The present study attempts to figure out the nature and extent of assimilation among the farmers, migrants and the local agricultural labourers in Punjab. As the culture and religion of the migrants and local agricultural labourers differ, so there is a little degree of assimilation among them. But the study investigates that the work culture assimilation of the migrant agricultural labourers with the farmers is highly significant as majority of the farmers prefer to engage the migrant agricultural labourers in their fields. The economic need of the farmers plays a significant role in establishing social assimilation but not the cultural assimilation. The study further throws light that since the migrant agricultural labourers are alien to the land, so they prefer to keep their relations with the local agricultural labourers cordial whereas the locals do not bother to have good relations with them. The negative aspect of assimilation noted in the present study is that health hazards have aggravated due to the frequent mobility of the migrants to their native states and acting as carriers of various infectious diseases from those states. Another significant negative aspect of assimilation between the migrants and local agricultural labourers revealed in the study is that the addiction of drugs and intoxicants has been largely inculcated among the locals, which is not good for the health of the rural society.
Assimilation, Local Agricultural Labour, Migrant Agricultural Labour
