Women Entrepreneurship: A Compensatory Approach to the Gender based Wage Differials in Agricultural Operation: A Case Study

Abstract

The case of Lower bargaining power of the agricultural labour households when compared with the other households in rural areas is attributed to higher incidence of poverty on them. The two important elements contributing to their improvement are wages and employment. Literature evidences wide differentials between wages paid to male and female workers in different agricultural operations coupled with the fact that in Indian economy the pace of development was not accompanied by adequate generation of employment opportunities. However, most of available literature have not properly observed the impact of the alternative or additional economic activities undertaken by the female agricultural labour on the loss made by them due to wage differentials in various agricultural and non-agricultural operations. Thus, an attempt has been made in the study (1) to analyze the wage differentials exist between wages paid to male and female workers in different agricultural operations in two different villages under study, and (2) to estimate the magnitude of loss due to wage differentials get compensated by the Micro-entrepreneurial activities undertaken through SHGs by the female agricultural labourer under study. The present study is based on the primary sources of date collected on the basis of a pre-designed questionnaire from the agricultural labour households in two different villages such as one irrigated and the other is non-irrigated village located in two different blocks of Bargarh district of Orissa.