What the labourers say; what made them join and what they need more? A study on Agricultural Labour Banks in Kerala

Agricultural Labour Banks are getting importance as an institutional intervention to address labour scarcity and to provide adequate income to the labourers in Kerala. This study analyses the factors that motivated the labourers to join in Labour Banks and the various problems faced by these member labourers. Rank based quotient (RBQ) was used for the analysis. The study revealed that higher income, assured employment, more number of working days, opportunity to learn new techniques and higher social value were the major factors that motivated the labourers to join in the Labour Banks. The important problems faced by them were work in distant places, inability to reach all sites in time, poor quality of machineries, lack of availability of spare parts, problems in receiving payment from farmer groups and injuries and health damages. The study recommended expansion of extension and training activities so as to form more such groups in various places and also to include diversified activities in order to ensure adequate number of labour days and income. The study also recommended interventions to ensure availability of quality machineries and spare parts in time.