AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

RURAL WAGES

Casual Labour.

Cultivators in Amravati district employ casual labourers only when there is pressure of farm work such as collecting stubbles, sowing, weeding, harvesting, etc. It is reported that there exists a general scarcity of agricultural labour in the district as a whole but particularly near about Morshi, Warud and Amravati towns. In the district as a whole, the labourers are generally paid in cash. However, in a few cases, payment is made in kind also. Labourers get their wages for the week on bazar day so that they can purchase their requirements of food, clothing, etc.

The method of obtaining and employing casual labour in Amravati district is peculiar. Those cultivators who want to engage labour on their farms have to go to the labour market early in the morning wherefrom they get the required hands. The labourers gather every morning in the labour market and after the daily wage rate is declared they are distributed by their gang leaders. This system of labour market is prevalent at more than 50 per cent of the places in the district. What is more, it prevails also in small villages. The following table reveals the rates of wages paid to casual labour employed throughout the district.

TABLE No. 27

WAGES OF CASUAL LABOUR,

 [They were not provided with any other facility such as meals, clothing, tobacco for chewing, smoking, etc., in addition to their wages.] AMRAVATI DISTRICT

It will be seen that the wage rate for a male labourer varied between Rs. 1.25 and Rs. 2.50 per day. The former is the lowest rate while the latter is the highest wage rate paid during busy agricultural season near Warud, Jarud and Morshi towns where irrigated crops arc grown by resorting to intensive (arming methods. Women labourers are usually paid at half the wage rate of men labourers. Thus they receive between 62 paise and 75 paise per day. So far as wages are concerned, practically no distinction is made between woman labour and child labour. However, it may be noted that the practice of employing child labour is not in vogue. Few cultivators, particularly in some parts of Melghat taluka pay casual labourers in kind. Thus a man worker receives 3.629-4.536 kg. (8-10 lbs.) of grain and a woman labourer 1.814-2.721 kg. (4-6 lbs.) of grains. During and after the Second World War. money wages are reported to have risen nearly 4 times the pre-war rate in almost all the talukas. But the real wages have not undergone any upward change as the prices of foodgrains have also gone up. In the case of woman and child labour, the quantity of grain given as payment in kind actually decreased from 2.721 kg. (6 lbs.) to 1.814 kg. (4 lbs.) and 1.814 kg. (4 lbs.) to 0.907 kg. (2 lbs.) respectively between 1948-49 and 1959-60.

Wages according to operation.

Wages paid to casual labour employed on farms vary accord-ing to the nature of agricultural operations. Wages are deter-mined on daily basis and are usually paid in cash. Men labourers are usually paid higher wages than women labourers or child labour. Similarly, labourers performing those operations which involve heavy and skilled manual work are paid higher wages. Thus the worker driving tiffan for sowing is paid Rs. 5 per day. Harvesting and threshing also require a certain amount of skill and these operations have to be performed within the limited time. This leads to greater demand for the available labour force. However, with a view to getting the work done rapidly, labour is employed on contract basis throughout the district. For instance, women and children are generally employed for picking cotton. They are paid wages on the basis of the quantity of kapas picked during the day. This rate varies between Rs. 1.50 and Rs. 2 per maund of 28 seers of kapas collected. Similarly groundnut is also harvested on contract system. The workers are paid at the rate of 37 paise to 50 paise for the collection of a tinful of pods; liquid capacity of the tin being 18.18 litres (4 gallons). Jowar crop is also harvested on contract basis. Many a time operations like harvesting and threshing of jowar and tying bundles of kadbi are entrusted to labour. They arc paid Rs. 37 to Rs. 50 per hectare (Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 per acre) on contract basis. If these operations are performed on daily wage rate basis, labourer gets Rs. 1-50 for harvesting. These rates are subject to variation depending upon the time within which these operations are to be completed. The labourers also prefer contract system as it enables them to put in more work, earn higher average daily wages and finish the work rapidly. Around Warud, Jarud and Morshi towns, orange cultivation is practised on a large scale and labourers are paid higher wages. The private nursery owners raise large nurseries and a labourer performing budding opera-ton is paid Rs. 2-50 per tree.

Annual Servants

 or

Saldars.

Saldars are annual servants employed by those cultivators who can provide continuous and regular employment throughout the year either because they have large holdings or because they undertake intensive farming. A saldar is available for work throughout the day and night and usually does all type of farm-work. The contract with a saldar holds good for one year. He is offered a pair of dhoti, a shirt, a dupatta and a cap on the Pola day. The payment is usually made in instalments. The payment to a saldar varies between Rs. 300 and Rs. 600 per annum. depending upon the nature of work on the farm, the type of farming followed by the cultivator and the skill and ability of the saldar himself. In areas around Warud and Jarud towns where intensive farming is practised, the prevailing wage rate of n saldar is between Rs. 500 and Rs. 600 per year. Young boys between 12 and 16 years of age are also employed as saldars and arc paid half the wages.

Balutedars.

Balutedars are village artisans who are connected with the various agricultural operations. The main feature of this system is that they are given a fixed payment in kind for all the work they do during the year. The baluta system is gradually disappearing. Now this system prevails only on the farms of big hereditary cultivators. Balutedars work only on the farms of big cultivators and do not enter into fresh baluta contracts with anybody. As a result, the tendency to get the services of village artisans in exchange for cash payment is gaining ground. The important village artisans include a carpenter (barhai), a blacksmith (khati), a cobbler (chambhar) and a barber (mhali). The agricultural commodities given to the balutedar by way of wages generally include jowar, wheat, grain and other pulses. Baluta (payment in kind) is paid at the time of harvest. The payment by the cultivator is linked to the pair or pairs of bullocks he owns. For instance, a carpenter repairing farm implements gets about 20 pailics or 36.288 kg. (80 lbs.) of jowar for every pair of bullocks owned by the cultivator.

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