This book addresses the question of how it is that so much growth and technical change can take place in agriculture and yet leave the position of agricultural labourers relatively unchanged. Much has been written on farmers and employers in LDC agriculture, but little that focuses on employees - this book will thus stimulate contribution to the study of labour markets and to development studies. In an area described as in the vanguard of agricultural development in Southern India, the author shows in some detail how limited the changes in the situation of labourers have been as agriculture has developed, and how serious the constraints still are. There is full discussion of central concerns such as the increase in numbers and proportions of agricultural labourers, the stagnation and marginal decline of wage rates and earnings, the property-less status of agricultural labourers, consumption and indebtedness, and labour relationships and processes.

The book is a report on the village economy of the state of Tripura in India, based on a survey of three villages in the state conducted by the Foundation for Agrarian Studies in May-June 2016. The villages-Mainama in Manu block, Chailengta tehsil, Dhalai district; Khakchang in Dasda block, Anand Bazaar tehsil, North district; and Muhuripur in Muhuripur tehsil, Julaibari block, South district-were surveyed under the ongoing Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI). The survey was conducted using a stratified simple random sampling method. A team from the Foundation for Agrarian Studies revisited the three villages in April 2017 to conduct case studies. These villages were also surveyed in 2005 for the Tripura Human Development Report 2007.