination of the way the coopera

tives, particularly industrial cooperatives, are working in the rural
sector.

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458 communication

(//) As far as possible, intermediaries should be discouraged. This

will help small farmers and ensuing benefits may go to agricultural
labour also.
(in) One should not take too alarmistic a view of inequalities. Though
in absolute terms they may be widening, relatively they are not
(iv) Overall planning of rural resources will be needed in a greater
measure than it obtains at present,
(v) There should be a proper orientation of civil servants whjch will
enable them to view the problems in rural areas with an element
of sympathy.
(vi) Differential rates for electricity (higher rates in rural areas) should
be done away with.
(vii) There should be price parity between the goods produced in rural
areas and those produced in urban centres but are in use in rural
areas.

The seminar also suggested that studies in the area of agricultural labour
should be given prominance in social science research in India. In this con
text, its suggestion that several such seminars need to be organised at micro
level to understand and highlight the problems relevant to different areas
is a welcome recommendation.

?S. M. Pandey
(Research Officer, Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations,)

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