Women from Palamu get potatoes as wages in Bihar

DALTONGANJ: Work and get potatoes as wages. This form of barter system is what many cash-strapped and poor women of Palamu district are forced to take up to feed their families for several years now.
Every year, these women workers from Baraon and other adjoining villages under the Chainpur block go to Bihar's Dehri-on-Sone for about nine days to harvest potatoes from the farms there. This barter system is also not new in south Bihar where workers get as wages a particular share of the crop they harvest from the fields.
This year, however, the number of women going to Bihar increased threefold because of the drought.
We go to Bihar to harvest potatoes every March: Farmers
In October last year, the Jharkhand government declared drought in 226 out of 260 blocks and announced Rs 3,500 for per farmer as a relief package. From December 29, 2022, the agriculture department began disbursing the relief directly into the bank accounts of the farmers.
Around 20 women, who returned from Bihar, told TOI that they came with sacks of potatoes. One of them said, "Every March, we go to Bihar to harvest potatoes as we have no work here during this time. This year, our number was more because of the drought."
Agent Munshi Chowdhury said the working period of the women is short and ranges from seven to nine days. "The women harvest potatoes and get 10kg each as wages," he said. "No cash is involved."
The current market rate of potatoes ranges from Rs10 to Rs15/kg and a woman getting 10kg for a day's work translates to getting either Rs100 or Rs150, which is far less than the minimum wages prescribed by the government for an unskilled worker.