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IV
Agricultural Diversification and Employment
It might look somewhat strange
that despite high growth rate in economy and agricultural
productivity, unemployment reported in Punjab is no less than rest
of India. According to the NSSO estimates, unemployment rate in
Punjab during 1987-88, based on usual status, ruled 2.9 and 7.4 per
cent for male and female workforce as compared to 2.8 and 3.5 per
cent at all India level, for rural areas. This raises the issue that
when lakhs of migrant labourers from Bihar, east UP and some other
states find employment in agriculture sector in Punjab then why
there is high rate of unemployment among its own rural workforce?3
If we look at the possibility of
creating more on-farm employment in the state it is found that
attractive crop alternatives are available to do so (Table 2).
Similarly, among non-land based activities, there is tremendous
scope to raise employment by shifting area from wheat and paddy to
fodder crops and by raising dairy on the same area. Results of our
field study show that labour employment in dairy, that can be raised
on fodder from a given area, plus labour use in fodder production is
7.3 times the labour use in paddy and wheat cultivation on the same
area [See Ramesh Chand 1996, ch 8 for more details]. However,
the relevant question is: would this type of employment generation
reduce unemployment for the farm youths in the state? The
answer seems no! Unemployment of farm youths in
Punjab is not due to lack of work opportunities in farm sector4
but due to their strong preference to go for non-farm jobs. Though
employment opportunities would be available at other farms, workers
of farm families not having enough work opportunities at their own
farms would generally not work as labourers at other’s farms due
to social stigma and taboos. This is the reason that lakhs of
migrant labourers find work opportunities in Punjab agriculture
while some of its own workforce remains unemployed. Second, during
the past two decades literacy in Punjab has improved sharply and the
young generation is not only by and large literate but also having
secondary or higher education. There is a serious problem with the
educated youth, almost throughout the country, that they shun manual
jobs like those in agriculture and look for white collar employment
[Vaidyanathan 1994]. Also, agricultural jobs are considered low paid
compared to other sectors. Third, the adult workforce in Punjab
possesses improved human capital and entrepreneurial and managerial
skills, and young people look for challenging work opportunities to
apply their energies. Traditional crop production does not offer any
challenge and satisfaction to them. Fourth, improved income, higher
interaction with market and exposure to electronic media and urban
lifestyles have highly influenced the young generation in preferring
consumerism and modern style of living. Therefore, the youth search
for well paid jobs. And lastly, due to high level of income, Punjab
society can afford to keep some of the family members unemployed for
a fairly long period with the hope for obtaining better jobs
some day. It is thus clear that the
solution for unemployment problem in the state lies in creating jobs
in non-farm sector. How can this be done? The standard answer has
been that the state should go for industrialisation at a faster
rate. However, the past experience shows that expansion of
conventional industries in Punjab did not do much to offer jobs to
the rural youths from within the state. If one examines the profile
of industrial workers in Punjab it would be observed that industry
has preferred manual labour from outside the state and workers for
non-manual jobs from the state’s urban population. The reasons for
preference for outside workers are: (1) these workers are available
at a lower wage rate compared to local labour, (2) outside labour
has weak political clout and low bargaining power, (3) in case of
industrial dispute it is easy to deal with outside labour compared
to local labour. Workers from the urban areas are preferred for
non-manual jobs because they mould themselves easily into industrial
and business/corporate culture and they belong to similar cultural
background as the industrialists, top executives and management.
Secondly, the rural youths do not possess the special skill useful
in industry nor do they have aptitude to work in conventional
industries owned by private sector. Moreover, share of industrial
employment in total employment is very small, which is easily filled
by the manpower from urban pool. Rural youth possesses some
advantage over their urban as well as migrant counterparts in
agro-processing industries which involves some dealings with rural
people, like procurement of raw materials like milk and sugarcane
from rural producers, or where some knowledge about the farm produce
is useful in processing and other activities. Accordingly, milk and
milk product industry, sugarcane industry, vegetable and fruit
processing industries, agricultural raw material using industry are
some examples where rural youths can have some advantage in securing
employment. Punjab has excellent network of
metalled roads and transport and reasonably good industrial
infrastructure throughout the state. These factors are quite useful
for spatial distribution of industrial units, so that the workers do
not have to migrate from their rural habitats. Therefore, industrial
policy of the state should be to encourage small units in semi-urban
or rural locations where rural youth can work as a whole-time or
part-time worker while staying at their native places.
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