Working conditions of female agricultural labourers: a case study

India is the second most populous country of the world and has changing socio-political demographic and morbidity patterns that have been drawing global attention in recent years. Despite several growth orientated policies adopted by the government, the widening economic, regional and gender disparities are posing serious challenges for the health sector. Agricultural labourers who are largely landless and form a significant section of rural society mainly depend on wage employment in agriculture. Majority of them belong to the category of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and are among the worst exploited section of the society. Their income has always been meagre, resulting in poor living conditions and heavy indebtedness. Women are largely engaged in the agricultural and tertiary sectors. Majority of women are in service providing sectors, manual labourers such as agricultural labourers, construction workers, contract labourers, laundry and domestic workers etc. So it is very important to know the working conditions of these women working in various fields. The present empirical study focuses on working conditions of female agricultural labourers such as number of hours they work, number of days employment available in the month, wages they receive etc which directly or indirectly affect on their health.