JEYPORE: A host of Government welfare schemes in tribal areas has led to a shortage of agricultural labourers in Jeypore sub-division. It has become tough for farmers to get workers for harvesting paddy crop in the Kharif season as tribal labourers are no longer keen to work in farms owing to several benefits offered under the welfare schemes. This has delayed Kharif paddy processing in the region. Sources said as many as 40,000 farm labourers are required per day during the Kharif harvest season from November to January.
With a shortage of local labourers, farmers are forced to hire hands from other districts. They have to wait for weeks to get workers resulting in both loss of time and money. Taking advantage of the situation, the ones who are still willing to work are exploiting the farmers by enhancing their wage on a par with labourers in Punjab and Haryana. The absence of rules and regulations for farm labourers’ wage has made matters worse for the cultivators.
Sources said farmers have to cough up Rs 250 per day for a labourer excluding lunch and snacks. “Now, besides giving them chicken and liquor, we are forced to arrange vehicles for the labourers,” rued Ramesh, a farmer of Jagannathpur village. Around 2,000 farmers have given up their traditional profession in the last three years. While some have shifted to other jobs, others have leased out their land owing to a shortage of labourers. Meanwhile, a senior agriculture officer said the use of advanced farm equipment can solve the problem.