This paddy season, farm workers want higher wages

This paddy season, farm workers want higher wages Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Suchetgarh (Indo-Pak Border), October 2
In the wake of the farming sector facing an acute shortage of farm labourers during the harvesting season of paddy crop, the labourers are demanding 30 to 35 per cent more for their services.
The labourers, including those from Nepal and Bihar who have now almost settled here, are charging Rs 2,900 - 3,000 per acre for harvesting paddy. Last year, they had charged Rs 2,200 for the same work.
A visit to 10 villages in the RS Pura belt here, which is also known as the rice bowl of the state, revealed that the farming community was facing the pinch in their pocket this paddy season.
“The government has fixed Rs 1,080 per quintal for procurement, which is almost the same as last year’s price. But, the labourers are demanding 35 per cent more money. Our profit has slashed,” said Gurjeet Singh, a farmer at Suchetgarh village.
Another paddy grower, Daljeet Singh of Gulabgarh village, said: “The labourers working here have gone to neighbouring states like Punjab this season, so there is an acute shortage of manpower for harvesting. Taking an advantage of this shortage, those who have remained here have begun to demand more wages.”
However, labourers have their own story to tell. Shubh Narain Rai, a farm labourer from Nepal, said: “We come here in every sowing and harvesting season. The travel fare and prices of all essential commodities have increased. So, we are demanding more wages. Is it not our right to demand more wages when faced with such high inflation?”
Another farm labourer, Ashok Mandal of Bihar, maintained that even Rs 3,000 for an acre was not enough to meet their basic needs: “We are four persons working in the fields from morning to evening and that too without a break. Against the work of four persons, we charge only Rs 3,000 for harvesting the standing crop in one acre.”
He further said some people offer them rice in place of money.
“Our job is not only to reap the standing paddy crop, but we have to ensure that the grain reaches the house of paddy growers,” added Mandal.