AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

AGRICULTURAL WAGES

There was a large number of landless labourers, who served on the farms in various capacities during the harvest season. Till the end of the 19th century and the beginning of this century the. wages paid to these labourers were very low as compared to  the wages received by them today. Following is an account [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Chanda District, Vol. A, 1909; pp. 215-16.] of agricultural wages prevalent till 1909 when the old gazetteer was published: -

"An able-bodied agricultural labourer earned Rs. 4-8 per month in 1893, Rs. 5-2 in 1895, Rs. 4-12 in 1897 and Rs. 5 in 1898. His wages were reduced to Rs. 3-12 in 1899, a rate which continued till 1901, as a result of the famine of 1900. They recovered to Rs. 4-11 in 1902 and 1903 and at the present time (1908) the wages of agricultural labour vary from 2 annas to 3 and 4 annas a day. In the towns of Warora and Chandrapur coolies can earn 4 to 6 annas daily. These rates are for males only. Females get half the wages of males. A common blacksmith earned Rs. 9-8 per mensem in 1893. During the next four years his earnings varied between Rs. 10 and Rs. 10-8 and fell to Rs. 9-8 in 1898 as a result of famine in 1897. Since then they have improved and we find Rs. 11-4 recorded during the following three years. In 1902 they rose to Rs. 13-2 and in 1903 to Rs. 15 a month. Now (in 1908) he receives 8 annas a day in Sironcha, 12 annas in Chandrapur and up to a rupee in Warora. A common mason is shown as having earned Rs. 10-6 a month in 1893, Rs. 13 in 1895, Rs. 12-8 in 1897, Rs. 10-5 in 1899 and Rs. 11-4 in 1900. The wages improved in 1902 and 1903 when he received Rs. 13-2 as his monthly income. In 1908 he got 10 annas a day rising to a rupee in Warora. A common carpenter who is better paid than either the blacksmith or the mason earned Rs. 12 a month in 1893, Rs. 12-4 in 1869, Rs. 14 in 1898 and Rs. 12-9 in 1899. In 1900 he received Rs. 13-2 and since then his wages have decidedly improved, having risen to Rs. 14 a month in 1901, Rs. 15 in 1902 and Rs. 18-12 in 1903. In 1908. he was getting from 12 annas a day to Rs. 1-4, the latter being the rate obtainable in Warora."

Formerly i.e., when the first gazetteer of the district was written, the agricultural servant was denominated by various local names which differed from one tahsil to another. In Chandrapur tahsil for instance, the common term for an agricultural servant in regular employment was awari, while in Warora he was called saha Koruya manus or the man getting 6 kuros. In Sironcha the Telugu. word paleru was used. The dependants of these awari and 6 kuros i.e. his wife or his small son, if they used to assist his duties, they were called rapte. The farm servants then used to receive the bulk of their wages in grain. At the time of the first settlement the servant of a rice cultivator received about 690.50 Kg. (740 seers) [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Chanda District, Vol. A, 1909; p. 216.] of rice as his yearly wage besides grain perquisites amounting to 293.928 Kg. (315 seers). But afterwards due to the tendency in the rice tract of reducing the actual amount of grain paid to the farm-servant his yearly wage was reduced to 559.86 Kg. (600 seers) and the grain perquisites amounting to about 121.304 Kg. (130 seers), only. Subsequently, however, the prices had risen roughly cent per cent which resulted in the increase of the amount of grain remuneration from 592.52 Kg. (635 seers) of jowar at the last settlement to 676.50 Kg. (725 seers) in about 1909. During this period the fixed monthly wage of a farm-servant in regular employ in the rice tract was 5 kuros of dhan per mensem, and 6 kuros in the Warora tahsil. In the open field tract the monthly rate was 5 kuros and 2 pailis of jowar.

In either case, i.e, if he was in the regular employ in the rice tracts or in the open field tracts, the agricultural servant used to get considerable amount of grains by wav of perquisites of various kinds. Thus in the open field tract, the farm-servant used to get a paili of each kind of grain sown and for watching the crops he was entitled to get three pailis of jowar remuneration each day. A curious custom [Ibid.217.], that besides his remuneration for watching the crop, the servant sometimes used to get a fighting cock worth about Rs. 5 was also in vogue. On bazar days in the cold weather these cocks were set to fight each other with iron spurs tied on to their feet, and the owner of the winning cock took the vanquished bird. In addition the farm-servant had the right of gleaning the field (sarwa) and other remunerations such as wadga or basketful of grain for his share of the work of cutting and bringing the crop to the threshing floor, a pour-boire of four annas during the damp process of transplantation, etc. Above all he used to get Rs. 2 to buy himself a blanket (waz) and Re. 1 or Rs. 1.4 to buy a pair of shoes and free food at the festivals of pola and nagpanchami. Thus the remuneration that a servant used to get out of perquisites in those days was roughly estimated to be between half a khandi and one khandi besides the cash doles in a year.

