Farm labour loses out to technology

These is also an economic cause for scarcity of farm labour, which is perhaps more relevant. During the second half of the 80s, we conducted a crash welfare programme for distribution of government land to the landless poor. They were mostly assignment of Poramboke lands. This process stretched so far that hardly any vacant land is left now in the villages.

A large number of agriculture labourers have become farmers and are economically better off now than they were two decades ago. They do not wish to work for what they regard as below subsistence wages.

Rural Employment Guarantee and Food for Work schemes as initiated by successive Governments, in a way, gave immense confidence to earn their livelihoods by alternative sources.

I did not go into the merits and demerits of such populist measures impelled by socio-economic injustice on the vulnerable sections of the society by the socially and economically dominant groups for ages.

I was curious to know what brought about this sudden scarcity of farm labour. The local version goes that this socio-economic fallout occurred during the late 80s. Corresponding to this period, a steady polarisation took place between the land-owning rich and the landless poor.

Acute social consciousness between them coupled with mutual distrust due to existence of unbridgeable socio-economic disparities steadily did contribute to unrest and misgivings.

Not only was it left un-checked but actually prompted by local political leadership. The emergence of regional parties in the late 80s propelled this tremor acutely. Today, there is a dangerous caste divide in Coastal Andhra. They are no longer complementary but mutually antagonistic. An outburst of this smouldering fire is imminent if it goes un-abated.

One has to learn from Karamchedu, Tsundur Padirikuppam, Laxmipet and Garugvparru incidents. The rural fabric is thin on the social front. Ignited by the scarcity and dearness of labour, a minor agrarian revolution is taking place in the district. Some of the associated aspects of it are also worth noting.

One is that there appears to be very little grazing land available for cattle and community purposes. The situation is reminiscent of the ‘Enclosure system’ that emerged in England during the Agrarian Revolution.

The only difference is that there it was rich landlords while here it is the neo-rich and so-called industrialists, who turned into estate owners, by investing ill-gotten wealth in owning huge extent of lands, physically enclosing their holdings by fencing / boundary walls. This has had a telling effect on the gradual decline of cattle breading.

Another development is the growth of orchards. Certain mild-tracts earlier regarded as useless, have been transformed into fruit and vegetable cultivation.

The incidence of night blindness, which was prevalent in earlier, is now very low. In the opinion of a local ophthalmologist, this appears to be a new and wholesome development. Meanwhile, Jonna and Bajra (Cholam/Millets) have become unfashionable crops among the rural folk.

The decline of cattle growing must also have made these traditional sources less important. The stem of a Jonna was a standard cattle fodder. The change has no scientific basis but is one of vanity. (The writer is a former Collector of Prakasam district)

By dr d srinivasulu