The train that brings cheer to migrant labour
A major work of paddy harvesting is done by the migrant workers in the Krishna district. A major work of paddy harvesting, done manually, is done by the migrant workers in the Krishna district, where farmers are still facing scarcity of sufficient agriculture workers.
Every November and December when paddy harvesting operations are normally in full swing in Krishna district, the passenger train that plies between Visakhapatnam and Machilipatnam speaks volumes about seasonal migration of workforce from India’s two poorest districts.
The compartments of the daily train would be completely occupied by the agriculture workers including women belonging to Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts in Northern Andhra Pradesh region. On Saturday night alone, nearly a hundred families returned to their homes after spending nearly 40 days working in the paddy fields in a stretch of Eastern Krishna district.
“A couple earns Rs. 550 and two kilograms of rice per day to complete the task of crop cutting in the given extent of land. The daily wage offered by the Krishna district is lucrative,” a Mestri who hails from Bobbili area in Vizianagaram district told The Hindu. Many women and men workers accompanied by their siblings who interacted with The Hindu at the Machilipatnam railway station did not want to reveal their names.
The train, the cheapest mode of transportation to reach Krishna district, carries thousands of migrant families every year, bring cheers on the faces of the Krishna farmers. However, the bus fare between Visakhapatnam and Machilipatnam is six times higher than the train fare. Many workers change their children’s attire to make them look older in order to get work and better wages.
A major work of paddy harvesting, done manually, is done by the migrant workers in the Krishna district, where farmers are still facing scarcity of sufficient agriculture workers. In Srikakulam district, the extent of land under paddy cultivation is falling, forcing thousands of workers to migrate to other districts in search of jobs in winter season.
“We cannot expect kharif season without the migrant workers from Northern Andhra Pradesh districts as they known for offering good physical labour for their survival”, a farmer S. Rajasekhar of Kautaram in Krishna district.
