Narivadi sidhant BMU
The Theory of Feminization of Agriculture: An Evaluation
Dr. Ramjilal,
Social Scientist, Former Principal, Dyal Singh College, Karnal (Haryana- India)
(Samaj Weekly)- Brief Review —Many economic and social studies have revealed that in India, an agricultural country, women farmers are not widely discussed and paid attention. Women engaged in farming diligently are not defined as farmers. There is hardly any mention in all the social, economic, cultural, educational, and political discussions about farming women’s empowerment .In this article, the author has explained in details how women are the backbone of the Indian agricultural sector. The women’s theory of agriculture has been comprehensively described.
Key words: women farmers, women agriculture workers, invisible women, farmers, women farmers and women agriculture labours’ suicides , no land for women, women succession acts.
Introduction
We get a comprehensive description of social, economic, cultural, educational and political aspects regarding women empowerment or feminism in various articles, research and books. In his regard, Many models have also been created. But the comprehensive description of women farmers and women agricultural workers is almost ‘invisible in a systematic manner’. In this article an attempt has been made to construct and describe a feminist theory of agriculture.
Meaning of The feminist Theory of Agriculture
The feminist theory of agriculture is the social, economic, cultural, educational, political and agricultural related tasks of the life of farmer women and farm labor women related to the agricultural sector – a wide range of topics related to agricultural work, animal husbandry work and domestic work. Apart from this, farmer women and agricultural labor women should actually get the rights of equality and freedom equal to men.In other words ,there should be gender equality in all walks of life .Women should get the right to land so that they can transform from “invisible” to “visible farmers” and non-agricultural labor women should get ‘equal pay for equal work’. This theory also advocates that women engaged in agriculture should be free from hunger, malnutrition and unemployment and there should be no exploitation of any kind and can live a happy, healthy and respectable life.
Main features of this theory
The Main Features of Feminist Theory are as follows:
First, this theory studies the social, economic, political, educational and health issues of women related to the agricultural sector.
Second, this theory emphasizes on transforming women farmers from ‘invisible farmers’ to ‘visible farmers’.
Third, it advocates equal rights to ancestral property, including land, and to the husband’s property in the in-laws’ house.
Fourth, ownership rights should be given to agricultural labor women by distributing the surplus land available all over India.
ccording to the news published in a Hindi daily news paper, preparations have been started to collect billions of rupees by selling or leasing the vacant lands of more than two and a half lakh Panchayats. It can be stated further that Haryana Government has identified 14000 acres of Panchayat land in 12 districts. The land under Gram Panchayats across India should be distributed among agricultural labor women so that their ownership rights on the cultivable land are established. It is not a difficult task to distribute surplus land and land under Panchayati Raj institutions among the women of deprived sections. We would like to tell our readers that on 13 April, 1938 (Baisakhi day), Sir Chhotu Ram, despite many obstacles, handed over 4 lakh, 54 thousand 625 acres of vacant government land of Multan District (now Pakistan) to the landless Dalits at ₹ 3 per acre. The land rights were given to the Dalits on installments of four annas (25 paise) per acre without interest. This amount was to be paid in 12 years. On the day of Baisakhi, a procession was taken out with joy and enthusiasm .In the crowd of thousands with Chhotu Ram seated on an elephant.This crowd of people honored Chhotu Ram with the title of ‘Deenbandhu.’ This title was not given by any university. The Dalit people of Multan district called him ‘Deenbandhu’ as a mark of respect. When Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram could do this work about 85 years ago in 1938, then why can’t the present government do it? It can be suggested that the allotted land should neither be allowed to sale or be given to lease. The allottees themselves should cultivate the allotted land .
Fifth, there is considerable variation in geographical and social parameters in India. There is difference in cultures, lifestyle, clothing, food habits etc. As a result, there is a difference in their income and expenditure also. In such a situation, the government will also have to draw the lines of poverty, for example, the ‘poorest’ in terms of poverty, the’ most deprived’, the ‘malnourished’ among agricultural labor women and on the basis of development.
Sixth, to stop the migration of youth from rural areas, employment opportunities should be increased at the local level and services like roads, water, electricity, irrigation, health and education should be made available in the villages on urban lines so that the youth can develop their own livelihood and stay with the family. At the same time, emphasis should also be given on small scale industries for women so that their income can increase.
Seventh, GDP is currently evaluated on the basis of parameters of western countries. Instead of that, GDP should be evaluated on a new basis so that the ‘unpaid work done by women’ can be evaluated and added to it.
