ECONOMIC TRENDS

WAGE TRENDS

Agriculture, as stated earlier, is the principal occupation of the largest proportion of the working population in the district. Nearly 77.3 per cent of the total working population in 1961 followed agriculture as their occupation. The 1961 Census enumerated 137,657 persons as agricultural labourers. It is therefore important to study the trends of wages of agricultural labourers and craftsmen.

The Wardha District Gazetteer of 1906 gives a vivid account of the wage rates of labourers and craftsmen in the district from 1873 to 1904, which is reproduced below. [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Wardha District, 1906, Vol. A. pp. 135-38]

Cash wages—" The Volume of Prices and Wages in India does not contain statistics for Wardha, but those for the adjoining District of Nag-pur are probably sufficiently representative of Wardha in past years. According to these an agricultural labourer earned Rs. 5 a month in 1873, Rs. 4 in 1881, Rs. 4 in 1891, and Rs. 5 in 1901. These figures indicate and probably with accuracy that wages were higher in the early seventies when the effects of the great demand for cotton caused by the American War had not yet passed off than during the subsequent period of comparative stagnation in trade and industry. Shortly after 1891 the demand for labour revived, and in 1893 the wages of an agricultural labourer are quoted at Rs. 5-11 a month. This rate has been adhered to in subsequent years, the figure for 1901 being Rs. 5-10, for 1902 Rs. 6 and for 1903 Rs. 5-12. The figures though in themselves significant as indicating a rise in the wages of unskilled labour of nearly 50 per cent since 1891, probably understate the rates prevailing for the last three years. In 1902 the daily wages of mill hands were returned as 4 to 5 annas for a man and 3 annas for a woman, as against 3 annas for a man and 1¹/2 to 2 annas for a woman in 1891. In 1904 the wages in factories were 6 annas for a man and 4 annas for a woman. It is probable that a male labourer can earn a minimum of Rs. 6 a month at any kind of unskilled labour, and this represents a rise of 50 per cent on the rates of 1891. Such an increase in the wages obtainable by the large class of unskilled labourers who form the lowest stratum of the population is a very substantial indication of general prosperity. The wages of skilled artisans were shown as Rs. 15 in 1891 and Rs. 20 in 1903. They are reported to vary between 6 annas and 12 annas a day according to the very different degrees of proficiency of such artisans as masons, carpenters and blackmiths."

Grain Wages, Farm-servants.—"Farm-servants are usually engaged by the year from the first day of Chaitra (April). But in many cases they are only taken on for six months. If paid in grain the customary wages of a farm-servant are 6 kuros or 120 lbs. of juar a month and from Rs. 20 to 25 a year in cash or 8 kuros a month and Rs. 5 in cash. Formerly it is said that they received only 5 kuros a month and two to five rupees annually. Besides this, the farm-servant receives 5 kuros or 100 lbs. of juar in the pod at harvest, his food on four or five festivals, and a blanket and a pair of shoes annually; and while he is watching the juar crop he picks as many of the heads as he wishes to eat. These grain wages work out to about Rs. 60 a year, taking juar at 42 lbs. to the rupee. But the servants frequently demand to be paid in cash and their cash wages vary between Rs. 60 and Rs. 80. At last settlement (1892-94) Mr. Purshotam Das stated that agricultural servants hired by the year received cash or grain wages to the amount of Rs. 3 a month. The wages of private graziers employed by malguzars or large tenants are the same as those of farm-servants. To the village graziers who pasture cattle by the month for hire, the fees are 2 annas a month for a cow and 4 annas for a buffalo. For the extra labour required in weeding and cutting the crops women are more commonly employed than men. The autumn crops only are weeded juar as a rule once and cotton two or three times. Women are employed in weeding and are paid 3 or 4 pice if they work from midday till evening which is a common practice in the rains, and 1¹/2 to 2 annas for working the whole day. The weeding of cotton is estimated to cost from Rs. 5 to Rs. 7 an acre. Men are employed for cutting the juar stalks and receive 3 pailis or 7¹/2 lbs. of grain a day. Women cut off the ears from the stalks and get 2 pailis or 5 lbs each. If extra labourers are employed for threshing and winnowing they are paid at the same rate, but the work is usually done by the cultivator with his family. The picking of cotton is sometimes paid for by a share of about a twentieth of the amount picked according to the demand for labour. This is most acute at the time of the middle pickings and the largest sums have to be paid then. If cash payment is made, the rate is 3 or 4 annas per maund of 18 seers of seed cotton. Women are almost always employed as pickers, and the work goes on from the beginning of November to the end of January. At the rate given they earn about 2 annas a day. Wheat harvesting is paid for at the rate of one themli or bundle for every 20 bundles cut. This yields between 3 and 4 lbs. of grain and a woman can earn one, and a man one and a half a day. Three men can cut an acre of wheat in a day. Women are employed for rooting up the linseed plants and beating them out with a short club or mogri and are paid 2 annas a day. Rajputs from Northern India are largely engaged for watching the crops and also as duns for collecting rents and debts. The local supply of labour is insufficient at harvest time and temporary immigration called the jhari takes place from Bhandara, Balaghat and Chanda. The labourers come to Wardha after the harvesting of the rice crop and return during the hot weather. During the last few years a number have settled in the District."

The rates of wages of various categories of workers fluctuated from time to time alongwith the fluctuations in prices. In the nature of things, wage rates ruled high during the First World War and the years following it. The Great Depression of 1930 brought down the wage rates to a precariously low level. The market glut during the Depression forced the rates of wages and prices downward. During the period of economic revival the wage rates rose to some extent. The Second World War set the wages on the ascent, and this trend continued in the coming years till the dawn of Independence. The Korean War boom had an inevitable effect on the earnings of the working classes.

It may, however, be noted that the rise and fall of wages did not keep pace with the rise and fall of prices. This was mainly because wages were determined by a multitude of forces which lie beyond the scope of economic analysis. Besides, the labour market is extremely disorganised and fractured to be amenable to the forces of the price mechanism.

Due to the consciousness and enlightenment during the era of planning and democratic socialism, the rates of wages of agricultural as well as non-agricultural workers increased to a great extent. This rise in wages was not determined by demand and supply but by factors like consciousness and rise in prices and cost of living.

The following statement gives the average daily wages of agricultural labourers and craftsmen at the three selected centres, viz., Selu, Karanja and Samudrapur during 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Average Daily Wages during 1964, 1965 and 1966. [Source: District Statistical Officer, Wardha District, Bureau of Economics and Statistics, Government of Maharashtra.]

Apart from fluctuations of wages from year to year, the daily wage rates of almost all categories of casual labour decline during the period between February and June. This period of an year is characterised by lean agricultural operations and the fall in demand for labour. This is particularly so in rural areas. The labourers are forced to accept any rate of wages offered to them.

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