Indebtedness among Agricultural Labour Households in Sangrur District of Punjab
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Date
2019
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
The present study was undertaken in Sangrur district of Punjab with the objective to estimate
indebtedness among agricultural labour households. A representative sample of 120
households was drawn from 5 selected blocks and 10 villages. The requisite data were
collected for the year 2017-18 and analysed by using tabular as well as regression analysis.
The analysis revealed that socio economic condition of agricultural labour households was
not good. There were 62 per cent household head illiterate and 21 per cent had educated upto
primary level. None of household head was educated above 10+2. Average family size was
5.16 members and 2.38, 2.78 members were earned and dependents respectively. The
condition of the house of the family where the labourer’s family lives was not good. The
average number of rooms in sampled households were 1.79. The maximum share of income
of agricultural labour households was from the agriculture sector (62.35%) and the casual
labour formed 48.76 per cent share in total income. Further, the share from non-agriculture
sector is 37.64 per cent. Upto 66 per cent loan borrowed by agricultural labour households
was from institutional sources particularly from micro finance companies and 34 per cent
from non- institutional sources. The main reason of borrowing indebtedness among the
agricultural labourers was consumption purposes (80% of the total debt) that too dominated
by domestic needs, health care and social ceremonies. The results of the functional analysis
exhibited that the income, education of family head, female (casual labour) and earning
members were inversely releated to indebtedness which means that with the increase in these
variables indebtedness decreases and the non-productive purpose and family size were
directly releated to indebtedness which means that with the increase in these variables
indebtedness increases. The study revealed that the income of agricultural labour households
was less and burden of debt was more. In order to improve the socio condition of agriculture
labour households, the government should provide employment generation programs like
MGNREGA to increase the income and to decrease the debt burden.
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