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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farmers worried about labour shortage as NREGS wage goes up by Karthik Madhavan

Farmers worried about labour shortage as NREGS wage goes up by Karthik Madhavan

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published Published on Jan 5, 2010   modified Modified on Jan 5, 2010

The District Rural Development Agency has hiked the wage from January 1

ERODE: Hike in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) wage has got Erode farmers worried about labour shortage.

Following State Government’s instruction, the District Rural Development Agency, which oversees NREGS implementation, hiked the wage January 1 onwards by Rs. 20 to Rs. 100 a day. Under NREGS below poverty line families get work for 100 days a year, which is mostly manual labour.

Farmers say the hike has come at a time when Erode is reeling under labour shortage and ahead of the crucial harvest season.

Harvest season

T. Subbu, district secretary, Tamizhaga Vivasayeegal Sangam, Erode, says in a fortnight’s time paddy on over one lakh acre will be ready for harvest, when the demand for labour will peak.

Ten persons will take four days to harvest three acres of paddy, he says and adds that for the work farmers spent around Rs. 8,000 an acre last year. The workers get a portion of the wage as paddy.

Erode farmers, during harvest, get a majority of their workforce from Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts and also from Dharapuram in Tirupur. The labourers migrate to Erode, Gobichettipalayam and paddy cultivation areas, where they camp till the completion of harvest season.

But this time, farmers like Mr. Subbu are worried if they will get adequate labourers or face shortage. And, the later means increase in wages.

“If there is labour shortage, farmers will have to shell out more money to hire workers, which will push up the cost of harvest and cultivation. As a consequence, paddy will become dearer,” he explains and says that this time around farmers may have to pay up to Rs. 10,000 an acre.

Kalingarayan farmers’ association president V.M. Velayudham too echoes a similar view.

Soon after paddy, turmeric will be ready for harvest followed by other crops that require labour for maintenance, he says and fears that labour shortage will push up harvest cost.

This is also because the farmers here are more or less totally dependent on migrant labourers as the local labour force meets up only about 20 per cent of their requirement.

And, again farmers prefer manual harvest over machine because in the latter hay gets damaged.

“The machine comes with lots of disadvantages and one such is hay loss, which is significant given the good price hay fetches,” says Mr. Subbu. Other problems include ability to use the machine effectively on small lands and where crop is bent.

Sources in DRDA admit that labour shortage is an issue in the district.

The Agency understands the issue and has also received suggestions that Erode district should be exempted from NREGS implementation but the decision cannot be taken in Erode. More than one lakh families in the district have registered for work under NREGS.


The Hindu, 5 January, 2010, http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/05/stories/2010010552110300.htm
 

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