Socio-economic characters and problems faced by the migrant agricultural labourers during COVID-19 in Telangana

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown in India severely disrupted agricultural labour markets, particularly affecting migrant agricultural labourers who already belonged to economically and socially disadvantaged sections. The present study, was undertaken to examine the socio-economic status and problems faced by migrant agricultural labour households during the pandemic. Primary data were collected from 60 migrant agricultural labourer households selected through multistage sampling from four villages of Mahbubnagar district for two agricultural years (2019-20 and 2020-21). The results revealed that migrant agricultural labourers were predominantly young (mean age 33.98 years), male (78.33%), married (95%) and belonged largely to Scheduled Castes (41.67%) and Backward Classes (40%). More than half of the respondents were illiterate and the rest had only primary education; almost all lived in nuclear families with a small average family size (3.96 members). Livelihoods were characterised by a high dependence on non-farm income: 56.67% of households earned between ?1-2 lakh per annum from non-farm activities, while farm income remained low and uncertain. A considerable proportion of households were indebted to private agencies at very high interest rates, indicating financial vulnerability. Garrett’s ranking showed that inadequate employment opportunities, restrictions on physical movement, irregular wage payments and increased prices of essential goods were the most severe problems during the lockdown. The study underscores the precarious nature of migrant agricultural labourers’ livelihoods and highlights the need for targeted policy interventions to ensure employment security, reduce exploitative indebtedness and strengthen social protection during and beyond crisis situations.