Background: Tripura Is The Second Largest Natural Rubber (nr) Growing State In The Country With Plantations Under Both Private And Public Sector. Studies Have Shown It As A Viable Economic Proposition And Nr Is Often Considered As An Engine Of Growth For The State Economy. However, The Global Nature Of The Product And Its Associated Market Linkage Are Inducing New Production Relations, Hitherto Unknown, In The State.
Objective: The Present Study Is An Attempt To Examine The Nuances Of The Labour Market In Terms Of Employment Relations, Contractual Arrangements And Asset Base Of The Workers In Tripura.
Methods: The Study Is Based On Cross Sectional Data, Collected Through Primary Survey Using Structured Schedule From Labourers Of Both Public Sector Farms As Well As Private Sector Farms. Descriptive Statistical Tools And Graphical Representations Are Used For Analysis And In Order To Understand The Economic Strength Of The Workers, An Asset Ownership Index Has Been Constructed Using The Monthly Income As An Input Weight. Also A One-way Anova Has Been Used To Measure The Differences In Mean Income Of Workers Group, If Any.
Findings: The Study Observes That The Workers In The Sector Subsist At Bare Minimum Level. Interestingly, The Share Workers Have A Marginally Higher Income Than Their Compatriots. The Score Of Asset Index Is Also Highest For The Share Worker Among The Workers.
Application/improvement: The Study Found Out That The Existing Labour Relations Have Been Undergoing A Change With The Emergence Of A Revenue Sharing Mechanism Mainly In The Ttaadc Areas, Which Are Mostly St Dominated And Non-tribal Workers Are Not Available.