05 July 2004	Monday	16 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 4: Prevalence of debt bondage and forced labour is a widespread phenomenon in the agriculture sector because of the failure of the economic system and the government to ensure that rural workers, whether as sharecroppers, tenants or labourers, are paid proper wages, says a report.

The research on bonded labour in agriculture in Punjab and NWFP was conducted by G.M. Arif of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, under the auspices of the ILO and the labour ministry.

The findings of the research are derived from agriculture censuses and labour force surveys as well as interviews with landowners and workers, casual and permanent as well as Revenue officials in the sample areas.

The sample areas comprised districts of Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, D.G. Khan, Rajanpur, Attock and Hafizabad in Punjab; and Mardan, Swabi, Charsada and Peshawar in NWFP.

Unlike other sectors where too it is a widespread practice, debt bondage in agriculture does not operate through or because of debt. It is rooted in the lack of alternative employment opportunities in rural areas. Even where employment is available, the wages are static and, moreover, abysmally low.

No less important is the failure of the government to take cognizance of blatant violation of the tenancy laws insofar as these favour the tenants. This has nullified whatever legislation was passed over the past 50 years to improve their lot.

On the one hand, the tenants helplessly watch the transgression of their rights, on the other the landlords have taken full advantage of the changes in tenancy laws in terms of the fixation of produce shares and formulation for the division of the cost of modern agriculture inputs.

The revenue officials connive with landlords in such violation of the law. In rural areas, land is the principal form of wealth and class structures and relations are reflected in the land tenure system.

A small number of landowners own most of the land that is given to tenants for cultivation on a sharecropping basis. The Constitution prohibits all forms of forced labour. Yet, it exists widely in agriculture sector.

Because of absolute poverty, and lack of alternative resources, it is common for sharecroppers to get advances from their landlords in emergencies like sickness, death and marriages as well as purchase of inputs.

One common observation, according to Dr. Arif, is that landlords consider it their right to extract labour from tenants and their families until the debt is paid off. The poor maintenance of records of borrowing and accounts further complicates the matter, with the creditor taking undue advantage of the tenants' illiteracy.

Sharecroppers, moreover, are not allowed to move freely, to send their children to school and, sometimes, even to meet their relatives. The land reforms introduced in 1972 and 1977 had little re- distributive effect. Owners of large holdings circumvented these by transferring land to relatives.

For want of any attention by the government to the hardships the poor face every moment of their life, the situation is getting worse: Increasing alienation of small and marginal farmers from land and consequent increase in the number of agricultural labourers.

FARM LABOUR: Two types of agricultural labour systems exist in the sample districts - casual and permanent. Approximately 50 per cent farms use casual labour. But bonded labour prevails only among permanent workers, who are employed by 51 per cent owner-operated farms of the size of 100-150 acres.

Exploitation of this labour takes different forms in different areas. For example, there is the 'rahak' system in D.G. Khan and Rajanpur districts. They work for a monthly salary (usually ranging between Rs1200-1800).