SMALL HOLDINGS IN INDIA AND THEIR REMEDIES 473
That since 1895 the situation, however, has gone from bad to worse figures eloquently bear out:
1881 1891 1901 1911 Bengal .. .. .. 1.5 0.8 1.12 .... Bombay .. .. .. 1.7 1.6 1.41 1.3 Madras .. .. .. 1.3 0.3 .68 .79 Assam .. .. .. ... 0.5 .78 .85 Punjab .. .. .. 1.2 1.3 1.05 1.11 Oudh .. .. .. .81 0.7 .73 .75 N. W. P. .. .. .. .... 0.8 Burmah .. .. .. .... 1.5 1.08 1.09 Central P. .. .. .. 1.67 2.4 1.8 1.79 B. India .. .. .. 1.04 1.0 0.86 0.88
Now, what does this extraordinary phenomenon mean ? A large agricultural population with the lowest proportion of land in actual cultivation means that a large part of the agricultural population is superfluous and idle. How much idle labour there is on Indian farms it is not possible to know accurately. Sir James Caird who was the first to notice the existence of this idle labour estimated in 1884 that,
“A square mile of land in England cultivated highly gives employment to 50 persons, in the proportion 25 men, young and old, and 25 women and boys. If four times that number, or 200, were allowed for each square mile of cultivated land in India, it would take up only one-third of the population.” [24]
Out of the total population of 254 millions in 1881 nearly two-thirds were returned as agricultural. Allowing, as per estimate, one-third to be taken up, we can safely say that a population of equal magnitude was lying idle instead of performing any sort of productive labour. With the increasing ruralization of India and a continually decreasing proportion of land under cultivation, the volume of idle labour must have increased to an enormous extent.
The economic effects of this idle labour are two-fold. Firstly, it adds to the tremendous amount of pressure that our agricultural population exerts on land. A quantitative statement will serve to bring home to our mind how high the pressure is:
Mean density per square mile in 1911
| Col1 | Oudh and N. W. P | Bengal | Madras | Punjab | Bombay | Assam | Berar and C. P. | Coorg | British Burma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Total Area of Cultivated Area | 427 829 | 551 1162 | 291 785 | 177 453 | 145 444 | 115 766 | 122 360 | 111 792 | 53 575 |
- India, the Land and the People, p. 225.