Migration of Labour in Indian Agriculture with Special Reference to Tea Industries in the Nilgiris’ District of Tamilnadu

Abstract

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with the total population size of 135 crores.  Out of which 56.7 percent of the total population is still depending upon agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood.  With the growth of population size and increase in the size of urbanisation, it is evident that there are chances for migration of labour from one part of the country to other parts.  It is estimated that the migrated population is around 139 million as per 2011 census.

Labour migration is also found in Indian plantation industry.  It is even common in tea plantation also.  It has its impact on the workers’ life, the society, the concerned sector and the economy as a whole.

The researcher has taken up this issue to analyse the nature of and reason for labour migration in tea industry in the Nilgiris district of Tamilnadu.  The research has used primary data with the sample size of 292 for analysis.  Simple statistical and econometric tools are used to analyse data.

It is found that 46.57 percent respondents have migrated from other areas out of which 96.32 percent belong to Scheduled Caste and 3.68 percent belong to backward class.  It is also found that the large number of the migrants are women.  There are both inward and outward migration of labour found in the tea industry.  It is suggested that in order to control this, there is a need for fixing up the nominal and reasonable wage rate for the workers and also there is a need for fixing up minimum support price for tea leaves as like rice, wheat, sugarcane by the government.  There are still opportunities for further research work on other aspects of tea estate workers in the same industry.