Employment and Wages of Agricultural Women Labour: An Empirical Study in Nizamabad District of Telangana State

D. Radhika; M. Ashok Kumar

Employment and Wages of Agricultural Women Labour: An Empirical Study in Nizamabad District of Telangana State

Author(s)	Ms. D. Radhika, Prof. M. Ashok Kumar
Country	India
Abstract	Agricultural women labourers are the backbone of the rural farm economy in India. They are engaged in casual and seasonal employment at lower wages on a regular basis as compared to men doing the same work. A descriptive survey research method was adopted for studying employment pattern and wage levels of women agricultural labourers who were engaged in farm employment in six villages (Siddapur, Mosra, Govoor, Sompur, Takli and Kaldurki) spread over Bodhan, Mosra and Pothangal Mandal of Nizamabad district, Telangana. The study interviewed 300 agricultural labourers out of which 186 (62%) were men and 114 (38%) were women. Focus was given on the socio-economic status of 114 women respondents. Around 32.46% of the respondents were landless and worked on a wage employment basis, 31.58% of the respondents were cultivating on rainfed land and all of them were facing wage penalty in terms of 64.04% and 35.96% respondents getting half and quarter lesser wages respectively as compared to men doing same work. All the respondents were members of Self Help Groups (SHGs). The average monthly family income of respondents increased from ₹3921.05 before enrolling in SHG to ₹7285.09 after joining SHG programme, thereby registering an increase of ₹3364.04 (85.79%) as respondents started taking up Tailoring, petty business along with farm wages with the support of credit facility. The study also revealed that the wage penalty and increases in income were not uniform across all the six villages. The study further revealed that there exists significant difference between gender in respect to land ownership (χ² = 65.89, p < 0.001), wage penalty (χ² = 62.51, p < 0.001), access to irrigation (χ² = 63.79, p < 0.001), exclusion of women from input subsidy benefits (χ² = 24.06, p < 0.001). Since the study was cross sectional in nature, the study could not take a control group due to time constraint and hence it just reveals just the association and not the causation. The study concludes that though joining the SHG has helped in increasing the income levels reported by women respondents and have diversified employment options, but it has failed to bridge the gap in terms of wage levels in agricultural labour market.
Keywords	Agricultural Women Labour, Employment, Gender Wage Gap, Wage Penalty, Self-Help Groups, Rural Labour Market, Nizamabad, Telangana.
Field	Sociology > Economics
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-09-20

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Employment and Wages of Agricultural Women Labour: An Empirical Study in Nizamabad District of Telangana State

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