This paper analyses National Sample survey data on changes in the distribution of operational holdings of land, using data from NSS surveys on employment and unemployment. The paper discusses the limitations of these statistics in some detail. Four main points emerge from the analysis: there has been a sharp rise in landlessness in rural India; caste disparities in access to land have persisted over time; there has been a rise in inequality in distribution of land cultivated by households; and there has been a decline in the proportion of manual labour households that combined wage labour with cultivation of small holdings. Finally, statistics on land distribution at the State level reveal some puzzling features Ð some of which point to possible errors in data collection.

For years, the landlords in Nepal have suppressed the main factor of production in agriculture. The “Kamaiya” system is a form of bonded labor and the decision on July 17, 2000 not only declared the end of the bondage, but it also put the ex?Kamaiyas in an equal position with the landlords in the social hierarchy. This article reviews the situation of ex?Kamaiyas before and after their freedom. Social exploitation and unequal income distribution by the landlords invited conflict in the region and finally, in the year 2000, the government declared freedom for the ex?Kamaiyas and held the system illegal. However, after the passing of several years the social and economic situation has not changed significantly. Social and economic freedom has yet to come to these people; somehow they are still attached to the old kind of problems. This paper highlights some socio?economic indicators and analyses the role of ex?Kamaiyas in the development process of the region and further suggests that ex?Kamaiyas are a potential of the region and that they should not be neglected even if they belong to a minority. Finally, it discusses some areas where intervention should be done to provide a better life to ex?Kamaiyas.

This note examines costs and returns from the cultivation of different types of cotton in a rainfed village in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. While the pros and cons of GM cotton are extensively debated, there are only a few empirical studies on the economic performance of Bt cotton, particularly under rainfed conditions. The results from a detailed survey of farm business incomes show that Bt cotton was a clear leader in terms of production and gross value of output when grown as a stand-alone crop. However, on the fields of small and marginal farmers, where cotton was usually intercropped with sorghum (or other cereals and pulses), the relative income advantage of Bt cotton declined. Further, expenditure on chemical pesticides was higher for Bt cotton than for other varieties of cotton. Variability in production was also higher for Bt cotton than for other types of cotton.

There is a misconception in the literature that income distribution in India is less unequal than, for instance, in China or the countries of Latin America. This misconception is based on a comparison of like with unlike. Studies of income distribution for most countries are based as they should be on household income data, while corresponding studies of income distribution for India are based on household consumption expenditure data, and it is well known that consumption expenditure, by its very nature, is less unequally distributed than income. This paper examines levels of household income inequality in rural India using data from in-depth village surveys conducted in eight villages from four States of the country. Although the data-set is relatively small, the exercise is rather unique because of the lack of regular survey data on household incomes for rural India. The Gini coefficient is used as a summary measure of income inequality. Our estimates show high values of the Gini (close to 0.60) in these eight villages; these are comparable to levels reported for Latin America. Of the eight villages, inequality was relatively high in the three canal-irrigated villages. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

In this paper, we examine the role of caste in understanding inequality in incomes in rural India using a unique data set comprising household data from a cross-section of eight villages across four states. The focus of this paper is on Dalit or Scheduled Caste households. We begin with very simple measures of differences between groups, such as proportional representation in different quintiles, and the frequency distribution of households across incomes levels in different social groups. We, then, estimate a standard GE (2) inequality index along with its decomposition by caste. Lastly, we compute an alternative benchmark for assessing the share of between group inequality in total inequality as suggested by Elbers, Lanjouw, Mistiaen and Ozler (ELMO 2008).

In this paper, we examine inequality in incomes between households of different castes in rural India, using a unique dataset comprising household data from a cross-section of eight villages across four States. The focus of this paper is on Dalit or Scheduled Caste households. We begin with very simple measures of differences between groups, such as proportional representation in different quintiles and the frequency distribution of households across income levels in different social groups. We then estimate a standard GE(2) inequality index along with its decomposition by caste. Lastly, we compute an alternative benchmark for assessing the share of between-group inequality in total inequality as suggested by Elbers, Lanjouw, Mistiaen, and Ozler (ELMO 2008). Our analysis shows high levels of income inequality between households of different caste groups. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

This paper describes and analyzes the impact of policies of globalization and liberalization on the agrarian economy of India. In particular, it discusses the reversal of land reform, changes in the policies of administered agricultural input costs and output prices, cutbacks in public investment in rural physical and social infrastructure, the dismantling of the institutional structure of social and development banking, the withdrawal of quantitative restrictions on the import of agricultural products, cutbacks in the public distribution system, and the undermining of national systems of research and extension and protection of national plant and other biological wealth. The data used in the paper come from the major sources of national-level official statistics and primary data collected as part of a Project on Agrarian Relations in India.

Haryana is among the States that led India’s agricultural development over the last three decades. Growth of agriculture in Haryana over this period was accompanied by major changes in relations of production. In particular, over the decades of 1970s and 1980s, there was a substantial expansion of labour absorption in agriculture in Haryana mainly on account of the increase in cropping intensity (Bhalla 1989). In the 1990s, this trend was reversed and there was a considerable decline in labour use in agriculture in Haryana (Bhalla 1995, 1999). In general, over the decade of 1990s agrarian changes were influenced to a considerable extent and in various ways by the policies of economic reforms. In large parts of Haryana, the decline in labour use in agriculture over the 1990s was also associated with increasing casualisation of employment in agriculture. The practice of hiring long-term workers has been on the decline in most parts of Haryana since the 1980s (Jodhka 1994). This trend continued in the 1990s and in most parts of Haryana very few agricultural workers were hired on long-term contracts by the end of the decade. In addition, there was an increasing informalisation of the process of hiring of casual workers. Casual workers were increasingly hired on piece-rated contracts than on standardised time-rated contracts (ISWSD 2004).

Forms of labour hiring and the extent of unemployment are analysed using primary data collected from two villages in Haryana (India) during 2002-3. Data from these villages show that wage labourers, particularly women, faced extremely high levels of unemployment. Employment in agriculture was limited and new forms of labour hiring contracts had emerged under conditions of high unemployment. Earnings of manual workers were very low and gender disparities in wages very high. In one of the villages, a high concentration of landholdings and a decline in labour use facilitated the use of long-term workers. Labour relations were characterized by significant degrees of unfreedom, although the extent and nature of unfreedom varied considerably between casual and long-term workers, and between the two villages. In particular, long-term siri workers worked under conditions that were akin to bondage. It is argued that a very high degree of unemployment, combined with unequal caste and land relations and dependence on employers for credit, contributed to sustenance of unfree labour relations in rural Haryana.