As the COVID19 pandemic has kept non-local labourers mostly from Bihar, West Bengal and UP, away from Kashmir, the demand for local labourers in the farm sector has increased during the ongoing paddy sowing season.
Mohammad Ayoub, a farmer from Danihama area on the Srinagar outskirts said this was for the second year that he had to engage local labourers.
“The local labourers are easily available as the COVID19 has hit the housing sector across Kashmir, leaving unskilled workers jobless,” he said.
Many areas like Harwan and Theed were relying on labourers from Gujjar community coming from adjoining areas of FakeerGujri and Shalkhod. “I work as a caterer on normal days; since COVID19 has hit marriage season in Kashmir, I started working as farm labourer at Harwan. It has been after almost three months that we have started to earn something,” said Khursheed Ahmad from Harwan.
Other areas like Telbal, Batpora, Gasoo, Burzahama on Srinagar outskirts do get lot of women workers from nearby Shanpora-Habak, an area mostly comprising of small fishermen community.
“In the earlier years, our fields used to be flooded with women from this area during paddy sowing season, but gradually non-local labourers replaced them. However, the last year’s shutdown due to Article 370 abrogation and this year’s COVID19 lockdown caused dearth of non-local workers and brought back these women workers,” said Abdul Rehman, a local farmer from Telbal.