Socio-Economic Conditions of Agricultural Labours in India: Problems & Prospects

One of the most distinguishing features of the rural economy of India has been the growth in the number of agricultural workers, cultivators and agricultural labourers engaged in crop production. The phenomena of underemployment, under-development and surplus population are simultaneously manifested in the daily lives and living of the agricultural labourers. They usually get low wages, conditions of work put an excessive burden on them, and the employment which they get is extremely irregular. Agricultural workers constitute the most neglected class in Indian rural structure. Their income is low and employment irregular. Since, they possess no skill or training, they have no alternative employment opportunities either. Socially, a large number of agricultural workers belong to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Therefore, they are a uppressed class. They are not organized and they cannot fight for their rights. Because of all these reasons their economic lot has failed to improve. Therefore this book is tried to trace out the lot of problems related to agricultural labourers in the rural community.