Farm labourers: The long road ahead

The celebration of International Workers’ Day calls for a review of the farm labourers' position and their struggle, a subject of far less attention than deserved. The recent farmers' protest witnessed unprecedented support at all levels. Farm labourers were supporting the farmers and raising their own issues as well.

Slogans like 'No Farmers, No Food' excluded almost half of the workforce which comprised the labourers. So, the slogan was changed to 'No Land, No Life' and 'Kisan Mazdoor Ekta Zindabad'. The protest songs also reflected Kisan Mazdoor Ekta, unity between peasant workers and farmers.

The Union government brought the three contentious farm laws alongside the labour codes; the government brought these laws during the Covid-19 lockdown, assuming that people would not get out of their homes to protest. The agricultural community was excluded from the discussions regarding the implementation of these laws which involved the abolition of APMC Mandis, MSP (minimum support price) and land-grabbing by corporates. Farm labourers, despite their high share in these sectors, were absent.

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Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) data reveals shocking details that almost half of the suicides in the farm sector consist of labourers. Out of a total of 16,606 suicide cases from 2000 to 2015, mostly due to debt, 9,007 were farmer suicides and 7,234 were by rural labourers. The average loan for farm labourers is less than the farmers', who have land as collateral; farm labourers have to struggle for loans. Another PAU study explains that after depeasantisation, most of the farmers work as farm labourers on the very land they once owned.

There is an average debt of Rs 68,329 in every agricultural family in Punjab. Job opportunities in the state are shrinking; families are struggling for a source of income. The situation is getting worse when expenditure is comparatively higher due to inflation. Another PAU study shows that 91 per cent of the families committing suicides depend upon wage labour, their biggest source of income. Only 0.04 per cent of suicide victims' families were engaged in MGNREGA work and 4.48 per cent of these families are involved in government jobs.

To cope with issues of finance, agricultural labourers borrow money as loan. Among the 7,303 agricultural labourers who committed suicide in Punjab from 2000 to 2018, most of the families took loans from non-institutional sources such as money lenders, big landlords, loansharks, shopkeepers, friends and relatives. Only 7.37 per cent of the debt had been borrowed from institutional sources like commercial banks and cooperative banks/societies. Both the psychological stress and socio-economic conditions have forced these labourers to commit suicide.

A long-term suggestion is radical land reform; among the four types of land reforms, land consolidation, land ceiling, land tenancy acts and zamindari abolition act, only the tenancy acts could benefit the farm labourer. Both the state as well as big zamindars are responsible for the failure of these reforms. Furthermore, the green revolution enlarged the gap between big landlords and workers who were either landless or marginalised. The reduction in subsidies post-1990 reforms made labourers vulnerable to either commit suicide or migrate to urban spaces as cheap labour.

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The recent farmers' protest was a landmark event, not just for farmers but also for labourers. For the protracted period of this protest, when farmers were spending time at Delhi borders and other protest sites, farm labourers had complete responsibility of the farm. Though many attempts were made to break Mazdoor Kisan Ekta, it still had a significant impact in uniting labourers and farmers.

Farm labourers have started forming a single class of farmers and farm labourers; now it is up to the farmers to ensure proper space for labourers. Farm unions have to initiate reforms. Some of the farm unions are also labour unions such as the Majdoor Kisan Sangharsh Committee, All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha and there are many farm unions with labour wings like BKU Ekta Ugrahan, All India Kisan Sabha and a few others. Being in a position of dominance, it is the farm Union's responsibility to include the labourers.

Farm labourers need reforms like minimum wages, reduction in working hours, scholarships for their kids, food security for minimum nutritional requirements, access to public health and alternative employment when there is less agricultural work. In the patriarchal division of labour where fodder collection for cattle and fuelwood is seen as women's work, it is paramount to ensure fodder for farm labourers preventing women farm labourers from sexual harassment and giving them give them a sense of dignity.

Land distribution is a highly caste-based phenomenon and the land ceiling acts failed to materialise. In Punjab, more than two-thirds of agricultural labourers belong to the Scheduled Caste, who own less than 3.5 per cent of the state's agricultural land and comprise around 32 per cent of the state's population. Radical land reforms can secure land for the landless and address the issue of inequalities.

(The writers are PhD scholars at Jawaharlal Nehru University and were part of farmers’ movement 2020-21)