Changes in contractual relations in land and labour in India
Ravi Srivastava
Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics 55(3): 253-282
2000
Document Number: 370375
The main objective of this study is to delineate some of the emerging changes in contractual relations in agricultural land and labour markets in India on the basis of available macro and micro evidence. Secondary data from the 17th (1961-62), 26th (1971-72), 37th (1981-82), and 48th (1991-92) rounds of the National Sample Survey were used. The study reveals the emerging changes in land and labour contracts in the context of: an uneven transition in Indian agriculture characterized by considerable regional disparities, growing partial proletarianization, loosening hereditary ties of labourers with landlords or employers, and some growth in alternative sources of employment; and the growth of a capitalist class centrally concerned with the escalation in supervision and labour costs, and labour availability. The changes in contracts reflect the class-reproduction strategies of labourers and employers, both internally differentiated, but contracts are naturally heavily influenced by the requirements of the dominant classes. Thus, tenancy changes have contributed to increased concentration of the operational holdings, and smallholder tenancy is slowly being transformed but has remained surprisingly resilient over the years. The labour market shows contradictory features with decreasing isolation and growing casualization and mobility, accompanied, however, by a fairly high degree of fragmentation and segmentation, particularly in areas of developed agriculture.