Eighth, women should enjoy the principles mentioned in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution – equality, liberty; social, economic and political justice, dignity of the individual and the right to equality (Article 14), right to freedom (Article 19),equal pay for equal work, (section 39d) .The Andhra Pradesh High Court said in a decision on 1 April, 2019 that if equal pay for equal work is not given, then it is a violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The governments must implement the decision in letter and spirit. The non-implementation of this principle is against women in general and farm women in particular.
Ninth, it is also important for farm women to have knowledge of the Women’s Succession Acts. According to the Hindu Succession Act 1956, women have the right to inherit movable and immovable property of parents. Although in this Act, the daughter was given the right to inherit the ancestral property. But it was not equal to a son. As a result, The Hindu Succession Act 1956 law was amended in 2005, and The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 was enacted. The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 was further amended on 11 August 2020. The Hindu Succession (Amendment Act )11 August 2020, further clarified that if the father of a daughter has died before 9 September 2005, then she will get equal rights as sons. Despite The Hindu Succession Act (2005) and the amended Act (August 2020), there is no ancestral right to property in many states. Some laws in this regard have been included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. The laws falling in this list have been kept out of the ‘review of the judiciary’. As a result, women are deprived of ancestral property. In brief, inclusion of in the in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution has lead to the exclusion of women from the ancestral property. The women organizations and progressive associations must organize movements against the inclusion of these laws.
It is further stated that many decisions have been given by the Supreme Court of India regarding the right to succession of women. It is important for women to have knowledge of all these decisions, laws and rules according to feminist theory.
Tenth, to achieve their rights, women should form women’s organizations and make farmer women and agricultural labor women aware and agitate for their rights. Apart from this, women should participate in farmers’ movements independently or collectively along with male farmers. It is also important to know what role women have played in farmers’ movements in history.
Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economic system and farmer women and farm labor women are the backbone of agriculture. If women are prosperous then there will be unprecedented development of the Indian economy. As a result, India will be an economically prosperous country and the world economic power.
In short, according to this theory, it is a holistic principle of development, welfare and dignity of farmer women and agricultural labor women.
Why are women not considered farmers?
Why are women not considered farmers? It is a very important question. Although women are the backbone of the Indian agricultural system. About 900 million women in the world are associated with the agricultural sector. According to the report of Periodic Labor Force Survey (2019-20), 75.7 percent of Indian rural women do some form of agricultural work. Only 13.87% of women belonging to agricultural communities have legal rights over agricultural land. The condition of women from non-agricultural communities is the most deplorable in terms of the status of cultivable land. Because only 2% of agricultural labor women have legal rights to land or own land. In other words, about 86% of women from agricultural communities and 98% of women in agricultural labor communities do not have any land related property. Women in agricultural communities mostly work on their family lands. Whereas women from non-agricultural communities work as laborers on the land of rural farmers. According to Dr. Rukmini Rao, Founder President of Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch, 70% of the work on each acre is done by women, while on the contrary, 30% work is done by men. Additionally, according to an estimate, a female farmer works in the fields for 3485 hours in a year while a male farmer works for 1212 hours. In different regions of India – from North-East to South-West India or from Kashmir to Kanyakumari the women perform the following three types of works:
Agricultural Work
Women are the backbone of Indian agriculture and play an important role in agricultural development. The agricultural work done by women includes helping in preparing the land for sowing, transplanting, irrigation, pruning, using fertilizers and tying. Women also do the work of harvesting, plant protection, storage, supplying tea and food to the men and agricultural workers working in the fields. In the absence of men, women also do the work of protecting the fields. In the present era, economically prosperous women use tractors and modern equipments in the fields, while on the other hand, poor women work in the fields, plowing with bulls, driving buggies and bullock carts. The agricultural tools used by women are made by local artisans, blacksmiths and carpenters. Whereas most of the equipments used by men are manufactured and prepared in factories with modern technology.
The Economic Survey (2017-18), vividly makes it crystal clear that the role of women in the agricultural sector has increased further after male members of the family have migrated from their villages in search of work to cities or other states or foreign countries for employment. But despite this, gender discrimination is increasing in all resources like land, agriculture, credit, seeds and markets. As a result, women can neither take full advantage of government schemes and policies nor create sustained pressure for change. These ‘agricultural heroines’ – women are almost ‘invisible’. Agricultural heroines are missing from newspapers, magazines, books, mass media and electronic media. Women’s study centers have been established in colleges and universities throughout India. Seminars and conferences are organized in the name of women empowerment. The slogan of ‘women empowerment’ is also raised by politicians every day and night. But, farmer women and agricultural labor women are missing there too.
