Unfavourable Conditions of Labourers in Haryana

Abstract

Haryana is “mainly an agrarian economy and falls among the states of India which adopted New Agricultural Model in 1960’s. Consequently, the high production of food grains, making it self sufficient in food grains. The contribution of the primary sector in the GDP has been continuously declining over the years. But agriculture still holds a central space in the Haryana economy as a huge chunk of its working population is still engaged in agriculture to make their living. Working population in agriculture comprises cultivators and agricultural labourers. A person who earns his living through wages by working on another person’s farm is considered to be an agricultural labourer. Agricultural labourers, an important section of the rural population of Haryana state, is the most neglected section of the population, leading a life of abject poverty. They live in undignified conditions. The main objective of the planning system in India introduced from 1951 is to raise the living standard of the vulnerable sections of the society and the agricultural labourers represent the weakest section of the society both in economic and social terms. Even after the seven decades of planned economic development, the position of agricultural labourers in the society is still pathetic. But the basic problems being confronted by agricultural labourers have not been properly examined, analysed and addressed. Agricultural labourers live in very pathetic and miserable conditions with the lowest share in the national income. Agricultural labourers form an important section of the rural community, but they are illiterates, extremely poor, are caught in debt trap, belong to lower classes, face acute dearth of employment opportunities and have only seasonal employment in” agriculture. They represent the “second largest category of workers in Haryana. The number of agricultural labourers has been shorting up consistently since 1971. Majority of them come from scheduled castes category. Being illiterates, they were not fit for other jobs. Unemployment is widely rampant among them, representing 60% of the total rural unemployment. They suffer from underemployment very acutely apart from chronic unemployment. Land remaining concentrated in a few hands despite land reforms, a large section of the population depending upon agriculture work as agricultural” labourers.