Labour Pains – Punjab Farmers Miss “Bihari” Work Force

By Nivedita Saini

The full term ‘Kharif’ crop of the food basket of India has gone into “labour pains”. In what appears to be the climax, the migrant population of Bihar, who till off late came in multitudes to plow the fertile lands of Punjab, has abruptly vanished.

Owe it to the work provided to them by the launch of the government programmes like Bharat ‘Nirman’ or National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), or the actuality that the migrants from Bihar have shifted to cities to become daily wagers, the fact remains that Punjab is facing an acute labour shortage, which is having an adverse impact on the paddy sowing and transplanting season.

Over the years, the contribution of the ubiquitous migrant labourers has been phenomenal. The credit for 90% of the green revolution goes to our dear ‘bhaiyas’(a common name given to Bihar and UP populace). But, the Punjabi farmers have not appreciated this involvement. On the contrary, they have looked down upon the ‘Bihari’ work force.

With their own local youths staying off farms and adopting a take it easy attitude or shifting abroad to fulfill their aspirations of making it rich fast, the Punjabi landlords are now realizing their worth and doing all they can, to guard their prized work force of ‘Bihari’ labourers.

Tough to believe, but farmers are reportedly spending their nights at railway stations and bus stops. They are almost short of kidnapping the work force. Even variable payouts and incentives in the form of ‘atta’ and country liquor are not enough to hold back the already present labour masses.

Obviously, when the migrant labourers can find equally lucrative employment at their doorsteps, why should they be wandering long distances, enduring back breaking work in other states, getting highly under paid and be treated as second rate citizens?

Correctly so, Thackerays don’t exist in Punjab but then our labourers now feel that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. A shocking revelation, though not official is that, not even half of the estimated migrant work force, of about 2-3 lakhs of the yester years, have arrived in Punjab this time.

Another raison d'être for this years unanticipated “labour pains” was the government's policy to postpone rice sowing in order to make it overlap with the monsoon. The abridged transplantation period led to a run for migrant labour.

Would you believe it that all this has been potent enough to defy nature and induce “labour pains” in the male chauvinistic Punjab farmers who have now stepped into the mushy fields along with their women folk to lend a hand? This was something they would have unfailingly recoiled from, at an earlier time.

So now it’s not the “bhaiyas” of Bihar, but the “Bha Ji’s” of Punjab who are into it.

Despite all this, Punjab expects a bumper Kharif crop this year, in all gratitude to the near normal monsoon. Moreover, anticipating more shortages in the coming years, the agriculture department of Punjab is innovating to mechanize paddy transplantation which is currently labour intensive.

Despite all odds, Punjab will continue to be India’s food bowl and green land.