Assessing labour freedom in agriculture: Developing world perspective focusing on India

Abstract

This piece of work evaluates the choices and opportunities opened up in rural labour market through institutional reforms and developmental policies fostering agricultural growth and efficiency in developing countries, with a focus on India. It finds that policy reforms on property rights, involving legal approvals of land ownership or partial possession with rental contracts, strengthen bargaining capacity among marginalized groups. Furthermore, an inclusive development policy encompassing the rural sector shapes labour freedom by stabilization of market at desirable wage and employment rates. Considering a case example from an advanced agricultural region in India, this study reveals a positive and significant relationship between intensity of labour freedom and land-based status of peasant households. The analysis of primary data suggests that labour market reforms, particularly those focused on wage contracts and minimum wage laws, off-farm jobs and intra-migration employment opportunities before labourers, are crucial indicators for enhancing labour freedom in rural areas.