Agricultural Labour

Agricultural Labour Meaning

 According to the National Commission on Labour: "an

agricultural labourer is one who is basically unskilled and
unorganized and has little for its livelihood, other than personal
labour.“
 The First Agricultural Labour Enquiry Committee 1950-55
defined Agricultural Labourer as –
 “Those people who are engaged in raising crops on payment of
wages”
Agricultural Labour Meaning

 Census of India defines an agricultural labourer as “ a person who

work’s on another person’s land only as labourer without
exercising any supervision or direction in cultivation, for wages
in cash, kind or share such as share of produce.”

 The agricultural hierarchy in India consists of Land-owners,

tenants and agricultural workers.
Agricultural Labour Meaning

 The report of Congress Agrarian Reforms Committee classified

agricultural labourers into three groups,
 Field labourers
 Ordinary Labourers
 Skilled labourers
Laws governing Agricultural Labour in India
 Minimum Wages Act 1948

 Plantation Labor Act 1951

 A comprehensive Legislation underway

 Agricultural Worker Welfare fund

 Multi dimensional Course of Action

i. Improvement of Infrastructural facilities

ii. Diversification to non farm activities

iii. Financial Assistance to promote self employment

iv. Optimizing use of Land Resources through a variety of rural development,

poverty alleviation and employment generation programmes
Average Daily Wage Rate
 The all India annual average daily wage rate for field labour (male) during 2019-20 was
₹348/day,

 Kerala paying the highest wage to field labour (male) ₹701/day, while Chhattisgarh
figured as the lowest wage payer among all states with ₹234/day.

 Average daily wage rate for field labour (female) at all India and State level showed
that Kerala paid the highest wage to field labour (female) i.e. ₹525/day, Chhattisgarh
paid the lowest wage i.e. ₹170/day.

 All-India annual average wage rate was ₹278/day. The variation between wages of
male and female agricultural labourer for the same category of work has been observed
and it is approximately 25 per cent at all India level.

 Average daily wage rate for field labour (male) in Tamil Nadu i.e. ₹392/day, and the
female field labour is 195