Among other agricultural labourers were the casual labourers, the village graziers and village servants. The agricultural labourers who were usually employed at periods of exceptional pressure, used to get two pailis a day or if required to watch a crop at night, three pailis. Women were generally employed for sowing and weeding and were remunerated at the rate of one paili a day for the former and only three nice a day for the latter. Variations were found in the remunerations given to men and women, and they also differed from one crop to another. Thus for reaping jowar men got 4 pailis and women 2 pailis a day, for wheat two pailis of the grain for men, one paili for women. The picking of cotton on the other hand was paid for by a share of from 1/16th to 1/20th of the amount picked. For transplanting rice, a man was paid Re. 1 for five days while a woman got Re. 1 for ten days.

The dhorki, a regular village grazier was paid only one anna per month for each head of cattle under his charge. Sometimes two or three farmers together used to hire a boy to look after their animals, and well-to-do persons had a private grazier employed exclusively in their own service. Women were also employed as shenakari to collect and stack the cow-dung either for fuel or for manure.

The village servants then included lohar or khati, carpenter (barhai), barber (mhali, called mangali in Sironcha), bhumak or deohari (permadu in Sironcha). village priest (joshi), washerman (wathi) and chamar (madgi in Sironcha). All these servants then were remunerated in kind which varied, according to their importance, between two kuros and four kuros a year. In addition they were also given other perquisites, food on festivals, etc. The lohar for instance used to get 2 or 3 kuros a year, the mhali or barber and wathi or washerman, each of them received about four kuros a year. The poor tenants paid only two pice each time they required the services of a barber. The bhumak was engaged in worshipping the village gods. For this and other services be used to get one kuro from each tenant. During his round in the fields, the joshi was given about 4 to 8 pailis, and at the time of marriage Rs. 1.4.

This system of village servants was also known as the balutedari system. It is, however, gradually disappearing. Now the services of the servants are being paid in cash. The remunerative structure in the case of the servants and labourers in the district as a consequence of the changed economy has reached a stage where from a retrospective look, even for the facts, would be more of a doubtful nature. It is difficult to imagine even that a barber was paid only 2 pice at a time for the services he rendered, and that the joshi just in a casual round in the field received about 4 to 8 pailis of grains from every tenant.

The agricultural labour is now classified according to the Manual of Revenue Accounts, into three categories, viz., (1) skilled, (2) ordinary and (3) field labour. The skilled labour comprises carpenters, blacksmiths and cobblers; ordinary labour includes load carrying coolies, well diggers, etc., while field labour comprises ploughmen, sowers, reapers, harvesters, weeders. etc. To this one more category is added, viz. herdsmen. Their main work is to collect live-stock from different farmers and to feed them in the jungle during the day and to bring them back in the evening.

Table No. 36 below gives average figures of the daily wages of different classes of agricultural labour. Perusal of the table shows that in 1963-64, the wages of the field labour, herdsmen, other agricultural labour and cobblers increased considerably as compared to those in 1957-58 and 1960-61. The highest wagerates of a field labourer in 1957-58, 1960-61 and 1963-64 were RS.1.25, 1.37 and Rs. 2.00, respectively, those of other agricultural labourer Rs. 1.19, Rs. 1.33, and Rs. 2.00, those of a herdsman Rs.1, 31, Re.0.92 and Rs. 1.75, while a cobbler received Rs. 2.19 as his maximum wages in 1957-58 the same being Rs. 2.83 in 1960-61 and Rs. 4.25 in 1963-64.

The labour in general in the district is dominated by agriculture and its allied activities. Mainly because of this and other factors the labour participation rates in the district arc higher than the State averages both for men and women. Smaller proportion of urban population to total population and the backward tribal economy in the district also account much for the larger labour participation. In the rice tracts of Brahmapuri and Gadhchiroli tahsils women's participation is very high. As per the 1961 census of the district the percentage of agricultural labour in the district was 25.06 (men 19.35 per cent, women 31.68 per cent). The corresponding percentage for the State was 23.80 (men 18.12 per cent, women 32.90 per cent). In 1951 the agricultural labourers, inculding earning dependants, made 21.51 per cent of the total workers in the district. The corresponding proportion in 1961 increased to 25.06 per cent. The reason may be traced in the fast growth of population in the district and the proportionate low absorbing capacity of non-agricultural sectors.

In the district, according to the 1961 census figures, the highest percentage of agricultural labour (34.09) was found in the Warora tahsil while Chandrapur tahsil was ranked last having 19.78 per cent agricultural labourers. The larger proportion of agricultural labourers in Warora tahsil was mainly due to its cotton and oil-seeds crops. In Chandrapur tahsil on the other hand the bulk of the labourers was absorbed in mining, quarrying, forestry, live-stock, etc.

TABLE No. 36

AVERAGE AGRICULTURAL WAGES IN CHANDRAPUR DISTRICT FOR 1957-58, 1960-61 AND 1963-64

(In Rupees and paise)

TABLE No. 36-contd.

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