Brick Industrial Production System and Its Impact on Economic Activity of the Rural Landless Labourers: A Study of District Murshidabad, West Bengal

Abstract

This study attempts to understand the role of brick industry in changing rural production system and economic activity in relation to the landless labourers of the three community development blocks of district Murshidabad, West Bengal. Two hundred ninety seven respondents, belonging to 27 active brick industries spread over three community development blocks, were selected for this study. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the study blocks. The stratified proportionate sampling technique for the selection of brick industry and proportionate purposive sampling techniques for the selection of respondents were applied. The result shows that majority of the respondents’ yearly incomes were constituted from daily agricultural wage labour, daily wages from other than agricultural sectors, daily wages from construction sector, and daily casual daily wages before the brick industry came into existence in the study area. However, the emergence of brick industries has significantly changed the nature of sources of income and share of yearly income. The study also shows that the numbers of working days have significantly increased among the labourers.

Keywords: Brick Kiln Industries, Production Process, Rural Landless Labourers, Economic Activities, Working Days, Daily Wages

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