Labour Movements in Agriculture Sector: a Case Study of Kuttanad Region
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Research Report Labour Movements in Agriculture Sector: A Case Study of Kuttanad Region Submitted to: Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment, Thiruvananthapuram Submitted by Dr. Prakash Pillai R., Head PG Department of Personnel Management & Research Centre Loyola College of Social Sciences, Sreekariyam, Thiruvananthapuram-695 017 March, 2015 Acknowledgement I place on record my sincere thanks to Shri.V. Veerakumar, the Executive Director, Kerala Institute for Labour and Employment (KILE) for selecting this study for financial assistance. The guidance and critical feedback provided by Prof. TSN Pillai have added clarity and precision to this research work. He has been a great mentor for me and a constant source of inspiration and confidence. I am deeply indebted to him for his time and support. I am grateful to the other core team members for offering valuable feedback and suggestions to make this study more rigorous and scientific. Dr. K A Joseph, Principal of Loyola College, has extended his unconditional support. I am thankful to him. Ms. Christy Abraham played a crucial role in completing the study. Her meticulous fieldwork and determination to meet people of diverse background resulted in generating reliable data for this study. A special word of thanks to Ms.Christy for her commitment and constant involvement. The time and tolerance of the respondents of the study had to be specially acknowledged. I thank all the labourers, farmers, trade union members and leaders, the intelligentsia, activists and government officials who found time to provide adequate information for this study. Special thanks to my Wife Deepa and kids (Gowry and Nandu) for their moral support and prayers. I thank all those who have supported me directly and indirectly to complete the study on time. Dr. Prakash Pillai R. i Table of Contents Chapter Title Page No. Acknowledgements Executive Summary List of Abbreviations Chapter 1 Introduction and Design of the Study 1 Chapter 2 Kuttanad: The Setting of the Study 13 Chapter 3 Review of Literature 24 Chapter 4 Agrarian Relations and Labour Movement in 38 Kuttanad :A Historical Review Chapter 5 Dynamics of the Struggles and their Impact 61 Chapter 6 70 Years of Labour Movement in Kuttanad: 91 The Balance Sheet Chapter 7 Summary of Findings and Conclusions 115 Appendix I Bibliography Appendix II List of Respondents Appendix III Profile of Agriculture Labour Unions in Kuttanad Appendix IV Sample Charter of Demands Proposed by Labour Unions Appendix V Reports of Labour Unions Appendix VI About Agriculture Workers Welfare Fund Executive Summary The agrarian relations in Kuttanad has undergone several changes for the past seven decades. In early 40s labour movement came to existence as a pressing need to withstand the dominance of farmers and landlords in the region. Since then the region has been a hotspot for violent labour struggles from the very historical Punnapra-Vayalar agitation to the recent agitation against the conversion and filling of paddy fields. Within a few years it became the nerve centre of trade union activities in the state. While the struggle of the trade union movement became so strong with the support of the left movement it induced a more or less powerful reaction from the farmer’s side. They used their political power and money power to withstand the pressure set by the union movement. Initially the trade unions were strongly against labour saving initiatives, but later they gradually supported certain levels of mechanisation with conditional agreements. At present, the paddy farming activities are predominantly controlled by the dictates of the militant trade unions in Kuttanad. It has changed to a level that once victims of exploitation have now become the agents of exploitation of the region. The role of labour movements in this transition is significant. This study is an attempt to trace out the influence of labour movements in the region on various issues across time since 1940. It analysed the impact the movement created in the region by way of influencing the various stakeholders like farmers, agricultural labours, political leaders, government officials etc with a special focus on the agrarian relations. The dynamics of the struggle initiated by the movements in Kuttanad had been covered in the present study. Ultimately the study had been instrumental to explain the balance sheet of the gains and losses of seven decades of labour movements in Kuttanad region. The study used data from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data had been collected from various stakeholders of paddy cultivation in the Kuttanad region. This included respondents such as agricultural workers, farmers, trade union representatives, social and environmental activist, and intelligentsia. The timeline of this study spreads across 70 years from 1940. Since this is predominantly a historical exploration the inclusion criteria was to get ii response from people who had some exposure to the events during this time line. Thus the major chunk of data was collected from people belonging to 70+ age groups. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews with the respondents, which was supplemented by data generated through focus group discussions. The historical data had been collected from Government reports, Trade Union Records, research reports, newspaper reports and other published materials which had been supplemented by information collected from respondents. Traditionally the agrarian relation in Kuttanad was more of a patron-client relationship which is best described as janmi-adiyan relations. It was a modified form of master-slave relations where the workers were treated just as commodities. There existed a repressive caste system with the upper castes establishing their economic and social life based on land. The laws of pollution also prevented the lower castes from entering into any craft or trade which demanded transactions with the upper castes. This oppressive form of social discrimination was prevalent in its worst form till 1930s. With the mobilisation of labour by the caste and political organisations, nature of this relationship also underwent transitions across time. It was a story of about 25 years long struggle and sacrifice. Later stages, the struggles of labour movements became so frequent to get the basic rights of the labouring class. This included increase in wages and improvement in conditions of work. Thus the relationship became that of an employer-employee relations by mid 50s. The agrarian relations in Kuttanad got a reverse transition leading to the dominance of labour movement by the late 60s. In a place where landowners were the dictators, they had to beg the mercy of unions to get sufficient number of labourers on time to carry out the agricultural operations hassle free. The dynamics of struggles in Kuttanad is a story of pain, sacrifice and perseverance of dedicated people. It is the story of the contribution of the left movement in agrarian sector in Kerala. There were several isolated struggles in different places by different groups and were predominantly led by the left movement. Even for the same issue the struggle had to be repeated in several other parts of the region. This was mainly because the ultimate authority in determining the conditions of work was the landowner himself. Hence it became a continuous and persistent effort from the part of labour movements to fight against each and every landowner in getting the minimum conditions of work. It is clear from the history that a major chunk of the struggle was for getting a reasonable wage and ensuring equity in payment of wages across regions and gender. There iii were also struggles for improving the conditions of work such as regulating time and ensuring minimum level of welfare for labourers. During the initial years of struggle it was more of a war against the dominating landowners. Thus it can be described as a struggle for survival and emancipation of the labour class by the left movements. The leaders of the struggle found it extremely difficult to get the labourers united as the prevailing social system was against challenging the landowners. Any attempts of organised movements from the part of labourers were vehemently suppressed by the landowners by force. They used all the possible form of revolt against the agitators. On several occasions they used the support of police force to repress struggles. The treatment was totally inhumane and cruel. As a result several labourers had to sacrifice their life for the labour community. But gradually the determinant leadership fuelled by the left political parties had succeeded in getting their demands approved. There was a clear class perspective in the struggles of Kuttanad. There was a broad congruence between party affiliations, caste identity and class background. Initially it was a struggle by the oppressed labours belonging to the lower strata of the society. As and when the struggle got powerful from the working class the landlords also started reacting more or less in an equal force. At the peak of the struggles it was a fight between two equally powerful groups- the economically powerful landlords and the politically organised labourers. The strength and strategy of the struggles varied according to the political landscape of the state. That means, whenever left affiliated party was ruling the state the struggles got intensified. There is no doubt that the labour movement has impacted the agricultural sector particularly in Kuttanad and the state in general. The contribution of the left movement in improving the conditions of work in the agriculture sector cannot be understated. However, there are diverse views on the nature and type of impact the struggles created among the stakeholders of agriculture. Increase in wage rate is claimed to be most important and fundamental change brought in by the union movement in Kuttanad. Another major impact of the union movement was regulating conditions of work in the agricultural sector in terms of hours of work.