Gian Singh

Levels, Pattern and Distribution of Income of Farmers and Agricultural Labourers in Rural Punjab: Inter-Regional Analysis#

The objective of present paper is to analyze levels and pattern of income of farmers and agricultural labourers in rural Punjab across the regions. An average sampled farm and agricultural labourer householders the highest income in the Central Plains Regionf ollowed by the South-West Region and the Shivalik Foothills Region. The study reveals a positive relationship between farm-size and income levels. Farm business income is the most important component of household income of farmers in all the three regions. In the case of the agricultural labourers, Hiring out labour in agriculture is the most important component of household income of agricultural labourers. Per capita income of the sampled farm households and agricultural labourers is also the highest in the Central Plains Region followed by the South-West and Shivalik Foothills Regions. Aninter-regional analysis shows that the sampled farm households have a relatively less skewed distribution of income in the Central Plains Region. The Gini coefficient shows that concentration of per capita income is higher in the Shivalik Foothills Region in comparison to the remaining two regions. The Gini coefficient also shows that concentration of per household income is greater than the per capita income in all the three regions.

Magnitude and Determinants of Indebtedness Among Farmers in Rural Punjab

The objective of the present paper is to estimate and compare the debt position of the sampled households of the different farm-size categories in the rural areas of Punjab. The concentration of debt within various categories has also been studied. Source-wise debt has been classified according to the lending agencies. The various purposes for which the different categories of the farmers owed debt have also been studied. The debt incurred by different farm-size categories at various rates of interest have also been discussed in this paper. The present study is based on 631 farm households and relates to the year 2010–11.

Extent and Magnitude of Indebtedness Among Scheduled Caste Households-A Case Study of Punjab

The objective of the present paper is to analyse the extent and magnitude of indebtedness among the Scheduled Caste households in rural Punjab. The present study is based on a sample size of 543 Scheduled Caste households of Punjab. The study has concluded that the average amount of loan per indebted Scheduled Caste household is 36, 496.64, while the average amount of loan per sampled household is 50, 044.20 in the rural areas of Punjab. The amount of loan per indebted household and per sampled household increases as the income of the Scheduled Caste households decreases. The study further revealed the fact that the low level of income and employment prospects fail to meet the family requirements of the Scheduled Caste households.

Plight of women labourers in rural Punjab

The present study revealed that a large majority of the respondents have to face the problem of irregularity of work. Almost, all the respondents in the sampled districts do not enjoy any facility at their workplace. About onethird of the female respondents were not being paid equal wages for equal work with men. Majority of the sampled women labourers are not aware about the standard working hours fixed by the government. The study also revealed that a majority of the women labourers were suffering from some serious diseases. In addition to the problems faced at the workplace, the women labourers have to face many problems on their domestic front also. After the whole day work, they have the responsibility to look after their children and attend the domestic chores. Even during the period of their illness, more than one-fourth of the respondents have reported that they do not get the co-operation of their husbands rather they are ill-treated and forced to go for work. Some of the respondents have complained that they have been the victims of domestic violence. Apart from this, slightly more than one-third of the respondents have revealed that they were not involved in all important family matters. All this makes their situation more miserable.

Determinants of indebtedness among farmers in rural Haryana

In the present study, an attempt has been made to analysis the determinants of indebtedness among the different farm-size categories in the rural Haryana. The analysis clearly shows that the highest proportion of households under debt was in Bhiwani district (81.49 per cent), followed by Sirsa (80.29 per cent) and Yamunanagar (77.78 per cent) districts. The regression coefficients for education level and income from subsidiary occupations were negatively correlated with indebtedness. The regression coefficients of family-size, farm-size, ratio of credit from non-institutional sources to that from institutional sources and expenditure on unproductive purposes were positively correlated with indebtedness.