Farmers prefer cheap daily wage workers across the border for agricultural works
Samtse is a fertile place for cultivating winter vegetables and crops. It is also known as the rice bowl of the southern belt of the country. However, the farmers are repeatedly facing challenges throughout the year.
Apart from the wild animals causing menace in Samtse, the farmers are also bearing the cost of expensive daily wage workers during the paddy cultivation season and winter vegetable cultivation time. Hence, most of the farmers gave up cultivating paddy twice a year.
In the earlier years, farmers in Samtse usually hired a tea garden worker across the border paying a cheap wage between Nu 40-50 a day with food and drinks.
A farmer said, “Now we can hardly afford to pay the local daily wage workers. Moreover, there is a shortage of human power to carry out paddy cultivation”
Although the maximum paddy yield is lost to the wild animal menace, farmers took leverage of cheap labour across the border. According to an affected farmer, the government restricted the entry of tea gardeners across the border for security reasons.
“We request the immigration officers to allow the to enter in the morning and ensure that they leave for their homeland in the evening to solve the cost and labour shortage,” said a farmer.
Another farmer in dire need of affordable daily wage workers said that the rules and regulations for allowing imported cheap labours should be the same for farmers as well. He said, “When thousands of cheap labours can do construction work in the country, why can’t farmers hire workers from across the border?”
The farmers are also willing to pay a security deposit to hire daily wage workers during paddy cultivation and harvesting season. “If they breach the security protocols, the farmers will be responsible for it,” said a farmer.
Samtse is a fertile place for cultivating winter vegetables and crops. It is also known as the rice bowl of the southern belt of the country. However, the farmers are repeatedly facing challenges throughout the year.
Apart from the wild animals causing menace in Samtse, the farmers are also bearing the cost of expensive daily wage workers during the paddy cultivation season and winter vegetable cultivation time. Hence, most of the farmers gave up cultivating paddy twice a year.
In the earlier years, farmers in Samtse usually hired a tea garden worker across the border paying a cheap wage between Nu 40-50 a day with food and drinks.
A farmer said, “Now we can hardly afford to pay the local daily wage workers. Moreover, there is a shortage of human power to carry out paddy cultivation”
Although the maximum paddy yield is lost to the wild animal menace, farmers took leverage of cheap labour across the border. According to an affected farmer, the government restricted the entry of tea gardeners across the border for security reasons.
“We request the immigration officers to allow the to enter in the morning and ensure that they leave for their homeland in the evening to solve the cost and labour shortage,” said a farmer.
Another farmer in dire need of affordable daily wage workers said that the rules and regulations for allowing imported cheap labours should be the same for farmers as well. He said, “When thousands of cheap labours can do construction work in the country, why can’t farmers hire workers from across the border?”
The farmers are also willing to pay a security deposit to hire daily wage workers during paddy cultivation and harvesting season. “If they breach the security protocols, the farmers will be responsible for it,” said a farmer.
