Growth in The Number of Agricultural Labourers

Agricultural labourers in India are among the important elements. However, it is also one of the poorest elements among the employed population in India. In 1950-51, an agricultural labour enquiry was executed under the Ministry of labour. This was the first time when such an inquiry was conducted in India in order to know about the economic condition of all the agricultural labourers in India. Following this, a second enquiry was executed in 1956-57. As per the latest census, there has been a significant increase in the number of agricultural labourers in India. The population of agricultural labourers in India as per the 2011 census is 144.3 million.

About agricultural labourers 

Agricultural labourers are those people who work on the farms of other people to earn money. Their major source of income is this only. Agricultural labourers are one of the types of farm workers, and the other one is cultivators. Agricultural labourers are those people who are involved in elide or agricultural activities that can also include dairy farming, horticulture, and more. They can work either full time or part-time, and they can also work for an entire year or for just a few months of a year. There are basically two types of agricultural labourers. One of them works on the basis of agreement and follows all the instructions. On the other hand, the other type of agricultural labourers are casual labourers who can work on any farm for daily wages. In the country, agricultural labourers are among the exploited and unorganised classes of the rural population of India. The standard of living and the level of income and wages that they have is, unfortunately, very low. The major reason behind these low wages is the increase in demand for automated machines that are used in agriculture nowadays. Another result of this particular demand is that there are a huge number of the population of the labour class who are unemployed.

Some statistics about agricultural workers in India

As per the latest and the last census, which was conducted in India by the registrar general of India in 2011, there has been a significant increase in the population of agricultural workers. In 2001, the population of agricultural workers was 234.1 million, and in the year 2011 increased to 263.1 million. Out of this population, the population of agricultural labourers in 2001 was 106.8 million, and that in 2011 increased to 144.3 million. On the other hand, the population of Cultivators saw a decrease as in 2001 the population of cultivators was 127.3 million and in 2011 it became 118.8 million. In addition to it, the workforce share that is engaged in the agricultural sector, including both the cultivators and the agricultural labourers, came down to 54.6% in 2011 from 58.2% in 2001. One of the major reasons for this particular shift was because of the better opportunities for employment that increased in industries and services. The increase in urbanisation is also a major reason. In the Indian economy, it is inevitable that people can move from one place to another in search of better economic opportunities. One can conclude that the population of agricultural labourers in India is, as of now, much more than the population of cultivators in India.

The decrease in farmers and increase in agricultural labourers

In India, there has been a huge decrease in the number of farmers in one decade. This decrease was more than 8.6 million. So, in other words, the number of farmers in India decreased from 8.6 million in one decade. This is a matter of concern because if the number of farmers decreases, then the population present in village areas that have agriculture as their major economic value will suffer and face a lot of consequences. The trends in farming show that 3.2% of cultivators and around 14% of women have left farming since the year 2001. There was a trend observed for the first time in over 40 years which was that among the entire population involved in the agricultural sector of India had, more than 50% of population of agricultural labourers. This trend observed for the first time in India had 144.3 million agricultural labourers in 2011 out of the 263.1 million population that is involved in agricultural works. 

Conclusion

One of the major reasons why India is famous is its agriculture. However, in the past decade, there has been a significant change in the numbers of the population involved in agriculture. At one point, there has been a certain increase in the population involved in agricultural work in the country; however, at another point, there has been a huge increase in the population of agricultural labourers. If you look at the latest census that was conducted in India, one can easily depict that there has been significant growth in the number of agricultural labourers, and there has been a decline in the population of cultivators.