There is no special discussion regarding the problems of farmer women and agricultural labor women in the national mainstream media, print media, electronic media and mass media. This is the reason why their problems are ignored by politicians, officials, policy makers, teachers and researchers.
In the name of women empowerment, scholars doing research in educational institutions and conduct research on women who are already powerful and empowered. It seems as if women farmers and women agricultural workers have no contribution in national development, nation building and national modernization.
As a result, very little research work has been done on the problems of agricultural women and agricultural labor women and their solutions. Women’s body is exposed to lot of physical problems while doing agricultural work. Their muscles become hard. Working in scorching sun, biting cold and rain also causes many problems and diseases. Till date, no research has been done to find out how many abortions have taken place among women engaged in agricultural work.
Animal husbandry work:
Women collect fodder/grass from fields and forests for animals and process it with machines, feed animals, process milk, collect animal dung, prepare cow dung cakes ,helping the husband to get treatment of animals in the government veterinary hospitals when the animals are sick or doing traditional home treatment, taking care of the baby animals and protecting the animals when the husbands or the male members of the family are out of station . In short, the main tasks of animal husbandry of women in these activities are very important and unique. In brief , in rural language we can term animal husbandry works as ‘Pashu Dhan Works’(Animal Wealth Works).
Domestic work
Besides, agricultural work and animal husbandry, domestic work is also done by women. It is generally believed that 100 percent responsibility of domestic work lies with women. To do household chores, women wake up first in the morning and sleep last at night. In other words, domestic work is ‘women centric’. Domestic work includes cleaning the house and courtyard, cooking food, cleaning utensils, washing clothes, fetching water (from wells and ponds), taking care of children, preparing children and sending them to school, taking care of their education, bringing fuel from the forests, taking care of the health of the family members, providing special service to the guests and relatives coming to the family, buying and selling along with men for marriages, etc. All these tasks are ‘women centric’. Despite this, if someone asks any husband what work his wife is doing? His answer will be ‘She doesn’t do any work or chores’. She just does the household work. In other words, household work is not considered as a work .In other words, all these domestic works done by women are not considered works at all. There is no description anywhere of the activities related to animal husbandry and agriculture. Despite bearing so much workload, women are still harassed by family members and become victims of domestic violence. It seems as if women are not ‘house wives’or ‘home makers,’ but rather ‘enemies’ inside their own homes. The women are not safe and secure in their own homes. As a result, they become victims of psychological and mental disorder and physical diseases .They are fed up with life and even commit suicide. It is a matter of great regret, shame and slur on Indian society.
The women’s work is not linked to salary all over the world. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) report (2022), women in 64 countries of the world work 1640 crore hours daily without pay, whose value is about 9% of the world’s GDP. According to the report of the Economic Research Department of State Bank of India, women working at home in India contribute Rs 22.7 lakh crore to the Indian GDP. If the unpaid work of women is assessed on a scientific basis, then according to the report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) (2023), and working women get salary, then it will be 7.5% of the Indian GDP.
Despite this, women are ‘invisible’ from the category of farmers. As a result, they are deprived of government policies and schemes – Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi, Crop Insurance Scheme, loan, credit, technical assistance, investment, seeds, subsidy, urea and agricultural inputs. Dr. Rukmini Rao is the founding president of Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch. She said in an interview conducted by Shweta that ‘our system considers women ‘invisible and non-existent.”
The Swaminathan Report (2006) has recommended minimum support price to farmers in India based on the (C2 + 50%) formula. This formula was not implemented by the governments. As a result, exploitation of farmers continues and they suffer a loss of approximately Rs 8000 to Rs 1000 per acre. Due to floods, famines, droughts, hailstorms, crop diseases, non-payment of loans, difficulty in managing household expenses and other problems, women, like men, become dejected and when there is no alternative visible in front of them, that too commit suicide like men.
Farmers commit suicide all over the world. India is no exception. Farmers also commit suicide in industrialized, rich and developed countries – America (USA), England, Russia,France, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Norwey etc. But in these countries, there are less than 100 farmers per lakh population of these countries. The suicide rate is relatively lower than India.
