Chandigarh: Punjab is witnessing a gradual decline in young workers engaged in agriculture, unlike several other states where the younger workforce continues to dominate the sector.
According to data from the Union labour ministry’s e-Shram portal, only 47.22% of registered agricultural workers in Punjab fall in the 18–40 age group, compared to the national average of 51.53%. In neighbouring Haryana, 50.17% of farm workers belong to the same age bracket. The figures do not include farmers and are limited to registered unorganised workers.
The e-Shram portal was launched on August 26, 2021, to register unorganised workers and extend welfare scheme benefits to them. In Punjab, 59.42 lakh unorganised workers have been registered so far, of whom 14.24 lakh are from the agriculture sector — the highest among all sectors in the state.
However, the data indicates that 52.76% of agricultural workers in Punjab are above 40 years of age, pointing to an ageing workforce. By contrast, states such as Madhya Pradesh (57.17%), Bihar (55.90%), Uttar Pradesh (57.08%), Rajasthan (57.61%) and Gujarat (48.49%) have a higher share of agricultural workers in the 18–40 age group.
Punjab currently has an estimated 65 lakh households, while 59.42 lakh unorganised workers are registered on the portal. The trend suggests that the younger generation is moving away from farm labour, leading to an increasing dependence on migrant workers for agricultural operations.
Among Punjab’s agricultural workers, 56.64% are women and 43.35% are men. Apart from agriculture, 9.68 lakh workers are registered in the construction sector and 9.17 lakh in domestic work.
Across the country, 31.51 crore unorganised workers have been registered on the e-Shram portal, of whom 16.30 crore are engaged in agriculture. While agriculture remains the largest source of employment nationally, Punjab’s data highlights a growing shift among young workers away from farm labour.