According to the report (2019) of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of the Home Ministry of the Central Government of India, approximately 400,000 farmers have committed suicide between 1995 and 2018. That is, approximately 48 farmers commit suicide every day. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, the number of crimes in the agriculture sector was 12,360 (5,650 farmers + 6,710 agricultural labourers) in 2014. 12,602 (8,007 farmers + 3595 agricultural laborers) in 2015. 11,379 (6,270 farmers + 5,109 agricultural laborers) in 2016. In 2017, there were 10,655 (5,955 farmers + 4,700 agricultural labourers), in 2018 there were 10,349 (5,763 farmers + 4,586 agricultural labourers), in 2019 there were 10,281 (5,957 farmers + 4,324 agricultural labourers) suicides of farmers and agricultural labourers.
In brief, according to the report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Central Government of India, figures of 78,303 (43,181 farmers + 35122 agricultural laborers) suicides have been recorded between 2014 and 2020.
In 2020, 10677 (5579 farmers + 5098 agricultural labourers) committed suicide in the agricultural sector. The number of suicides of agricultural laborers in 2020 is 18% more than in 2019. In 2021, a total of 10,881 people associated with the agriculture sector (5,318 farmers – 5,107 male farmers and 211 female farmers + 5,563 agricultural laborers) have committed suicide. According to official data, every day in 2021, about 15 farmers and 15 agricultural laborers ended their lives by suicide. (https://www.news18.com/news/india/every-day-15-farmers-died) The number of suicides by farmers and agricultural laborers in 2021 is the highest since 2016.
A senior journalist P. Sainath, states show a decline in the number of suicide cases of farmers and agricultural workers. We believe that state governments report suicides of farmers and agricultural workers to the Central Government by writing ‘zero’. For example, according to the National Crime Registration Branch, in the year 2021, many states and union territories – West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry will report zero. Sent a report to the Central Government on ‘zero suicides’ of farmers/farmers as well as agricultural laborers in the Union Territories.
Our opinion is that state governments should provide correct information about suicides of farmers, agricultural farmer women and agricultural workers. The states sending zero reports are neither farmer friendly nor favoring farmers and laborers in any way. Farmers should write to the governments regarding sending correct reports regarding their demands. Perhaps this is why state governments write ‘Our opinion is zero’ report so that they do not have to pay compensation to the families of farmers and agricultural workers who commit suicide. The amount of compensation in respect of suicides should be determined by the central and provincial governments.
Due to stress, fatigue, depression , over work load and frustration, farmer women and agricultural labor women also commit suicide. According to the data collected by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB -The Branch of the Ministry of Home Affairs of India) between 1995 and 2018, 50,188 women have committed suicide. This is 14.82 percent of total farmer suicides.
In the case of female widows, the most important thing is whether they get the right to inherit the land after the death of the husband or do not get the right. According to the report of Farmer Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch (2012 – 2018) in India, a farmer commits suicide in every 30 minutes. After the death of her husband, the widow’s life goes into darkness ‘suddenly and irreversibly’. The poignant situation of widowed farmer women has been described by Kota Neelima in her book. The most important difficulty faced by widowed women is that after the death of their husband, they face difficulty in getting the right to inherit the land or they do not get the right. According to the report of Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch, between 2012 and 2018, 40% of widow women did not get land rights. It is a very difficult task for them to run from Patwari to senior officials of the Revenue Department. Because after the death of her husband, she has to bear other responsibilities along with agricultural work, animal husbandry work, and household work. Not only this, when widowed women go out of the house, they also have to hear bad words from people. Apart from this, many difficulties also arise in going to the court. First of all, there are lawyer’s fees and repeated visits to the court.
Although, through property inheritance laws and judicial decisions, women have equal rights in ancestral property as sons, but in practice, there are many reasons why these laws and decisions are not implemented:
Lack of proper information to women about inheritance laws and decisions of the Supreme Court related to property rights, hesitation by women to file a case against parents or brothers or ancestral families for the protection of property rights, violation of rights. Filing a case can be a difficult and risky task, exploitation of girls’ feelings by parental family members, the relationships get spoiled forever if they demand rights, if there is a rift with the in-laws and some problem arises or it reaches the point of divorce. If we go to such a situation, there is no support from the ancestral families, fear of being boycotted in festivals, marriages, lack of social and economic security, exploiting the girl’s emotions to get the girl to sign the deed, sons or grandsons The main reasons include depriving the daughter or granddaughter of the right to property by making a will in the name of the person.
In nutshell, in fact, the main root of depriving women of the right to ancestral property is the patriarchal system. Our society is still a completely male dominated society. As a result, daughters are deprived or disenfranchised from their ancestral property. Women still have to walk thousands of miles to get the rights to ancestral property and it is a long and difficult path,
Although feminist theory can play an important role. But for its success, it is very important to change the mentality of men and women, otherwise there will always be a difference between theory and practice.
